Just realised that I have FC on my laptop which is still on Mint 18. Tried it on that and it works, so I guess it must be a Mint problem not an FC problem.
I am reporting it on the Mint forum

Mick

I am experiencing a crash when I import a .svg file. Tried on 0.18 AppImage and also 0.17 from the repository. Here is what I did - Open FC, Part Design - create body, create sketch, close sketch, pad to create object Draft - Import - select .svg file - select Open svg as geometry - FC crashes I hav...

Just tried deleting user.cfg & system.cfg FC does recreate them. I then created a new drawing, saving defaulted to the /tmp directory, I saved in my preferred directory then hit File > Open and it again defaulted to /tmp I then closed FC, checked user.cfg and it does have <FCText Name="File...

There is something odd here. Just looked in user.cfg and I see a line <FCText Name="FileOpenSavePath">/home/mick/Documents/Drawings</FCText> which is the last location I saved to. Closed FC and reopened, File > Open defaults to /tmp/ again, although a slightly different directory. Looked i...

OS: Linux Mint 19 Tara Word size of OS: 64-bit Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit Version: 0.18.13959 (Git) AppImage Build type: None Branch: master Hash: 2f18182b6dff87f8857787c854e39ca4d441f993 Python version: 2.7.6 Qt version: 4.8.6 Coin version: 4.0.0a OCC version: 7.2.0 Locale: English/UnitedKingdom ...

Thanks for your help. Path Array is a gem that I had not discovered, just tried it and it is brilliant

Thanks for the reply Herbert, I have tried your code and it works, however I cannot get mine to work. The first problem is that I have Op Final Depth set to 0.00mm and you have -1.00mm. In your file I can change all of the Op Values, but in mine they are all grey and cannot be changed. Do you know w...

OS: Linux Mint 18.3 Sylvia Word size of OS: 64-bit Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit Version: 0.18.13959 (Git) AppImage Build type: None Branch: master Hash: 2f18182b6dff87f8857787c854e39ca4d441f993 Python version: 2.7.6 Qt version: 4.8.6 Coin version: 4.0.0a OCC version: 7.2.0 Locale: English/UnitedKing...

OS: Linux Mint 18.3 Sylvia Word size of OS: 64-bit Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit Version: 0.18.13959 (Git) AppImage Build type: None Branch: master Hash: 2f18182b6dff87f8857787c854e39ca4d441f993 Python version: 2.7.6 Qt version: 4.8.6 Coin version: 4.0.0a OCC version: 7.2.0 Locale: English/UnitedKing...

Thanks Chris, now I've got it! I had assumed that to create the hole cut operation I had to select the hole, just hadn't realised I could select the face and use the Process Holes & Process Circles check boxes. Also your tip about selecting the geometry makes things a lot clearer.

Mick