Generic Nautilus Terminal Extension Proposal
This idea was inspired by the upcoming changes in Ubuntu, particularly the switch to the ptyxis terminal emulator. I’m currently working on a proposed extension for ptyxis, but I agree with the feedback suggesting that this should be a more generic implementation rather than something tailored to a specific terminal.
The core proposal is to add a built-in extension to Nautilus that introduces a menu item for opening x-terminal-emulator with a standardized flag like:
x-terminal-emulator --nautilus-working-directory=PATH
This approach is intentionally simple and avoids the need for Nautilus to handle terminal-specific logic. Instead, terminal applications can implement support for this flag internally. For example:
ptyxis --nautilus-working-directory=/usr/
Could internally be handled and expanded to:
ptyxis --tab --working-directory=/usr/
Benefits of This Approach
-Standardization:
Promotes a consistent way for terminal emulators to integrate with nautilus
-Simplicity :
Keeps the Nautilus codebase clean and avoids hardcoding support for individual terminal emulators.
-Flexibility :
Any terminal that supports the standardized flag can integrate seamlessly, not just ptyxis.
-Future-proofing :
Encourages terminal developers to adopt a common behavior, reducing fragmentation and long-term maintenance costs.
Improved user experience
Ensures that users get a reliable and uniform “Open in Terminal” behavior