QDesktopServices or QProcess for launching external applications

[Tepi]

My opinion is that if you have set some special file handler for the .exe files (which I think is quite rare occasion) then it should be opened with that handler (for example that hex editor), otherwise it should just be executed (as there's no file handlers assigned for the type). And again this is just my humble opinion and the first impression which I had when I tried the QDesktopServices

Btw, on Windows it launches the .exe file automatically if you haven't changed the handler for the .exe files. So this is why i was assuming the same functionality for the Linux systems... I don't know if this is a distribution dependent issue, but at least with Ubuntu it won't launch it.

And thanks again for the comments Wysota.

[wysota]

My opinion is that if you have set some special file handler for the .exe files (which I think is quite rare occasion) then it should be opened with that handler (for example that hex editor), otherwise it should just be executed (as there's no file handlers assigned for the type). And again this is just my humble opinion and the first impression which I had when I tried the QDesktopServices

And if we were talking about an image type? Should the image be executed too if there was no handler assigned to it? What purpose would it serve?

Btw, on Windows it launches the .exe file automatically if you haven't changed the handler for the .exe files.

"It" meaning what? QDesktopServices? Maybe there's a handler installed for executable files on Windows. There is no such handler on Unix systems, it wouldn't make much sense. It is the executable bit that marks if the file can be executed or not and not the file type.

[Tepi]

And if we were talking about an image type? Should the image be executed too if there was no handler assigned to it? What purpose would it serve?

Nope, of course not. That's not the point. In the case some image type doesn't have handler assigned, system would ask user with what program the file should be opened, as it is doing now by default. Why would the image file type have "execute" permissions? I see no point on that...

So when we have some executable file with "execute" permissions which has no hadler assigned to it, wouldn't it seem logical just to launch it?

"It" meaning what? QDesktopServices?

Yep, "it" meaning QDesktopServices.

I looked the "File types" list on Windows and there wasn't anything assigned to the .exe files. So to test it I assigned a Hex Editor for handling the .exe files. It did the job as expected, opened .exe files with Hex Editor. But before I added the handler I noticed that there wasn't any special handler assigned to the .exe files but it was marked as "Type of File: Application" and I quess this is the reason why the Windows understands that the file is meant to be executed.

So here I come back to the argument that if in unix system we have a file that hasn't got any handler assigned to it and it still has "execute" permissions allowed, why shouldn't it be launched by the QDesktopServices? Same manner as it is launched when you double click the icon on your file system.

And these replies aren't meant for offence by any means, on the contrary. Just wanted to know about this issue which bothered me...

-Tepi