I am trying to open a file on an Ubuntu machine from within Python script. However, xdg-open will always use another application (the wrong one) when started from the python script, while it will use the correct one when started from the shell.

I tried with the following commands:

subprocess.Popen([f"xdg-open {file_path}"])
subprocess.Popen([f"xdg-open {file_path}"], user="user", env=os.environ, shell=True)

Any idea, what to do?

[EDIT] Additional Information:

file_path is the full path to the file like "/tmp/file.odt". The file is actually there, because it is opened.

The file is a libreoffice writer file that ends with odt.

If I open the file with "xdg-open /tmp/file.opt" in a shell, it opens in libreoffice writer, as expected.

If I open the file via the python script, it opens the file in the ebook-viewer application that I have installed in my ubuntu.

I use subprocess.popen instead of run because I open the file in an async function and want the script to continue and not wait for the file to be closed. I read that in such cases you need to use popen. However, I am new to this and would switch to run if it would help. However, I tested subprocess.run and had the same result as described above.

Generally, the script is used to open a websocket server listen for a request that provides the file, store the file in the tmp directory, and then open it. Everything works, but the wrong application is used for opening the file...

Thanks!