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Changing how an app starts

Replace the command MSL runs for one Linux app.

Chapter 7 of 201 min read

Right-click an app in the Applications tab and choose Custom Launch Command to replace what MSL runs when you open it.

Some apps simply will not start from their own desktop entry without help: a game that needs a particular build of its engine, a binary that wants an environment variable set, an app whose packaged entry points at the wrong path. Those are one-line fixes if you can edit the command, and otherwise they are "this app does not work on MSL".

Examples#

love11 /opt/mari0
GDK_BACKEND=x11 inkscape
/opt/thing/bin/thing --no-sandbox

It runs in the same environment MSL would have used, so the display, the session bus and the graphics mode are all already set up.

It applies everywhere#

The override is keyed to the app's original command, so it follows the app whether you open it from the Applications tab, a generated app in Launchpad, the Dock, or msl gui-native. Changing it in one place changes it everywhere, and clearing it puts the app back to its own command.