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A Beautiful Dock For Ubuntu [with PIC]

openswitch.org — Finally, the time has come. I ’ve been looking high and low for a stable, easy to install, usable and good looking dock for ubuntu. My search has ended (for the time being) with AWN. If you’re like me, and find a app/launcher dock to be exceedingly useful then you absolutely need to check this out. It’s the bees knees.

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  • schestowitz, on 10/12/2007, -8/+34Kiba is even more funky, IMHO. Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYsxaMyFV2Y
    • greywolfexcel, on 10/12/2007, -9/+5Yep, Kiba is kooler.
    • Azimuth1, on 10/12/2007, -7/+3> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYsxaMyFV2Y

      Holy *****, that is sweet. I have Edgy on another partition on this HDD, I need to get this for it.
    • JeffH, on 10/12/2007, -0/+25The problem with Kiba-Dock is that it's a bitch to install and ***** insane to customize. Not to mention extremely glitchy. Don't get me wrong, it has potential, but i'd go as far as to call it unusable at this state. Adding apps is a pain (drag and drop never seems to work even though they say it's "supported"), basically doing anything with it requires a lengthy trip to Terminal or else you face a maze of an options menu.
    • fishbert, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Is kiba dock the one where the dock items bounce all over the place like insane crack addicts? (youtube blocked by co. firewall)

      That dock reminded me of how Beryl first behaved -- annoyingly in-your-face and distracting. Beryl has gotten better (to some degree) as it has matured, and I hope that kiba dock (or whichever dock it is that I think you're referring to) does the same. Until that time, I'll wait for something that actually helps me get work done rather than distract me with bouncing shineys.
      • j4200, on 03/21/2008, -0/+1You can sure spot the ***** artists pretty easy when they still haven't got news that beryl has merged to become compiz fusion. Or compiz for short.
        • j4200, on 03/21/2008, -0/+1bury if you see this. i'm sleepie didn't realize this is from a year ago
    • DrColossus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I had kiba and had nothing but problems with it, that may be cause i'm still a linux noob, but I'm using AWN now and love it. Although i'd like an autohide feature.
    • MeneerR, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17To make AWN work with AUTOHIDE or as a REAL DOCK:

      1. Press ALT+F2 .. this opens the run dialog
      2. Type gconf-editor .. this launches the gnome configuration editor
      3. In the tree at the left navigate to /apps/avant-window-navigator

      Now on the right, you see 2 interesting options:
      autohide
      panel-mode

      Be a sane person, only turn one of these two on.
      Panel mode means maximized windows will not cover the AWN
      Autohide means it will automatically hide until you move your move towards it.

      You can't unfortunately drag and drop with this thing yet. (they should really implement that!)
      Other than that I'm loving it.

      PS. This configuration panel can be used to tweak every little detail of gnome and all gnome-apps. Have some fun with it.
    • ts8lemonade, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@JeffH

      It depends on which distro you use. I'm running openSUSE 10.2 and Kiba-dock was incredibly easy to install. All I had to do was open up YaST, search "kiba-dock," and click install and it was finished (you also need to have the beryl repository but I already had that). It's been working great for me :)
    • HyperHacker, on 10/12/2007, -7/+4Wow. The windows bounce, the icons fly around with realistic physics, the desktop is a cube that can be rotated on all 3 axes, you can fold the windows, everything is translucent...


      For the love of God WHY? What use is any of this? Why on Earth would you want your windowing system to use such obscene amounts of processing power just so you can spin your desktop around and throw icons and windows against the "wall"?

      This sort of interface has a place in games, where it's all about fun and nobody really cares if the game uses 100% CPU power. In an operating system? Ridiculous! The only feature I can see any use for, which wasn't even shown, is being able to rotate a window on the Z axis.
    • Elranzer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12>> A Beautiful Dock For LINUX [with PIC]

      There, fixed the title for ya. You're welcome.
  • Miso117, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Looks sick!

    Thanks for the post.
  • nasium, on 10/12/2007, -5/+9> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYsxaMyFV2Y

    That is SIC!
  • roastedbagel, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12Dugg for the "bees knees"
  • shinkaide, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2About time!
  • Paktu, on 10/12/2007, -6/+5Sorry, I know this is (somewhat) OT- but does anyone know how to install Ubuntu if I've mounted the install CD in Windows? I only have a USB CD-Rom drive and I cannot figure out how to boot from that.
  • leo333, on 10/12/2007, -28/+0If you want OSX feeling, get OSX86 (google it). If you wanna have linux feeling get Ubuntu, but seriously, this dock doesnt look loke osx at all. And thats what its meant to do, isnt it?
    • fishbert, on 10/12/2007, -1/+22The purpose of a (decent) dock is not to look/feel like some other dock.
      The purpose of a (decent) dock is to be useful in some way to the user.
    • thtroyer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7"If you wanna have linux feeling get Ubuntu,"

      What the crap? You do realize that there are a ton of interfaces for Linux besides the default Gnome DE, right? KDE, Xfce, Openbox, Fluxbox, IceWM, Enlightenment, etc.

