Plank
Plank is software that provides a very minimalist and simplistic dock for Linux operating systems and also provides a framework and library for creating more advanced docks. A dock, for those who are unfamiliar, is a bar of icons or buttons that appears somewhere on the screen for convenient access (and it's not quite the same as the "taskbar" that Windows users are familiar with). A famous example of a dock is the one that comes standard on Mac OS X operating systems and usually appears at the bottom of the screen. The Mac dock is very small until one hovers the mouse cursor over it, at which time the buttons become larger and easier to access. Plank attempts to give this sort of convenience to Linux users for most operating systems. Linux users who already use Elementary OS with the Pantheon desktop environment already have a nice dock, but installing Pantheon can be a pain, and not all users want to use Elementary OS. Installing a standalone dock is far easier, so Plank is the answer.
- A minimal dock interface for Linux operating system users who want that Mac OS X convenience and feel
- Despite being pretty minimal, it comes with four themes: Numix, Pantheon, Arc and Unity-like
- Preferences can be accessed conveniently by holding down Ctrl and right clicking on the dock
- Supports quite a few languages, but many translations are incomplete or need review. Those who are interested in helping can do so here
- Free and open source
- Multiple Plank docs can be run at once. Check out the instructions here
- Can be installed directly from the ArchLinux repository here
- Virtually featureless by itself, as it's meant to be minimal. Users who want more features should consider one of Plank's many forked projects
- Plank will not work for users using Wayland
- No support for Windows or Mac operating systems
There's nothing particularly fancy about the Plank dock, and that's the reason it's so popular. The developers have labeled it "stupidly simple" for a reason. It's extremely lightweight and minimal, making it a fine choice for users who want exactly that on their Linux operating system. It's also easy to build from, allowing developers to create some pretty awesome and far more complex docks, which the developers are perfectly fine with since they designed Plank for that very purpose. Currently, the software is on version 0.11.4, which was released in March, 2017, and has been in development since 2011. According to the code repository on Launchpad, Plank is still being actively developed, wit the last commits happening back at the end of April 2018. Humorously, releases are named after characters from the decades-old cartoon, "Ed, Edd and Eddy." In fact, the current release is named "Eddy."
Alternatives to Plank
Gnome Do
Synapse
Docky
Cairo-Dock
Tint2
DockbarX
https://github.com/M7S/dockbarx
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