Desktop file integration in non-nixos platforms

I’ve installed chrome in fedora via nixos. It has placed the desktop file in .nix-profile/share/applications. I’ve symlinked this directory into .local/share/applications and now the gnome shell correctly registeres these desktop files. But I see no icon alongside the desktop entries in app search menu. How do I setup my system so that these files work seamlessly with the native system?

Hi @fctorial,

I’ve installed chrome in fedora via nixos

I guess you meant nixpkgs instead of nixos because NixOS and Fedora are mutually exclusive: they both want to control the whole system.

To fix your problem, you might have to configure XDG_DATA_DIRS to include ~/.nix-profile/share. If the environment is set properly, no symlink should be required.

If you are serious about installing software through nixpkgs instead of Fedora, I suggest you install and configure home-manager. Home-manager will take care of setting up the environment for you.

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