      Linux is about choice -- that's partially why there aren't many software standards in Linux -- because of this realization that not everyone likes the same thing.

      Besides, getting OSX isn't always practical (you know, getting a Mac) and OSX86 is illegal (breach of EULA)... not that many Digg users care about that...
    • salmonmoose, on 10/12/2007, -23/+4"What the crap? You do realize that there are a ton of interfaces for Linux besides the default Gnome DE, right? KDE, Xfce, Openbox, Fluxbox, IceWM, Enlightenment, etc."

      Funnily they always FEEL like linux. There is a lot of refinement that goes into how the UI on OSX and Windows behaves, and some of it just isn't addressed on linux. It's a hard quality to explain - the mouse is a bit more spongey, they keyboard not quite as snappy.
    • sirhomer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+39"The mouse is too spongey" makes the rank of #1 stupidest reason to hate Linux
    • crazybrit, on 10/12/2007, -2/+19Yeah, that statement was pretty much completely made up.

      Hey guys, I don't like Linux because it makes my monitor too hot!
    • benplaut, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Actually, Linux //does// make my CRT make a high pitched wine.
      Might have something to do with the higher refresh rate than the manual says is possible :D
    • HyperHacker, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Seems like a good way to kill it.
    • DOGPARTY, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2""The mouse is too spongey" makes the rank of #1 stupidest reason to hate Linux"

      funny cos the mouse on windows never feeling precise is one of the many reasons I use a mac with its beautifully tweaked to perfection acceleration, I can move my mouse a single pixel or flick it to the corner and back to the exact same position perfectly.
      This is after only 5 years on mac vs the 12 on windows
    • crazybrit, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Nice try... still complete bull.
  • fatsobob, on 10/12/2007, -3/+14Blogspam
    Direct link to Avant Window Navigator's Wiki page
    http://awn.wetpaint.com/
    • DrewBlood, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Thanks. Source site was not only blogspam but got me tagged for adult content by work filters.

      I tried installing this last night but unfortunately couldn't get it working since it requires beryl or compiz and I was on an older system. Anyone know of some good docks that don't necessarily have all the eyecandy but function similarly?
    • nailer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4No it's not. It's a brief opinion piece of some software. He's not just linking to it without contributing anything, so it's not blogspam.
  • DarkMeld, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2Cool, Fun to play with but completely useless :p
  • xspinkickx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3awn is ok, kiba would be better if it weren't so annoying...... the physics to the dock is cool, but it gets annoying really quick.
  • Brennan, on 10/12/2007, -8/+5Ubuntu is not it's own OS.
  • Rockyrowks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2How do you install the downloadable file?
  • tehkain, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6What we really need is a panel applet for gnome that gives us dock functionality. The dock and its clones are nothing but resource hogs and a waist of space. A good ole panel with dock functionality would be far more productive.
    • Skye16, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Dude, it's taking up 6mb of ram. 6. That's all. 6.

      If you need ram that bad, I'll beat up a little old lady and steal hers. Seriously.

      If this doesn't work for you, then by all means, work toward a panel that adds this functionality, or cry about it until someone else takes pity on you or decides they need it to. I'm perfectly content with AWN, and I've never even liked any docks i've tried before this one, on either windows or linux. I'm now a definite fan.
    • tehkain, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Thanks, you have no idea what you are talking about. For one I am developing a panel applet at the moment to do just that(still in its infancy). The issues is not with ram, but instead its a graphics issue. I have no problem running awn but many people do. So a solution that can be pushed in a gnome release would be far more effective. As for the dock.. Its bouncing effect is ok but I just dont see the point of taking up 700x45 pixels, for icons that could easily fit on your resizable gnome panel, then adding a bouncing effect that has no point other then to be annoying.
  • bouche, on 10/12/2007, -10/+2This is definitely getting nominated for my nerd awards. How can someone (and a group of people) get so excited for a DOCK? What about chicks?
    • UKsHaDoW, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6This is digg. Its where normal people come for daily dose of the secret nerdy goodness. I don't come on digg for chicks....you might , I don't
  • combustion8, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2hardly "beautiful".
  • webContentNow, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3It looks just awesome.
  • wiiwii, on 10/12/2007, -9/+0at last

