Docks

[Member stevix]

Does anyone out there have much experience of installing and using Docks in antiX? The only ones I’ve come across (in other Linux distros) is the Plank dock and the Cairo dock, both of which were already there, I didn’t have to install them.

So, is any specific dock easier than others to install and set up? Any particular dock to avoid?

The reason I’m asking is the same reason I took an interest in the recent thread about antiX with Gnome desktop. Simply I get a bit fed up with forever scrolling up and down menus to find things. Ok, so I’ve got a few launchers installed in taskbar at bottom of screen, but they’re a bit small and close together, that I often click on the wrong one by accident.

Any suggestions, hints, tips etc greatly appreciated. Just in case it makes any difference, I’ll be using it with antiX 21/22 64 bit.

Thanks

[Moderator Brian Masinick]

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https://linuxhint.com/application_docks_panels_linux/

https://www.fossmint.com/best-docks-for-ubuntu-linux/

https://www.maketecheasier.com/linux-dock-roundup/

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Brian Masinick

[Member wildstar84]

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I use some Windowmaker Dockapps, including a cpl I wrote myself. They work best (are “swallowed”) using the “Wharf” dock that comes with the AfterStep windowmanager, but Windowmaker and Fluxbox (Slit) also support most of them. Wharf also doubles as an app. launcher by adding static icons and configured for which app(s) to launch for each one. It also supports multiple-actions via configuration for the different mouse buttons. Icons can also “launch” “folders” of additional dock-apps and/or launch icons.

https://www.dockapps.net/
http://afterstep.org/index.php?show=features

Regards,

Jim

[Member madibi]

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@stevix
I like and use Plank
Since I like the dock icons to get bigger when I hover over them, I use plank in combination with compton (or xcompmgr).
However, I must point out that this combination works well only with jwm, while with fluxbox and IceWM there is a bug of a rectangle (in corrispondence with the dock area) where applications do not accept mouse commands.

You’ll find some more details in the following post, point 5: https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/how-to-make-antix-look-like-macos-with-jwm/

Good luck 🙂
m

[Member stevix]

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Thank you to all of you, I will go through all of the above in detail over the weekend. I have a spare laptop that I just use for playing around and experimenting, then if everything goes haywire I just wipe it and start again. That way I don’t upset any of my “daily use” machines.

[Member Spartak77]

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@stevix
You may find it useful to read a paragraph of my unofficial antiX user manual under development.
I copy this paragraph, of the Icewm chapter, here:

5.3.4 Dock Bars
There are several. It is important that they are lightweight, and that they do not carry libraries not on the system belonging to different graphical environments. Among those suitable for antiX window managers we have Plank, Wbar, Tint2
Let us see as an example the installation and configuration of Wbar, a dockbar that when activated occupies only 10 MB of ram.

You can install it simply by using the package manager or the terminal:
apt-get install wbar
recommended packages should also be installed:
apt-get install lxde-icon-theme wbar-config fonts-liberation
The first time you want “Wbar” to appear on the desktop, you will need to invoke it by simply typing wbar in the terminal.
For configuration we can rely on wbar-config. The simple and intuitive program allows you to add icons/launchers, change the icon theme, make the bar completely transparent so that only the icons can be seen, you can configure the zoom effect, Mac-OS style, to enlarge the icon when you are about to click it, etc.
After you have configured the dockbar to your liking, you need to open the hidden .wbar file to copy the code string to insert into the startup file so that the dockbar will reappear when you restart your pc.
To do this, open with a text editor (e.g., leafpad) the file wbar: paste this command into a terminal:
leafpad ~/.wbar
select the line wbar –above-desk –exc…. and copy/paste it into the startup file:
leafpad ~/icewm/startup
Remember to put the “&” symbol at the end of the line, and then save and close the file.

It can happen that the bar gives rise to graphical errors, that is, it happens that in an area around the bar, instead of the desktop background, appears the background of the Login window or a black background. It is possible to remedy this by right-clicking on this area, however this is not an elegant solution and in the long run it tires.
A more effective way to eliminate this error is to not have IceWM and the bar start at the same time but to insert a slight delay, such as 5 seconds.
You will have to open with a text editor the file ~/.icewm/startup where you are going to insert this line:

sleep 5 && xxxxxxxxxx &

where instead of xxxxxxxxxxxx you will have to insert the line wbar –above-desk –bpress … that you had copied from the file ~/.wbar
Remember that at the end of the line you must insert the & symbol.
If the grafic error persist try lengthening the delay to 10 seconds by changing the sleep line 5 in:
sleep 10
Note. If you later make changes to the dock, using the wbar-config tool, these changes will be recorded within the ~/.wbar file, where the line
wbar –above-desk -exc….
will be modified. If you want these changes to reoccur on subsequent desktop openings you will have to substitute, in the ~/.icewm/startup file, this modified line in place of the previous one.

Note. Instead of inserting the line, described above, in ~/.icewm/startup might be more convenient to insert it in ~/.desktop-session/startup file
The ~/.desktop-session/startup file and the ~/.icewm/startup file allow some programs to be started at log-in along with the window manager, but while applications placed in ~/.desktop-session/startup will be started at log-in regardless of the WM being used, in the case of those placed in ~/.icewm/startup they will be started only at IceWM startup, they will not start if the log-in is done with another WM.
The ~ / .desktop-session / startup file can also be accessed from Control Centre → Session → Startup

@madibi

However, I must point out that this combination works well only with jwm, while with fluxbox and IceWM there is a bug of a rectangle (in corrispondence with the dock area) where applications do not accept mouse commands.

It seems a problem similar to the unwanted graphic effects present with Wbar, solved with the inclusion of
Sleep 5
in line with the dock code
You could try putting this delay before the line
plank &

@madibi
If that’s not a problem for you, I’d like to include your Plank instructions in the new version of the manual.

• This reply was modified 6 months, 1 week ago by Spartak77.

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[Member madibi]

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@Spartak

Spartak77 wrote:

@madibi
If that’s not a problem for you, I’d like to include your Plank instructions in the new version of the manual.

Many thanks for the titanic work that you do and I appreciate very much.
The answer is: yes of course. Please don’t hesitate to include all the parts that you think are suitable for your instructions 🙂
Ciao!
m

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