Quicksilver Replacement for Linux
Posted by geetarista August 09, 2006
I remember that before when I was switching over to Linux, I had heard about a program for Macs called Quicksilver. Of course I could never try it out because I didn’t have a Mac, but from what I heard, this cool little app could do just about anything (well, not anything). Since I was new to Linux, I didn’t really know how to look for something that was close to Quicksilver that I could use. But eventually I did find a few little apps for Linux that at least have the same general functions. They don’t have all the functionality that Quicksilver has, but hopefully these apps will keep progressing.
The one I will mostly be discussing is called Deskbar Applet. This little program is pretty powerful and can be very helpful especially when you are unfamiliar with Linux. To install the Deskbar Applet in Ubuntu, just search for it in the Synaptic Package Manager, or type this into the terminal:
sudo apt-get install deskbar-applet
Once it is installed, you can add it to a panel to make it easier to use. Just right-click on the panel you want to use, and then click “Add to Panel”. Then just find the one that says “Deskbar” and add it to the panel. You are now ready to start searching for just about anything you need. Just click in the search bar, or you can click Alt+F3 as a shortcut. Once you’ve got it running, you can right click on the little icon and then change the types of searches you want under “Preferences”.
You’ll want to make sure that you have Beagle installed as well because the Deskbar integrates it and makes the applet even more powerful. For those who don’t know, Beagle is a desktop search application that is very powerful and has a lot of great features.
If you want to see it in action there is a little screencast that shows just about everything you can do with it.
For those who use del.icio.us, there is a great del.icio.us plugin that can be used to search your bookmarks.
The other programs that can be used to accomplish the same thing are Katapult and the GNOME Launch Box. Like I said before, they don’t have all of the functionality that the Deskbar Applet has, but you can check them out to see if they fit your needs better.
Even though the Deskbar Applet is not yet up to par with Quicksilver, the website talks about future updates that will hopefully bring it up to step.
