Launching a Script on the Linux Platform

[Rhodri James]

On 12/11/2019 18:25, Rob Gaddi wrote:
> On 11/12/19 10:06 AM, Wildman wrote:
>> What is the best approach for launching a Python GUI program
>> on a Linux platform.  The program will be distributed in .deb
>> format.  So the .deb will contain a menu file as well as a
>> .desktop file.  The post install script will update the system
>> menu.
>>
>> My question is how should the program be executed?  Here are
>> two choices for the "command=" entry in the menu file...
>>
>> command="/path/to/program.py"
>>
>> In this case the hash-bang would have to be included in the
>> program script... #!/usr/bin/env python3
>>
>> The other choice is this...
>>
>> command="python3 /path/to/program.py"
>>
>> (Of course, the Exec command in the .desktop file should match.)
>>
>> Is one method better than the other or does it acutally matter?
>>
> 
> I will note that without the shebang (and setting the execute bit), the 
> program is only executable from the GUI menu, not the command prompt.  I 
> personally start even GUI programs far more often from a prompt.
> 
> To follow Linux conventions you'd put the shebang, make the file 
> executable, and put the executable somewhere on the PATH.  I'd stick to 
> those conventions barring a particular reason not to.

Wildman is talking about launching his program from a menu, so putting 
it on the PATH is unnecessary.  It may even be a bad idea, depending on 
exactly what he's done :-)

As to the original question, there shouldn't really be much of a 
difference.  The original idea of the shebang line invoking env, as far 
I recall, was that you'd get the "proper" system python3 wherever it had 
been put rather than something random and possibly malicious.  I guess 
that means to go for your first option.

-- 
Rhodri James *-* Kynesim Ltd