Some useful Linux command-line launch arguments

Command-line line arguments can be added before you call a program in Linux. If you're calling the program from the terminal, you can add an alias like alias [program]=[args] [program] If you're calling from an app launcher, you can modify the .desktop file. The file will probably be present at /usr/share/applications/. Copy it to ~/.local/share/applications/ so you can edit it without root. Now, modify the Exec parameter to be Exec=env [args] [program] Below are a few arguments that I use. firejail --noprofile --net=none Prevents the program from having internet access. Requires firejail to be installed. QT_QPA_PLATFORMTHEME=gtk3 Use the GTK file picker instead of the one that came with the program. Useful if the file picker can't adapt to the color scheme resulting in incorrect symbolic icon colors. QT_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTORS="" Make the program scale properly if fractional scaling is used. MOZ_USE_XINPUT2=1 Use kinetic scrolling and touchpad gestures in Firefox in Xorg. Last I checked, this did not work on Fedora though. I'll update this post if I find more useful commands!

Feb 16, 2025 - 07:42

Some useful Linux command-line launch arguments

Command-line line arguments can be added before you call a program in Linux. If you're calling the program from the terminal, you can add an alias like

alias [program]=[args] [program]

If you're calling from an app launcher, you can modify the .desktop file. The file will probably be present at /usr/share/applications/. Copy it to ~/.local/share/applications/ so you can edit it without root.

Now, modify the Exec parameter to be

Exec=env [args] [program]

Below are a few arguments that I use.

firejail --noprofile --net=none

Prevents the program from having internet access. Requires firejail to be installed.

QT_QPA_PLATFORMTHEME=gtk3

Use the GTK file picker instead of the one that came with the program. Useful if the file picker can't adapt to the color scheme resulting in incorrect symbolic icon colors.

QT_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTORS=""

Make the program scale properly if fractional scaling is used.

MOZ_USE_XINPUT2=1

Use kinetic scrolling and touchpad gestures in Firefox in Xorg. Last I checked, this did not work on Fedora though.

I'll update this post if I find more useful commands!