Docky 20.04 installation How To

Applications
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Here is a picture of Docky running on my Linux Mint 20.1 Ulyssa

Docky
Docky2560×1440 547 KB

With the dependencies from 18.04 the last ever time Docky was in Ubuntu repositories.
It works and I think is so much better than plank.
Simply because plank especially in Mate and XFCE, when you open your panel to add something,
it thinks it’s a app and keeps a panel icon in Plank.
You can even minimize your panels with it in your Plank.
So I found a way to install Docky in 20.04.

Docky has never had any gripe at all and it has not been maintained since 2016,
hence why it’s no longer in the repositories, of 20.04. Just because an app isn’t being maintained anymore, does not mean that it shouldn’t be used.
Absolutely nothing wrong with Docky and Plank works in Elementary OS, but without the Icon animation. Docky works now in Elementary OS with all the animations, back in Elementary Luna it would break, as Elementary was so reliant on just Plank as default, but now able to install Docky and uninstall Plank.
So to install in either Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu-Mate 20.04, Linux Mint 20 and 20.1, Linux-Lite latest 20.04 version, follow the instructions below.

First we’ll make a directory to put all the dependencies in
Open a Terminal and type or copy and paste all commands one at a time.

mkdir -p ~/Downloads/docky
Then we’ll change directories to Downloads/docky
cd ~/Downloads/docky
Next we have some dependencies to download, they are all Deb files
So again type, or copy and paste one at a time. If wget is not installed then in Terminal where you are now simply type or copy and paste sudo apt install wget
Once installed carry on following instructions below.

wget http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/universe/g/gnome-sharp2/libgconf2.0-cil_2.24.2-4_all.deb

wget http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/g/glibc/multiarch-support_2.27-3ubuntu1_amd64.deb

wget http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/universe/libg/libgnome-keyring/libgnome-keyring-common_3.12.0-1build1_all.deb

wget http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/universe/libg/libgnome-keyring/libgnome-keyring0_3.12.0-1build1_amd64.deb

wget http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/universe/g/gnome-keyring-sharp/libgnome-keyring1.0-cil_1.0.0-5_amd64.deb

We’ll install all the dependencies first, all at once.
Type or copy and paste

sudo apt-get install ./*.deb

Then finally we will install Docky separately
Keep your Terminal open inside the Docky folder
Type or copy and paste
wget http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/universe/d/docky/docky_2.2.1.1-1_all.deb

Then finally we will install Docky
Type or copy and paste

sudo apt-get install ./docky_2.2.1.1-1_all.deb

Once it’s installed you’ll find it in,
Menu/Accessories/Docky

4 Likes
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@clatterfordslim…Thanks!! Even I could follow your instructions!!!

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Great job @clatterfordslim!

I really love the idea of posting knowledge and tutorials in the forum. However, I’d love to add a little piece of advice: Don’t overestimate the level of knowledge of your readers!

I have no idea what Docky and Plank are (something with desktop panels, I deduce from your post) and less why I should install them. Sorry for my ignorance.

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Absolutely agree about clear instructions and not overestimating.

At the risk of mansplaining, Plank is one program that creates a string of menu/launcher icons in a panel, rather like the launchers in Unity or like (I assume) Apple OS. Docky can create the same sort of panel. Docky can be configured to do more computer status reporting as well.

I’ve never liked that style of launcher, preferring the simple menu system used by Mint or MATE or most other distros. But it’s all about choice, right?

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Thank you @berninghausen!

Giving a proper explanation is never mansplaining. “Mansplaining” is mainly a condescending way of telling things which are often obvious.

I absolutely agree!

So, it’s something like the “Latte Dock”, I use

latte
latte915×534 111 KB

(enlarged screenshot)

I love it! I think, it looks very cool and modern.

