Simple and Generic Way to Launch Preffered Terminal Emulator From Nautilus

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

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