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  • How does the system know what ddg corresponds to? I want to make Steam URLs entered into the browser or clicked on open in the native Steam app. I asked this on reddit and got a similar answer but I broke steam's .desktop file until I reverted the change. reddit.com/r/linux_gaming/comments/yh0iou/comment/iubo507/… Commented Oct 30, 2022 at 17:49
  • @Deoxal In the context of a URI, the ddg part is called the scheme, and is usually the first part of the uri. In most cases the scheme also corresponds to the protocol used to resolve the given resource. For example in the uri https://google.com, the https is the scheme, so the default browser app will be used to handle such a scheme. The app that should handle the protocol has to know how to do so for the above to work. For example, zoom recognizes the zoommtg or zoomus scheme, so when I try to access a zoom link on Firefox, it may prompt me to open the zoom app. Commented Oct 31, 2022 at 2:02
  • @Deoxal to answer the second part of your question, your system does not directly handle the clicked link. It is up to the app in which the link was clicked to decide how to resolve the uri. Like I said, Firefox does this for zoommtg links because it actually checks for mimetype handlers. When it discovers which application should be invoked to handle to uri, it will then invoke that app or tell you that there is nothing available to handle it. Commented Oct 31, 2022 at 2:07
  • @Deoxal Finally, you shouldn't have to modify steam's desktop files to make sure steam handles the steam uri, unless the version of steam installed on your machine does not already come with a proper .desktop file. However, like I said, it is up to the application in which the link is clicked to find an appropriate way of handling the scheme. Firefox for sure does this, so if you're using Firefox and it is not doing that for you, then you need to ask a different question. Steam handles these protocols, if that helps. Commented Oct 31, 2022 at 2:25