launch application in KDE with priority (nice) set

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1

Hello,
is there a way, in KDE (4.8.5) to add a command ‘switch’ to the execution command for an application that will set the process priority or ‘nice’ each time it’s started. This does Not need to be ‘firefox’ specific. General app launch will help.

exp. I run mozilla Firefox, Aurora nightly and some nightly builds suck up the memory / cpu and I have to Ctrl+Esc and set (process) priority (renice) firefox.
I would like to add something to the KDE ‘launch’ command (kicker icon for firefox Aurora) like: ~/bin/mozilla/Aurora/firefox %u -P] -n -2 nice , but when I try this, firefox loads ‘nice’ as a url…

I could use this for other applications like Gimp, but I can’t figure out the right switch syntax …

Any ideas, please?

Thank you in advance.
Reed.

2

You should read the man page of the nice command (and maybe generaly about shell commands). It is not

~/bin/mozilla/Aurora/firefox %u -P] -n -2 nice

but

nice -n -2 ~/bin/mozilla/Aurora/firefox %u -P

(if that -P is in the correct place???)

3

I can answer my last question:
(if that -P is in the correct place???)

No it isn’t either. Look here:

 firefox -h
Usage: /usr/lib64/firefox/firefox  options ... ] 
       where options include:

X11 options
  --display=DISPLAY  X display to use
  --sync             Make X calls synchronous
  --g-fatal-warnings Make all warnings fatal

Firefox options
  -h or -help        Print this message.
  -v or -version     Print Firefox version.
  -P <profile>       Start with <profile>.
  -migration         Start with migration wizard.
  -ProfileManager    Start with ProfileManager.
  -no-remote         Do not accept or send remote commands; implies -new-instance.
  -new-instance      Open new instance, not a new window in running instance.
  -UILocale <locale> Start with <locale> resources as UI Locale.
  -safe-mode         Disables extensions and themes for this session.
  -jsconsole         Open the Error console.
  -browser           Open a browser window.
  -new-window  <url> Open <url> in a new window.
  -new-tab     <url> Open <url> in a new tab.
  -preferences       Open Preferences dialog.
  -search     <term> Search <term> with your default search engine.
  -private           Enable private browsing mode.
  -private-toggle    Toggle private browsing mode.
  -setDefaultBrowser Set this app as the default browser.
henk@boven:~>

Which shows that options come before the URL and also that the -P option must be followed by a (whatever that is).
Thus

firefox -P <profile> %u

is the correct way to call Firefox if you want to offer it a profile.

4

Just another thought…
If this is something you run regularly and want to automate it, you might try creating a systemd Unit service that invokes your Firefox (or maybe GUI-less web transfer?). In the Unit configuration file, it’s trivial to set the priority to whatever you wish.

TSU