Developer Ignacy Kuchciński has teased an upcoming feature for GNOME Settings that will allow users to select a default terminal application. Currently, GNOME does not offer a graphical user interface option to change the system’s default terminal, a missing feature that can be frustrating for both general users and developers.
The reason for this omission stems from how Linux desktops identify applications. Traditionally, apps declare their capabilities using MIME types, standardized labels for file and data formats, allowing GNOME to curate lists of default apps for tasks like opening images or web links. However, terminal emulators don’t handle files or URI schemes; they simply launch a shell. This meant there was no way for GNOME to identify and list suitable terminal applications as defaults.
A new freedesktop application intent specification aims to solve this problem. This specification will allow applications to declare their capabilities, rather than just the types of data they handle. This will enable GNOME to recognize terminal emulators and present them as options in the Default Apps section of Settings. Beyond terminals, the specification also proposes support for file managers and calculators.
The implementation requires several steps: publishing the specification, adding support to Glib (a core GNOME library) to read the new declarations in .desktop files, and app developers updating their applications. Previous attempts to address this issue have stalled, but development is currently progressing rapidly. While the feature won’t be available in GNOME 51, scheduled for release next week, it may be included in GNOME 52, expected next year. Currently, Ubuntu uses Ptyxis as its default, while GNOME offers Console, and Ghostty is another popular choice.
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