#linux

If you want executables placed under e.g. .local/bin/ to appear in the taskbar and / or as an entry in menus, you will need to install .desktop files.

Steps

1. Make the app available in the PATH (if is not already)
2. Create the <app>.desktop file

# For user-wide install
vim ~/.local/share/applications/<app>.desktop

# For system-wide install
sudo vim /usr/share/applications/<app>.desktop

1. Put the following text into it

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Name=<App Name>
Comment=<Description>
GenericName=<e.g Web Browser>
Keywords=<e.g Internet;WWW;Browser;Web;Explorer>
Exec=<command to start the app>
Terminal=false
X-MultipleArgs=false
Type=Application
Icon=<Path to an icon>
Categories=<e.g GNOME;GTK;Network;WebBrowser;>
MimeType=<e.g text/html;text/xml;application/xhtml+xml;application/xml;application/rss+xml;application/rdf+xml;image/gif;image/jpeg;image/png;x-scheme-handler/http;x-scheme-handler/https;x-scheme-handler/ftp;x-scheme-handler/chrome;video/webm;application/x-xpinstall;>
StartupNotify=true

You can find possible Categories here, and additional information on .desktop files is available here.

Example .desktop file:

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Name=Zen Browser
Comment=Experience tranquillity while browsing the web without people tracking you!
GenericName=Web Browser
Keywords=Internet;WWW;Browser;Web;Explorer
Exec=zen
Terminal=false
X-MultipleArgs=false
Type=Application
Icon=/opt/zen/browser/chrome/icons/default/default128.png
Categories=GNOME;GTK;Network;WebBrowser;
MimeType=text/html;text/xml;application/xhtml+xml;application/xml;application/rss+xml;application/rdf+xml;image/gif;image/jpeg;image/png;x-scheme-handler/http;x-scheme-handler/https;x-scheme-handler/ftp;x-scheme-handler/chrome;video/webm;application/x-xpinstall;
StartupNotify=true