What I mean is that the .desktop files are shown in a way like in the Application Launcher or the Desktop, with the app name displayed instead of the .desktop file name.
Is this possible?
Thank you!
You can right-click on the file and click properties. This will allow you to see the file it runs and the path to it. From there, you can change the name that is displayed. You can also right-click the file and click Rename.
At least, I think that is what you are asking. 
If what you are looking for is something like MacOS’s finder, where you browse to the Applications folder and you see all the application directories as if they are launchers - then I’m afraid Dolphin isn’t for that: its a file manager and not a launcher - therefor it doesn’t even have the configuration option to not show file extensions (a default option in Windows Explorer, which is the main reason I hate that file browser).
True that if you activate the file (double click it, or whatever) it will perform the launching action - but only because its the sensible thing to do (unlike GNOME’s Files, which opens a text editor).
If the .desktop file is an application launcher (I know that nominally that what they are all supposed to be, but for Dolphin it means the Desktop Entry has a field Type=Application), then you can right click the file, choose properties and it will show you (editable) launcher details - as @WilsonEPhillips said - though I’m pretty sure this isn’t what you mean.
What I’d expect to actually be useful, is that the information panel (F11, but you really should have that open all the time 
) should show the application name - but unfortunately it is doing something much less useful ATM. I opened a bug report on that, here.
If you just want a view with some launchers on it - you can add the Quick Launch widget - to your desktop or panel - and drop some launchers into it.
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Adding to what @guss77 said, a “link to application” can be named anything you want it to be, as long as the target it points to is correct. Although the files in /usr/share/applications and ~/.local/share/applications do need that .desktop extension to display the icon on the start menu.
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I was also looking at ~/.local/share/applications where one would put all the additional user launchers they want to be shown in the main application menu (“kickoff menu”? we shouldn’t call it “start menu” - its a Windows thing, but I fail at finding another good immediately understood name).
Which is another possible solution: if @dch82 wants a list of launchers to access, and - I’m guessing - they have a folder with some launchers on it, so then can easily access them, then just moving all of them to ~/.local/share/applications would make them show up in the main application menu.
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A .desktop file placed in ~/.local/share/applications will only show up on the menu of the user, where as a .desktop file placed in /usr/share/applications will show up on the menu of all users.
As most new users are familiar with Start Menu from Windows and might not be running Plasma, Kickoff might not be understood for them. Hence my choice of wording at the time.
How about “app launcher”?
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OK, now I just need to figure out how to make a script that symlinks all non-hidden desktop files into one directory and renames the symlinks into the app name.
I am curious as to what exactly you are seeing. Is this happening on your App Launcher? Can you please post a screenshot as an example?
I haven’t got a clue what this topic is even about.
i think the OP means if you view your DESKTOP in dolphin it will list any links (shortcuts) you have on the desktop in italics and the name will be something like org.kde.dolphin.desktop
they just want to have the name dolphin instead… which is easy enough to edit.
That is understood. Plasma calls these things that often lurk at a Fitts-compliant corner - “Application Launchers”, though I think that name isn’t great. GNOME calls it (bizarrely) “Activities”. Other Linux desktops call them “ menu”.
I call it “the main application menu” or just “applications menu”.
How about this:
$ mkdir some-dir
$ cd some-dir
$ for file in other-dir/[^.]*.desktop; do
ln -s "$(readlink -f "$file")" "$(awk -F= '$1=="Name"{print$2}' "$file")";
done
If I get it right, the question is about desktop applications and how they’re named in the menu or panel right? If that’s the case, just name the application whatever you want. What’s in the file as name will be what’s in named in the menu.
For example:
fun fact: i’m using three “launchers” in parallel (in a two monitor setup: two for each display) and in german language - although they all serve the same purpose - are named distinguishable:
“Anwendungstarter” (this is default in most distros)
“Anwendungsmenü” (this resambles old Win9x menus)
“Anwendungsübersicht” (this one is designd like the default Gnome starter)
Starter, launcher … all good. i don’t care much (in german both are traslated to “Start”)
right! imho we all should take more care on these kind of users and what they are used to. there is no religious or phrophetic need to praise the benefits of Linux / any DE or whatever you name it.
these users will “find” the app launcher because it is the lower left corner of their Screen, not because it is named Starter or whatever.
Why do ALL distros resamble the paradigma of using there own icon here? coz M$ started to do this once a time? they should not.
Originally it was about how to show desktop files with their “pretty” name, now it’s mostly about launcher UX.
As a former GNOME user, I can tell you that in their bizarre paradigm, that is only the workspace switcher (only from there can you use the “dash”—that is the dock-like thing—and then click on the app whateverYouCallIt grid, IIRC)
I agree, this is why the Year of The [FOSS] Linux Desktop keeps getting delayed, while ChromeOS usage continues to rise at a rapid(er) pace than Linux usage is.
I’ve created a new topic on issues with Application Launcher/Dashboard/Menu/Grid/Whatever as this thread was getting off-topic. It is here.
