Bug#860796: appears to be linked to the lack of a running "nautilus --gapplication-service"

[Ben Green]

Quoting Jason Crain <jason at inspiresomeone.us>:

> On Thu, Apr 20, 2017 at 10:35:12AM +0100, Ben Green wrote:
>
> Desktop icons work fine for me just from selecting "Icons on Desktop" in
> gnome-tweak-tool.  Do you have any other desktop environments installed,
> even if you aren't using them, like KDE, mate, cinnamon, or anything
> else in /usr/share/dbus-1/services that provides
> org.freedesktop.FileManager1?  Do logs (journalctl or syslog) show
> anything relevant when you try to double click a folder?

I do have KDE, mate and xfce4 installed. Having removed and purged KDE  
from my laptop, which shares the same issue, there's no difference.

There used to be a problem that clicking on a desktop file would  
launch dolphin. I've fixed this in the past by removing:

/usr/share/dbus-1/services/org.kde.dolphin.FileManager1.service

Though it's presence, tested through reboots, makes no difference to  
the current situation.

Here's a listing of /usr/share/dbus-1/services/ FWIW

blueman-applet.service
ca.desrt.dconf-editor.service
ca.desrt.dconf.service
com.intel.dleyna-renderer.service
com.intel.dleyna-server.service
kf5_org.kde.kuiserver.service
org.a11y.Bus.service
org.bluez.obex.service
org.enlightenment.Efreet.service
org.enlightenment.Ethumb.service
org.exaile.Exaile.service
org.fedoraproject.Config.Printing.service
org.freedesktop.Akonadi.Control.service
org.freedesktop.ColorHelper.service
org.freedesktop.FileManager1.service
org.freedesktop.Flatpak.service
org.freedesktop.Geoclue.Master.service
org.freedesktop.Geoclue.Providers.Hostip.service
org.freedesktop.Geoclue.Providers.Localnet.service
org.freedesktop.Geoclue.Providers.Manual.service
org.freedesktop.Geoclue.Providers.Nominatim.service
org.freedesktop.impl.portal.PermissionStore.service
org.freedesktop.mate.Notifications.service
org.freedesktop.PackageKit.service
org.freedesktop.portal.Documents.service
org.freedesktop.secrets.service
org.freedesktop.systemd1.service
org.freedesktop.Telepathy.AccountManager.service
org.freedesktop.Telepathy.Client.AbiCollab.service
org.freedesktop.Telepathy.Client.Empathy.Auth.service
org.freedesktop.Telepathy.Client.Empathy.Call.service
org.freedesktop.Telepathy.Client.Empathy.Chat.service
org.freedesktop.Telepathy.Client.Empathy.FileTransfer.service
org.freedesktop.Telepathy.Client.Logger.service
org.freedesktop.Telepathy.Client.Polari.service
org.freedesktop.Telepathy.Client.Vinagre.service
org.freedesktop.Telepathy.Client.Vino.service
org.freedesktop.Telepathy.ConnectionManager.gabble.service
org.freedesktop.Telepathy.ConnectionManager.haze.service
org.freedesktop.Telepathy.ConnectionManager.idle.service
org.freedesktop.Telepathy.ConnectionManager.salut.service
org.freedesktop.Telepathy.ConnectionManager.sofiasip.service
org.freedesktop.Telepathy.Logger.service
org.freedesktop.Telepathy.MissionControl5.service
org.freedesktop.Tracker1.service
org.freedesktop.Tracker1.Writeback.service
org.gna.home.a2jmidid.service
org.gnome.baobab.service
org.gnome.bijiben.SearchProvider.service
org.gnome.Books.service
org.gnome.Calculator.SearchProvider.service
org.gnome.Calendar.service
org.gnome.Camera.service
org.gnome.Caribou.Antler.service
org.gnome.Caribou.Daemon.service
org.gnome.Characters.BackgroundService.service
org.gnome.Characters.service
org.gnome.Cheese.service
org.gnome.ChromeGnomeShell.service
org.gnome.clocks.service
org.gnome.Contacts.SearchProvider.service
org.gnome.Contacts.service
org.gnome.ControlCenter.SearchProvider.service
org.gnome.ControlCenter.service
org.gnome.Dictionary.service
org.gnome.DiskUtility.service
org.gnome.Documents.service
org.gnome.evince.Daemon.service
org.gnome.evolution.dataserver.AddressBook.service
