Linux Dock Roundup

Joshua Price — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 12:00:42 +0000

Maybe you like OSX, maybe you want a quick place to launch and manage applications, maybe you just want a little eye candy. Whatever the reason, many of us like to use a dock on our desktop. As with most Linux software, there’s no shortage of options and not a lot of clear information on the benefits of each. Some can handle compositing, some can be placed anywhere on the desktop, some can be configured on the fly while others need a restart. We’ve gathered five of the best docks for Linux to see how they stack up against each other.

SimDock

This is a fairly simple, no-nonsense dock. It includes icons for launchers as well as running applications, and will resize appropriately when items are added or removed. SimDock is quick and easy to get running, but somewhat lacking in configuration. SimDock is one of the few items on this list that requires a restart for most changes. If you don’t need anything fancy and just want a quick, slick dock, SimDock might be a good way to go, because it does not require 3D acceleration or compositing but still looks nice.

Avant Window Navigator

AWN is among the more well known docks, and for good reason. It’s extremely configurable, nice looking, and interactive. The dock can be placed at any point along the edges of your screen. AWN has applet support for things like the CPU monitor shown in the screenshot above, and there are packages such as awn-applets-c-core and awn-applets-python-core in the Ubuntu repositories to add functionality to AWN.

Docky

Docky is a part of the Gnome Do application launcher. It’s a fairly minimal but supports some useful applets like a Gmail checker and media player controls. We’ve covered Docky a bit previously, but it is now available as a standalone download and does not require the complex setup.

Cairo Dock

Cairo Dock may be the most advanced on the list when it comes to flexibility. Cairo comes with an extremely detailed configuration utility and several useful applets like a mini terminal, desktop pager, system monitor and more. It can run in a fully accelerated OpenGL mode and provide some impressive effects.

Kiba Dock

Kiba’s big claim to fame is the physics engine behind it. If you can get it working, you can get some great effects, as seen in this video.

The reason I said “If you can get it working” is because Akamaru, the software behind the physics, can be rather painful to compile. Since Kiba Dock does not seem to be actively developed, this isn’t likely to change in the near future.

Even without the physics, Kiba is still a perfectly functional dock. It doesn’t have the applets or plugins that other docks have, but it makes a simple, beautiful application launcher.

Conclusion

All the options shown here have valid uses, and some may fit your situation better than others, but AWN and Cairo appear to lead the pack in power and flexibility. Both provide far more than a basic application launcher and can actively increase your productivity. If you’ve got any other recommended docks, let us know in the comments!

Linux Dock Roundup originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)
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Gnome-Do Docky: A New Dock On The Block

Damien — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 22:39:22 +0000

For those long time fans/users of Gnome-Do, you are now in for a good treat. The latest release of Gnome-Do now includes an interactive dock that you can place on your desktop and access the frequently used applications quickly and easily like any other docks.

One thing is different though, Gnome-Do Docky is intuitive and can automatically add items to your dock based on your search pattern.

To install (or upgrade to) the latest version of Gnome-Do, you need to add the repository to your sources.list.

gksu gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Add the following lines to the end of the file. Save and close the file.

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/do-core/ppa/ubuntu intrepid main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/do-core/ppa/ubuntu intrepid main

Update the repository

sudo apt-get update

If you have already installed Gnome-Do, type

sudo apt-get upgrade

to upgrade to the latest version.

For a new install, type

sudo apt-get install gnome-do

To make sure that the Docky works properly, you will need to have a compositing manager in your Desktop. If your computer supports Compiz, you can proceed on to launch Gnome-Do. If not, you will have to turn on the metacity compositing manager.

Turn on metacity compositing manager (only if Compiz does not work in your computer)

In the terminal, type

gconf-editor

Navigate to Apps->Metacity->General. On the right, scroll down till you see the compositing manager option. Put a check in the box beside it.

Close the window.

Activate Gnome Do (Applications->Accessories->Gnome Do)

On the window that shows up on the centre of the screen, click on the arrow button on the top right corner and select Preferences. Click on the Appearance tab. Under the theme dropdown bar, select Docky.

You should now see the dock appear at the bottom of your desktop.

There are several features found in the Docky that are worthy mentioning:

Drag and Drop items onto or remove from the Dock (files, folders, and applications from the menu)
Drag and Drop items into folders on the dock, as well as the trash can.
Image previews of items which support it
True parabolic zoom (can be disabled)
Click animations
Intuitive resizing by dragging on the dock separator
Adding and removing “Statistical Items” (items which Do considers relevant to you) from the dock by dragging the left and right edges
Window indicators (supports advanced window indicators)
Advanced window management features via the Window Manager plugin for GNOME Do
The ability to make Docky Automatically Hide when not being hovered.
A full frontend to GNOME Do
Add items to docky from GNOME Do searches

Using Gnome-Do within the Docky is no different from its past version. You just need to press Win + Space (some call it Super + Space) button to activate the Gnome-Do, follow by typing your command/search phrase. However, instead of Gnome-Do appearing at the centre of screen, the search bar now appears at the bottom of the screen, where the Docky is situated.

Adding/removing items to the docky is as simple as dragging and dropping your application to the dock. There is another way though. When you perform a search on Gnome-Do, you can add the search result to the dock by clicking on the + button at the left corner.

If you have activated the Window manager plugin within the Plugins section, you will be able to perform actions on your Docky via the context menu (mouse right-click). The context menu interaction with the application is intuitive and changes according to the app. This is somewhat similar to the AeroPeek feature in Windows 7, but in a different form.

Other changes to Gnome-Do

Other than the dock, this latest version of Gnome-Do also comes with more plugins and fixed a large number of bugs. New plugins include create tinyurl from Gnome-Do, accessing various Google services, such as Docs, Gmail contact, Calendar, search, Gcalculate etc, and many more.

All in all, there is a great improvement over the previous version. If you have not download/install/use it, then you better grab it now.

You can read more about the Docky at its wiki page. What is the best features that you like about the latest version of Gnome-Do? Will the Docky replace your default dock?

Image credit: Docky wiki

Gnome-Do Docky: A New Dock On The Block originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)
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