Q. I can't create a shortcut on the desktop in Gnome under Ubuntu 12.04 (or 12.10) when right-clicking on the desktop. How can I do that?
A. Some things have changed and the create desktop launcher link is no longer there. One way to create a shortcut is drag and drop the link from the menu onto the desktop. If you would like to use the traditional way, you can do so by running the following command:
gnome-desktop-item-edit Desktop --create-new
Good luck.