    arnold

    ----
    Russell Ridley & Co. Re-Designed Website
    http://www.russellridley.co.uk/
    ----
  • chr1831, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3what about a good dock that works and is not so dang buggy for kde?
  • AstralSin, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3i've tried awn and i really really don't like it. its boring, its rather bloated, and it doesnt look as cool as the StarterBar gDesklet. I like the gDesklets, its the closest thing GNOME has to a decent widget engine that i'm aware of. KDE has SuperKaramba, and i think it has a similar StarterBar thing. basically this awn thing is lackluster and the first time i tried it, it made the bottom half of my desktop black. i'm not sure i even fixed that before i went back to gDesklets
  • jockser, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1well.... different strokes...
    he said strokes
  • crazybrit, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Yeah, AWN sucks. It's like a taskbar, only you need to move your mouse over an icon to see what window it is! What fun.
  • wastern, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5If you want a real Dock you really need OS X. I've tried a lot of these imitations docks and none of them offer a solution outside of a launcher. You still need you other menubars and things. They tend to just get in the way and cover up your windows (unless you auto-hide)

    Until someone makes a quality dock based window manager for linux it isn't going to function that great. You might get the "look" you are going for so it "looks cool" but thats about as far as most of these go
    • generalloy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I agree with you, Stardock Objectdock

      The OS X dock groups tasks together , doesn't put duplicate icons of the tasks in a / , doesn't , let's you right click on an icon to select one of the windows, brings all application , minimizes windows with a screenshot

      That said, the Avant Window Navigator from SVN (there's a .deb of it around the ubuntuforums) is kind of pretty though, if you turn on fade and alpha transparency in gconf-editor. Pity it's not an option in the GUI yet.

      PS: It's also not a good thing just to install things randomly off the net unless you knowingly take the chance that you'll get a virus-- Linux, Mac, or Windows notwithstanding.
    • shakin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I use Ubuntu for all my computing needs at work and at home and I agree with you to a certain extent.

      At work I really only need an easy way to launch the 10-15 or so apps I use often, then I need a way to manage my desktop, windows, and programs.

      Because I dislike the complexity and waste of space that are the Gnome and KDE panels, I tried to use many docks. Ksmoothdock is stable and easy to use. Kiba-dock is very good if you find the right nightly snapshot and it includes a taskbar that's ok. Just make sure you don't turn on the physics engine. I dumped docks for good when I started using Katapult. To launch a program with Katapult you hit the shortcut key (alt-space by default) to bring up the interface, then start typing the name of the program. Katapult will display the matching program name and icon. When the right program is displayed you just hit enter to launch it.

      I became so used to Katapult that when I tried to go back to using a dock I found it was so slow I couldn't stand it. I'm a programmer and I type fast, so hitting alt-space and then 'fir [Enter]' to run Firefox takes no more than one second. To launch Quanta I just need to type the 'q' and then hit enter. Combined with Beryl's various window management plugins (alt-tab, circular switcher, and expose) I don't need a taskbar. My desktop is entirely free of panels and docks so I get more room for my work.

      Using a computer that way isn't for everybody. I don't do it at home, but at work I am more focussed on just a few programs and screen space is valuable. I recommend anyone give it a try.
    • abdulla, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2> The OS X dock groups tasks together , doesn't put duplicate icons of the tasks in a...

      I can show you a screenshot of 8 Vim icons in my OS X dock. It takes a bit of application support as well, so I think when Gnome/KDE apps become dock aware, things might be better.
    • wastern, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@shakin

      if you like Katapult you should try Quicksilver in OS X. Its that on crack. imagine selecting a group of files, zipping then, and emailing them to a person of your choosing all within the keyboard interface and never touching your mouse or opening an application

      a short screencast.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EydTYOeqIrk
  • subliminal727, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3AWN drove me nuts. quite a pain. kiba's not that great either....none of them are. somebody make a better dock!
  • underdog5004, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2finally, a dock that just works!
  • hugejimmy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2the kiba dock looks amazing
  • DivineMonkey, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1That dude obviously hasn't used kiba dock, in fact i like kiba so much i'm gonna make a donation :-D

    Kiba FTW!
  • motang, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Nice, need to check this one out.
  • mackoid101, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I love how the dock is one of the most criticized aspects of OS X (I'm an apple guy and love it), and yet is is being developed for more and more platforms. Trend?
  • RandaII, on 10/12/2007, -5/+0Again thanks to stupid ubuntu users they think that ubuntu is the only Linux distro. I also dugg this down for being inaccurate. This is for *nix not just ***** ubuntu. Grow up ubuntu users and start to respect other distros. I am getting real ***** tied of your only ubuntu attitudes.
  • gavintlgold, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1kill me....
  • gavintlgold, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Ok.... sorry about my other comment (not enough time to edit).

