diff --git a/appendix b/appendix
index 2db1013..a2eba18 100644
--- a/appendix
+++ b/appendix
@@ -55,18 +55,22 @@ ONBUILD USER ${NB_USER}
 # ${REPO_DIR} is owned by ${NB_USER}
 ONBUILD COPY --chown=${NB_USER}:${NB_USER} . ${REPO_DIR}/childimage
 
+# The Desktop and apt.txt installs need to be root
+ONBUILD USER root
+
 # Copy Desktop files into ${REPO_DIR}/Desktop if they exist. start will copy to Application dir and Desktop
 # Will not fail if Desktop dir exists but is empty
 ONBUILD RUN echo "Checking for 'Desktop directory'..." \
         ; cd "${REPO_DIR}/childimage/" \
         ; if test -d Desktop ; then \
             mkdir -p "${REPO_DIR}/Desktop" && \
-            [ "$(ls -A Desktop 2>/dev/null)" ] && cp -r Desktop/* "${REPO_DIR}/Desktop/"; \
-        fi
+            cp -r Desktop/* "${REPO_DIR}/Desktop/" 2>/dev/null && \
+            chmod +x "${REPO_DIR}/desktop.sh" ; \
+        fi \
+        ; "${REPO_DIR}/desktop.sh"
 
 # Install apt packages specified in a apt.txt file if it exists.
 # blank lines and comments are supported in apt.txt
-ONBUILD USER root
 ONBUILD RUN echo "Checking for 'apt.txt'..." \
         ; cd "${REPO_DIR}/childimage/" \
         ; if test -f "apt.txt" ; then \
@@ -77,6 +81,7 @@ ONBUILD RUN echo "Checking for 'apt.txt'..." \
         && apt-get clean \
         && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/* \
         ; fi
+
 ONBUILD USER ${NB_USER}
 
 # Add the conda environment
diff --git a/desktop.sh b/desktop.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ba1588a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/desktop.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# The default for XDG and xfce4 is for Desktop files to be in ~/Desktop but this leads to a variety of problems
+# First we are altering the user directiory which seems rude, second orphan desktop files might be in ~/Desktop so who knows
+# what the user Desktop experience with be, here the Desktop dir is set to /usr/share/Desktop so is part of the image.
+# users that really want to customize Desktop can change ~/.config/user-dirs.dirs. Though py-rocket-base might not respect that.
+set -e
+
+# Copy in the Desktop files
+APPLICATIONS_DIR=/usr/share/applications/packages
+DESKTOP_DIR=/usr/share/Desktop
+mkdir -p "${APPLICATIONS_DIR}"
+mkdir -p "${DESKTOP_DIR}"
+chown :staff /usr/share/Desktop
+chmod 775 /usr/share/Desktop
+# set the Desktop dir default for XDG
+echo 'XDG_DESKTOP_DIR="${DESKTOP_DIR}"' > /etc/xdg/user-dirs.defaults
+
+# The for loops will fail if they return null (no files). Set shell option nullglob
+shopt -s nullglob
+
+for desktop_file_path in ${REPO_DIR}/Desktop/*.desktop; do
+    cp "${desktop_file_path}" "${APPLICATIONS_DIR}/."
+
+    # Symlink application to desktop and set execute permission so xfce (desktop) doesn't complain
+    desktop_file_name="$(basename ${desktop_file_path})"
+    # Set execute permissions on the copied .desktop file
+    chmod +x "${APPLICATIONS_DIR}/${desktop_file_name}"
+    ln -sf "${APPLICATIONS_DIR}/${desktop_file_name}" "${DESKTOP_DIR}/${desktop_file_name}"
+done
+update-desktop-database "${APPLICATIONS_DIR}"
+
+# Add MIME Type data from XML files  to the MIME database.
+MIME_DIR="/usr/share/mime"
+MIME_PACKAGES_DIR="${MIME_DIR}/packages"
+mkdir -p "${MIME_PACKAGES_DIR}"
+for mime_file_path in ${REPO_DIR}/Desktop/*.xml; do
+    cp "${mime_file_path}" "${MIME_PACKAGES_DIR}/."
+done
+update-mime-database "${MIME_DIR}"
+
+# Add icons
+ICON_DIR="/usr/share/icons/hicolor"
+ICON_SIZES=("16x16" "22x22" "24x24" "32x32" "48x48")
+
+# Copy PNG icons only to existing size directories
+for icon_file_path in "${REPO_DIR}"/Desktop/*.png; do
+    for size in "${ICON_SIZES[@]}"; do
+        target_dir="${ICON_DIR}/${size}/apps"
+        if [ -d "${target_dir}" ]; then
+            cp "${icon_file_path}" "${target_dir}/$(basename "${icon_file_path}")" || echo "Failed to copy ${icon_file_path} to ${target_dir}"
+        else
+            echo "Directory ${target_dir} does not exist. Skipping."
+        fi
+    done
+done
+
+# Copy SVG icons only to the existing scalable directory, if it exists
+target_dir="${ICON_DIR}/scalable/apps"
+for icon_file_path in "${REPO_DIR}"/Desktop/*.svg; do
+    if [ -d "${target_dir}" ]; then
+        cp "${icon_file_path}" "${target_dir}/$(basename "${icon_file_path}")" || echo "Failed to copy ${icon_file_path} to ${target_dir}"
+    else
+        echo "Directory ${target_dir} does not exist. Skipping SVG."
+    fi
+done
+# Update the icon cache for hicolor
+gtk-update-icon-cache "${ICON_DIR}"
+# Print a success message
+echo "Icons have been copied to existing hicolor directories, and the icon cache has been updated."
+
diff --git a/start b/start
index 11ba4ee..cafc24b 100644
--- a/start
+++ b/start
@@ -9,41 +9,6 @@ set -euo pipefail
 source ${REPO_DIR}/env.txt
 # End - Set any environment variables here
 
