# SoftLink Support for Linux

**URL:** <https://librepcb.discourse.group/t/softlink-support-for-linux/594>\
**Category:** Improvement Ideas\
**Created:** [October 14, 2023, 2:10pm UTC](https://librepcb.discourse.group/t/softlink-support-for-linux/594 "2023-10-14T14:10:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![sproggit](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/librepcb.discourse.group/sproggit/32/425_2.png) [@sproggit](https://librepcb.discourse.group/u/sproggit)\
**Post date:** [October 14, 2023, 2:10pm UTC](https://librepcb.discourse.group/t/softlink-support-for-linux/594/1 "2023-10-14T14:10:55Z")

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I would like to ask if it is possible to enhance the file management sub-system to allow the workspace directory to support SoftLinks [and, with that, network file systems.

My home workstation has a small internal [M.2] drive, but I always keep all my data files on a QNAP NAS drive, because I have that set up to automatically back up overnight and with a multi-generation backup solution.

Using Mint Linux, when I try to create a new workspace, the file dialog automatically “greys out” [marks as unavailable] any softlinks in my home folder, even if those links connect to a folder on my local machine.

The change I am suggesting would be to enhance the functionality of LibrePCB to enable the storage and retrieval of project and data files from both softlink and network-connected locations. I primarily use NFSv4 when running Mint Linux and CIFS/SMB when running Windows 10.

This is tested and not currently working with the Linux Flatpak installation (Version 0.1.5, according to the Mint installer).

Many thanks for your consideration.

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**Author:** ![ubruhin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/c89c15/32.png) [@ubruhin](https://librepcb.discourse.group/u/ubruhin)\
**Post date:** [October 14, 2023, 3:56pm UTC](https://librepcb.discourse.group/t/softlink-support-for-linux/594/2 "2023-10-14T15:56:04Z")

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I’m not sure if the problem is really related to the links. I quickly created a local symlink with `ln -s` and was able to choose this directory in LibrePCB and the workspace was created successfully. Some ideas to investigate the problem:

- Check the permissions of your links, are they readable and writable by the user running LibrePCB? Greyed out folders somehow sound like insufficient permissions.
- Test our official AppImage instead of Flatpak, just to be sure it’s not some sandboxing “feature” of Flatpak.
- If you’re really running LibrePCB 0.1.5 I’d suggest to update it to the latest release 🙈