I wanna switch to Ubuntu MATE but Conky+Transparency and MATE are not friends

[eladhen]

Hi to the Ubuntu MATE community.
I’m a Linux Mint Xfce user, and I love Mint and I love Xfce, but I was blown away after almost a full day (!!! I just couldn’t stop) of running Ubuntu MATE 16.04 beta 1 live out of a USB. I’m really not a fan of MATE, and it’s similarities to Xfce most of the times make me miss Xfce, but OH MY GOD, the job that has gone into this distro is amazing and it is slick, simple, flexible and fun, all at the same time!

After the day of using Ubuntu MATE one problem remains that makes it hard for me to switch. It might look like a small thing (OK, it IS a small thing) but it’s important to me.

I love me some conky on my desktop, and I have a setup I take with me from place to place. ‎The thing is, MATE’s Show Desktop button seems to treat conky like a regular window and minimizes it. This is a problem I’ve encountered with MATE in the past and was another thing that kept me away, but I hoped it was solved. The only way I seemed to be able to solve the problem is by defining conky’s own_window_type as “override”, which makes it invisible to the window manager or something. The problem is, “override” makes conky unable to use the compositor and ruins my beautiful transparencies. (If you’re wondering, yes, I’ve tried this with marco, compton and compiz).

I’ve searched around and couldn’t find a solution to this problem so I thought perhaps here a remedy would be found.

Thank y’all, and to all of the developers: keep up the amazing work you’re doing.

[wolfman]

Hi,

try Conky Manager, it might help?, there are integrated transparency settings in the app!.

Conky Manager Gets Revamped UI, New Options (Conky GUI)

Also; there is a Beta 2 Final for UM 16.04 which might interest you?:

Ubuntu MATE 16.04 Beta 2 is released

Today marks the release of Ubuntu MATE 16.04 Xenial Xerus Final Beta. This release feature more bug fixes and refinements than any release we've put out before. You'll also find full Client Side Decoration support, Synapse integration, new Plank, improvements to Welcome and the Software Boutique and better Compiz integration. Come and read the release notes to get the full details and the download. https://ubuntu-mate.org/blog/ubuntu-mate-xenial-beta2/ The next LTS is due for release on April…

[folcred]

Conky seems to be fine with transparency on my desktop. You don’t need “override” to keep the window manager from moving it, “dock” or “panel” (depending on your layout) will also work. The relevant lines in my config are:

    own_window = true,
    own_window_class = 'Conky',
    own_window_type = 'dock',
    own_window_argb_visual = true,
    own_window_argb_value = 255,
    own_window_transparent = true,
    own_window_hints = 'below,sticky',

Hope it helps.

[tiox]

own_window_argb_visual = true

Yeah, that needs to be in there for Conky to have transparency. And you need compositing enabled.

[eladhen]

Thanks folcred,
own_window_type dock did the job (I didn’t know this option exists). My laptop just switched to Ubuntu MATE 16.04! Joy!