Is plank the only option for docks?

[coolpolygons]

I like the Cupertino layout for Ubuntu MATE, but I don’t like how the icon stays on, and how the dock is green. Is there a dock option for UM that acts similarly to GNOME’s dash to dock extension?

[coolpolygons]

And by icon, i meant the plank icon.

[elcste]

There is the MATE Dock Applet, which can be added to a MATE panel. I’ve used this for a while, and it’s used by Mutiny, but it’s not as full-featured or slick as Plank.

You can fix your Plank issues:

1. Hide Plank icon:
   gsettings set net.launchpad.plank.dock.settings:/net/launchpad/plank/docks/dock1/ show-dock-item false
   (or use dconf-editor)

2. Green dock: Ctrl + right click the dock, choose Preferences, and them change the Theme option to something like Matte or Transparent. (You could probably also do this from dconf-editor.) You can also change the Position and Alignment options, as well as auto-hiding settings. I haven’t used Dash to Dock in a few years, but I think these options would get you close.

[coolpolygons]

Thanks man.

How does one use the dconf-editor?

And also, can you tell me in detail what the CLI command you gave me does? I want to know the step-by-step process so that I can use it with other occasions.

Thank you!

[elcste]

gsettings is the base command.

set makes a settings change. (You can replace it with get to see the current settings, just leave off the final value.)

The dns/path-like part is the the app and its settings categories. Most are just reverse DNS like com.solus.brisk-menu, but this one has the path part I think because it could support having more than one dock (dock1 would be dock2 etc).

Then the specific settings and its after the value. Some settings are true/false, some take strings (which must be surrounded by ‘single quotes’, and there are others.

If you want to see all the available settings (it’s a long list!), run

gsettings list-recursively | sort -u # alphabetize and remove duplicates

---

dconf-editor is a GUI for doing all this, which is pretty self-explanatory but kind of annoying to use since they redesigned it as a GNOME 3 app. You’ll need to install it

sudo apt install dconf-editor

and then open it like any app.

[vkareh]

@coolpolygons - I also like the mate-dock-applet, like @elcste mentioned. There’s also Docky, but I haven’t tried it. Found another old thread that mentions it:

What is the best dock for Ubuntu MATE? Plank vs Docky?

I want to see how working with a dock compares to using a panel. I know there is Plank which can be activated through MATE Tweak and it is looking okay, perhaps a bit too simplistic for my taste. What are your experiences with Cairo-Dock and Docky? Which one looks and works best for you and causes the least problems in Ubuntu MATE 16.04? Any tips and tricks to share to make any of these docks look better? Screenshots appreciated!

[Holgerrpl]

Hi coolpolygons,

I’ve made a video how to use plank in English and German in 2016. Perhaps it helps a little bit. I like plank more the dash to dock. It has more options.
You can change the themes and download many more from the net with the plank --preferences dialog.
You will find the themes in /usr/share/plank/themes.
If you have knowledge in css it is very easy to change the themes for your needs.

[coolpolygons]

Thank you! I was looking for ways to tweak this thing. I guess I’ll have to learn CSS for tweaking things in the Linux world.

Again, thank you for the help!

[jpberes]

Currently within Ubuntu Mate 17.10 I use the Plank Dock, but if to compare all the avalable docks for Linux, I prefer Cairo Dock, far superior towards Plank and Docky !