org.gnome.evolution.dataserver.Calendar.service
org.gnome.evolution.dataserver.Sources.service
org.gnome.evolution.dataserver.UserPrompter.service
org.gnome.FileRoller.ArchiveManager1.service
org.gnome.FileRoller.service
org.gnome.font-viewer.service
org.gnome.GConf.service
org.gnome.gedit.service
org.gnome.hamster.service
org.gnome.hamster.Windows.service
org.gnome.Identity.service
org.gnome.keyring.PrivatePrompter.service
org.gnome.keyring.service
org.gnome.keyring.SystemPrompter.service
org.gnome.Logs.service
org.gnome.Maps.service
org.gnome.Nautilus.service
org.gnome.OnlineAccounts.service
org.gnome.OnlineMiners.Facebook.service
org.gnome.OnlineMiners.Flickr.service
org.gnome.OnlineMiners.GData.service
org.gnome.OnlineMiners.MediaServer.service
org.gnome.OnlineMiners.Owncloud.service
org.gnome.OnlineMiners.Zpj.service
org.gnome.Photos.service
org.gnome.Polari.service
org.gnome.Rhythmbox3.service
org.gnome.Rygel1.service
org.gnome.Screenshot.service
org.gnome.seahorse.Application.service
org.gnome.seahorse.service
org.gnome.Shell.CalendarServer.service
org.gnome.Shell.HotplugSniffer.service
org.gnome.Shell.PortalHelper.service
org.gnome.Software.service
org.gnome.Sushi.service
org.gnome.taquin.service
org.gnome.Terminal.service
org.gnome.Tomboy.service
org.gnome.Totem.service
org.gnome.Weather.Application.service
org.gnome.Weather.BackgroundService.service
org.gnome.zeitgeist.Engine.service
org.gnome.zeitgeist.SimpleIndexer.service
org.gtk.GLib.PACRunner.service
org.gtk.vfs.AfcVolumeMonitor.service
org.gtk.vfs.Daemon.service
org.gtk.vfs.GoaVolumeMonitor.service
org.gtk.vfs.GPhoto2VolumeMonitor.service
org.gtk.vfs.Metadata.service
org.gtk.vfs.MTPVolumeMonitor.service
org.gtk.vfs.UDisks2VolumeMonitor.service
org.hexchat.service.service
org.jackaudio.service
org.kde.fontinst.service
org.kde.kaccessible.service
org.kde.kcookiejar5.service
org.kde.kdeconnect.service
org.kde.kded5.service
org.kde.kget.service
org.kde.kglobalaccel.service
org.kde.kiod5.service
org.kde.knotify.service
org.kde.kpasswdserver.service
org.kde.krunner.service
org.kde.kscreen.service
org.kde.kssld5.service
org.kde.kuiserver.service
org.kde.kwalletd5.service
org.kde.kwalletd.service
org.kde.Spectacle.service
org.mate.atril.Daemon.service
org.mate.Engrampa.service
org.mate.freedesktop.FileManager1.service
org.mate.panel.applet.AccessxStatusAppletFactory.service
org.mate.panel.applet.BattstatAppletFactory.service
org.mate.panel.applet.BrightnessAppletFactory.service
org.mate.panel.applet.CharpickerAppletFactory.service
org.mate.panel.applet.ClockAppletFactory.service
org.mate.panel.applet.CommandAppletFactory.service
org.mate.panel.applet.CPUFreqAppletFactory.service
org.mate.panel.applet.DictionaryAppletFactory.service
org.mate.panel.applet.DriveMountAppletFactory.service
org.mate.panel.applet.FishAppletFactory.service
org.mate.panel.applet.GeyesAppletFactory.service
org.mate.panel.applet.InhibitAppletFactory.service
org.mate.panel.applet.InvestAppletFactory.service
org.mate.panel.applet.MateWeatherAppletFactory.service
org.mate.panel.applet.MultiLoadAppletFactory.service
org.mate.panel.applet.NetspeedAppletFactory.service
org.mate.panel.applet.NotificationAreaAppletFactory.service
org.mate.panel.applet.StickyNotesAppletFactory.service
org.mate.panel.applet.TimerAppletFactory.service
org.mate.panel.applet.TrashAppletFactory.service
org.mate.panel.applet.WnckletFactory.service
org.mate.PowerManager.service
org.mate.ScreenSaver.service
org.mate.SettingsDaemon.service
org.xfce.FileManager.service
org.xfce.Thunar.service
org.xfce.Tumbler.Cache1.service
org.xfce.Tumbler.Manager1.service
org.xfce.Tumbler.Thumbnailer1.service
org.xfce.xfce4-notifyd.Notifications.service
org.xfce.Xfconf.service

I'll next try removing mate and xfce4 to see if that helps.

Cheers,
Ben