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John Red
Asked: 2013-05-23 06:59:38 +0800 CST

Why 'xdg-open google-chrome' wont work?

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When I type google-chrome in the terminal it works. xdg-open google-chrome doesn't.
Why is this so? I need to do this so that I can run Chrome without keeping the terminal open, which xdg-open google-chrome allows me to do.

12.04

1 Answers

  1. XDG-open is for opening the "right" application for the file type. In your case you like to run the application google-chrome in the background - XDG-open is not used for this purpose.

    Instead, use your shell (assuming Bash here) to have the program run in the background:

    nohup google-chrome &

    Explanation: appending & makes it run in the background (you'll get your shell back) while nohup will keep the application open (disowns). See my answer in How can I close a terminal without killing the command running in it? for more details.

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