how do you make newly installed software appear in menu?

[OBLAMA2009]

i just installed a bunch of pdf merging programs and they arent appearing in the menu. i tried refreshing it and they still dont appear. what do i do so i can use this software?

 

[Jodell88]

It may be command line only, therefore it will not show up in a menu.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

It may be command line only, therefore it will not show up in a menu.

yeah but at least for one of them it was a graphical java app, shouldnt that appear in the menu. do i have to log out and relog in or can i refresh another way

 

[Jodell88]

If it hasn't appeared in a menu it could be that it wasn't packaged with a .desktop file. You can either try calling the program via the run dialog (alt + f2 on most linux DEs) or you can write a .desktop file yourself and put it in

~/.local/share/applications

 

[Nothinman]

How did you install them? Generally packages from well maintained repos will add a .desktop file like Jodell88 mentions, but if you got it from the developer then it's up to them to do so and they may have just not done that.

 

[ControlD]

yeah but at least for one of them it was a graphical java app, shouldnt that appear in the menu. do i have to log out and relog in or can i refresh another way

This is just my experience, but most java applications that I use do not integrate with the desktop/menu in any way. Minecraft for example does not make a launcher anywhere, you have to make one yourself. If you know where the .jar file is located, just make a new launcher on your desktop or in your application menu and be done with it.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

the problem was solved by logging out and logging back in, they then appeared in the gnome menu. in the end however i found a web app, mergePDF was just as easy to use, which makes me think someone should invent an os that is just a browser....

 

[ControlD]

the problem was solved by logging out and logging back in, they then appeared in the gnome menu. in the end however i found a web app, mergePDF was just as easy to use, which makes me think someone should invent an os that is just a browser....

I think that is called ChromeOS