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Exactly! There’s probably a name for this kind of launcher, but I don’t know it. Thanks, by the way, for your invitation to try Garuda. I enjoy the aesthetic–it’s probably the first really different in a long time and it’s well-executed, rather like Deepin and Bodhi. The other 250+ distros are pretty similar and pretty boring.
Conky can also be configured to give you an information graphic about your computer–up time, temperatures, memory usage, etc. Worth exploring if you are curious what’s under the hood.

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Well yes all about choice, considering that Plank’s bug has never been fixed. When configuring a normal XFCE or Mate panel with Plank running it thinks that Panel are apps it stays in Plank till you logout or restart your system. This bug started way back in the 2nd half of 2016. It definitely put me off of using it in Mate and XFCE.

Canonical decided not to have Docky in their Repositories anymore in 20.04, but the great thing about it, is that if you have the right dependencies installed, you can install virtually anything from 18.04 or even 16.04. I just wanted to do a simple tutorial, on how to get Docky installed on 20.04. Docky has been in Linux since time was forgotten, way back in 2008.

I don’t but if you make things simple enough for everyone to use, including new people to Linux who might not know how to use the Terminal, then it’s a win win situation. I have to admit though that since using Linux for so many years, when I first started out there was hardly any help out there at all and we were all chucked in at the deep end. Spent a lot of the time breaking the system, especially in Gnome2 days with the brilliant though sometimes pain in the backside 10.04 Lucid Lynx and the LTS before that Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope). We were literally chucked in at the deep end and yes even terminal was new and never had used it before, but with a bit of time and patients were able to work out what to do, by using the help command in Terminal to install stuff, move a customized sound file to /usr/share/sounds/ubuntu/stereo.

Never thought that there would be forums out there to join, as coming from Windows machine knowing that there was no help out there at all, unless you paid for it by installing third party crap that ended up slowing Windows XP down even more, by being forever starting up at boot, or an app that was able to corrupt your hard drive.

My point being is that with all the help out there now, new comers to Linux have it cushy these days.
I can remember when for drivers you literally added the driver to the kernel yourself and that was no easy task, as you had to scour the Ubuntu forums and Internet to find the solution. Can still be like that now sometimes depending on what you intend to do, take Gentoo for instance that is the same as what Ubuntu Linux used to be like, having to spend days coding to get anything to run properly.

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Why did cannonical remove docky from their reposetories?

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I’ve never come across this bug before - I mostly run Ubuntu 20.04 - and I use plank (which also precludes me running Wayland) “everywhere” - but - I also run Plank on XFCE 4.12 on 2 x RPi4B (8 GB boards) - and I haven’t noticed any bugs in Plank on them…

Screenshot_2021-01-20_12-11-25
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Plank on Raspbian 10 armhf XFCE 4.12

I switched from docky to plank about Ubuntu 14.x era, as it seemed more stable and defiinitely less resource hungry… It’s also the main “default” dock in elementary Pantheon desktop (which is my favourite deskop, aesthetically, just a shame it’s so locked down and tricky to tweak properly like XFCE and/or Gnome 3.x, so I don’t run it).

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Just an update - I’ve now mostly stopped using plank - and instead using the gnome dock with “dash to dock” extension.

It’s much more “out of the box” than plank - and - even when I turn it off / disable it - it’s still “there” even if hidden - so I might as well use it - and plank was one of the things stopping me going to Wayland - now there’s only a couple of things in my way for going Wayland all the way:

1 - Synergy KVM, not even the latest 1.14.x supports running on Wayland - they’re “promising” (but not committing) to supporting Wayland in a “future version” (there’s a github “promise” from the developer to have wayland support - the date on that github entry is from f^^king 2014!!! As of 4th of May 2021, they’re upping the priority a notch, but no promises). I may have to give Barrier a shot one of these days, hang the expense (I paid for Synergy).
2 - and the other is that it’s pretty much broken / buggy / has issues on Ubuntu 20.04 (and maybe others) with proprietary NVidia drivers (can’t remember the exact issue).

Ubuntu 21.04 on RPi4 defaults to Wayland - but - I had to force disable Wayland to get plank and synergy working… definitely maybe time to investigate using barrier…