-# The for loops will fail if they return null (no files). Set shell option nullglob
-shopt -s nullglob
-
-# Add any .desktop files to the application database and desktop. This is done
-# at startup-time because it's expected that a remote filesystem will be
-# mounted at $HOME, which would overwrite the data if it was created at
-# build-time.
-APPLICATIONS_DIR="${HOME}/.local/share/applications"
-DESKTOP_DIR="${HOME}/Desktop"
-# Remove DESKTOP_DIR if it exists to avoid leftover files
-if [ -d "${DESKTOP_DIR}" ]; then
-    rm -rf "${DESKTOP_DIR}"
-fi
-mkdir -p "${APPLICATIONS_DIR}"
-mkdir -p "${DESKTOP_DIR}"
-for desktop_file_path in ${REPO_DIR}/Desktop/*.desktop; do
-    cp "${desktop_file_path}" "${APPLICATIONS_DIR}/."
-
-    # Symlink application to desktop and set execute permission so xfce (desktop) doesn't complain
-    desktop_file_name="$(basename ${desktop_file_path})"
-    # Set execute permissions on the copied .desktop file
-    chmod +x "${APPLICATIONS_DIR}/${desktop_file_name}"
-    ln -sf "${APPLICATIONS_DIR}/${desktop_file_name}" "${DESKTOP_DIR}/${desktop_file_name}"
-done
-update-desktop-database "${APPLICATIONS_DIR}"
-
-# Add MIME Type data from XML files  to the MIME database.
-MIME_DIR="${HOME}/.local/share/mime"
-MIME_PACKAGES_DIR="${MIME_DIR}/packages"
-mkdir -p "${MIME_PACKAGES_DIR}"
-for mime_file_path in ${REPO_DIR}/Desktop/*.xml; do
-    cp "${mime_file_path}" "${MIME_PACKAGES_DIR}/."
-done
-update-mime-database "${MIME_DIR}"
-
 # Run child start in a subshell to contain its environment
 [ -f ${REPO_DIR}/childimage/start ] && ( source ${REPO_DIR}/childimage/start )