Gnome Do Goodness

Because of my extensive use of the tool as of late, I now feel compelled to write a small bit on “Gnome DO“. This launcher has really reduced my required keystrokes and mouse clicks to launch my applications and to load my documents. This nice little app is brought up by the “Super+Space” key combo (Windows Key + Space). Once in the foreground, simply begin typing what it is that you wish to have and GnomeDo begins dynamically displaying the launcher for the application or document that you wish to load – once the correct app is shown in the GnomeDo window, simply press enter and you have you app ready to go.

I know that this may not sound like much, but the amount of time saved by keeping my hands on the keyboard (without having to press Alt+F1+down, down, down, over, enter) is considerable – not to mention the preservation of the work flow and associated mental processes. Think – you are working in your text editor on a Python document, want to open up a terminal window to test it out – just press super+space, type term and hit enter. This is a small example, but there are thousands of uses.

To install GnomeDo in Ubuntu Hardy Heron is simple enough, though it is not in the standard Hardy repositories. To add the Do repos, simply add the following to your repository list (software sources) :

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/do-core/ubuntu hardy main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/do-core/ubuntu hardy main

then either update your sources and search for ‘gnome do’ in Synaptic, or open up a terminal and enter:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install gnome-do

Once installed, I would recommend opening it up (Applications -> Accessories -> GnomeDo) and customizing it a bit. For starters, set it to start at log on and to hide the window at first launch. I am also partial to the Glass Frame theme as it matches my Emerald theme. Next head over to the plugins tab and make sure that all available plugins are listed. This tab is a virtual candy store where you select the tools to suit your usage the most – I am partial to Gnome Dictionary, files and folders, Gnome Terminal, Google Maps, Pidgin, and Tomboy – but you should definitely play with them and see what you like. The nice thing is that if you click ‘about’, you will often be taken to the Ubuntu Wiki on the plugin, which usually gives you some handy methods for using the tool.

Well, thats my little bit on GnomeDo – install it and check it out, or don’t, but don’t come complaining to me when you fingers are tired from all the excess key strokes.

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