I'm curious about how to create GUI applications on Linux that can be launched by double-clicking, similar to the way you do it on Windows with WinMain or on macOS with .app bundles. What's the process or entry point for these applications in Linux?
2 Answers
In Linux, the entry point isn't as standardized as in Windows or macOS. That's partly because different desktop environments (DE) might handle double-clicking in their own ways. If you're not seeing a clear entry point for your app, just remember that the choice of DE can affect behavior, and sometimes you might need to do a bit of extra setup to get the double-clicking feature to work as you intend.
It sounds like you're looking for a way to make your GUI applications runnable directly from the file manager. One option is to use AppImage, which packages your app into a single executable file that can be double-clicked. If you're asking more about general GUI development, using frameworks like Qt or GTK would be the way to go. Just keep in mind that double-click behavior can vary across desktop environments—some use single-click instead!
Yeah, I'm pretty sure they all have their quirks when it comes to launching apps.
So it's not just about coding the app, but also how it's packaged and how the DE interacts with it?