After removing the ability to handle desktop icons, the GNOME Project has decided it's time to remove the ability to launch binaries and program directly from the Nautilus file manager.

Launched in mid-March 2018, GNOME 3.28 is the most advanced and also the first release of the widely-used desktop environment for Linux-based operating systems to drop support for desktop icons from the Nautilus file manager, which handled them for the past two decades, planning to move the functionality to GNOME Shell.

Last month, the GNOME Project kicked off the next six-month development cycle, for GNOME 3.30, which will see the light of day in September 2018 with a more sandboxed system where you won't be able to launch binaries/executables, nor programs directly from the Nautilus file manager.

"Now that the desktop is long gone, launching binaries and desktop files from within Nautilus is not as useful. Not only that, but we are moving towards a more sandboxed system, and we should use the standard and system wide support for launching apps based on users choices," said developer Carlos Soriano.

All in the name of security

According to Carlos Soriano's comment on the GNOME Git commit named "Don't allow launching binaries or programs in general," the decision to remove the ability to launch executables from the Nautilus file manager also has to do with the overall security of the GNOME desktop environment.

He reminds us that last year only, a vulnerability could allow an attacker to run arbitrary commands by tricking the user into opening a .desktop file with executable permissions as a document. The commands could be executed without warning when the user opened the maliciously crafted .desktop file.

The code hasn't yet landed in a release tarball of the Nautilus (Files) file manager, but we believe it should arrive with the next development snapshot, GNOME 3.29.2, which is expected to be released for public testing on May 23, 2018. The GNOME 3.30 desktop environment is slated for release on September 5, 2018.