I created a desktop launcher whose type was a link and pointed to an NTFS file on a read-only ( ro ) partition. When I open the launcher it always asks me whether I want to display or run the file. Of course I want display it and when I click on that button it displays it in my browser, Firefox, correctly. It is neverthless onerous to constantly be asked and have to then click the correct display button rather than Gnome knowing to display it automatically. This appears to be happening because the file on the NTFS has an executable permission set to it because the umask I used in /etc/fstab for the partition was 0222. However when I tried changing the umask to 0333, in order to only have the read bit turned on, after rebooting an attempt to open the file from the launcher fails completely since nothing happens. Is there a solution to this problem, or is this just the way Gnome works in regard to its launchers ?