    I was going to say that no one has heard of the creator, but he seems to just be very busy on creating a new version of one of his programs. Read the comments on the last blog post. I am anxiously waiting the release of it! (and another one called Arena)

    his blog is: http://njpatel.blogspot.com
  • gavintlgold, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3You can get AMD64 Debian packages from a blog I started: http://cutting-edgy-amd64.blogspot.com . There aren't any else available (you would need to compile).
  • dgh1973, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1This is dupe blog spam.
  • Meheren, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It's not perfect... but then again nothing is (at least nothing I've found yet), But this thing comes pretty damn close! I have been looking for something like this for awhile... Thanks so much for ending my search :p
  • SatNav, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It's not bad - but I think I'm gonna stick with cairo-dock. It's a son of a bitch to set up (launchers are hard-coded, so you have to modify the source to customise), but once it is, it looks nicer, icons grow and shrink like on a Mac, and it auto-hides, so it's not in the way of my maximised windows. meh - to each his own eh?
  • StanleyKoolPrik, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1Can someone tell me why the Ubuntu desktop is so fugly? Seriously, do you think youre going mainstream with that vomit-inducing design? I booted the live CD on my computer and my room-mate asked if the dog took a ***** on my monitor.
    • truegodofwar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4umm, you do know that you can make it look however you want? I personally don't get the whole bar on top thing so I have my application menu just where the start button used to be. I also changed the background. Then you can change the skins on the desktop to make it look shiny or whatever.

      It really looks just as good as YOU make it.
  • tobiasly, on 10/12/2007, -7/+0I don't mean to brag, but I also have a beautiful dick.
  • Zuhaib, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Correction, the title should read: A Beautiful Dock For Linux (with GNOME) [with PIC]

    Ubuntu != Linux
  • frozenyoghurt, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2RocketDock is a fantastic dock for windows if anyone's interested. Don't digg me down just cos it's not linux!

    http://www.punksoftware.com/rocketdock
  • truegodofwar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2So is Aero any better than Beyrl? From what i've seen on the internets, ubunt can be customized with beyrl look just as good if not better than vista.

    I really have to question what the point is of Vista.

    Both ubuntu and vista have fancy 3d graphics.
    Both ubuntu and vista have some minor compatability problems with hardware.
    Both ubuntu and vista have file systems that never need defragmenting.......Oh wait *****, only ubuntu does that.
    Both ubunt and vista are free.................oh wait *****, vista costs 400 ***** dollars!

    Seems like an easy choice.
    • MCGrunge1, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Both Ubuntu and Vista run the majority of software you find at your local computer store... oh wait, that's just Vista.

      Don't get me wrong I dual boot both Vista and Ubuntu, but to say Vista has no point... that I have to disagree with.
    • BlackAdderIII, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"""Both Ubuntu and Vista run the majority of software you find at your local computer store... oh wait, that's just Vista."""

      I don't know what Vista you've been using. If you want windows, XP runs more software, in the case of games it runs it faster, and supports more hardware. That's if you want windows, not Linux.
  • Sultana, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1After seeing this blog, I went and installed AWN last night. I love it. I installed it with Xubuntu, and works wonderfully :)
    • Xilon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3But Xubuntu is not Ubuntu... the title says it's for Ubuntu. That's can't work!!!!!!11!1!1!one1!!oneone!
  • weizbox, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1OMFG! You can use this with other distros as well!!! Well.. i guess that kinda voids the part of the title thats says 'for Ubuntu'.. tho i do give him credit for using 'Ubuntu' in the title.. it does work for getting diggs. Grats on social manipulation and deception! =)
  • SteveMax, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2The site recommends Internet Explorer (enter it with Opera to see that). The poster seems to believe that Ubuntu is its own entity, separated from Linux (even though the main distribution is as Fedora RPMs and SRPMs). Buried.
  • piratebill, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This looks nice, but I think Gdesklets has it beat
  • wilberfan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Worked for me rather effortlessly... Wish I could figure out how to change the sequence of the icons on the dock, though...
  •  

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