Perl applets extend a platform-independent desktop panel
Games for Speculators
© cornelius, Fotolia
One panel has a neat collection of applets and another has spectacular looks – but a combination of the two is rare. Now help draws nigh for the desktop: PerlPanel is extensible with do-it-yourself widgets.
Regardless of whether you use Gnome or KDE, every desktop offers panels. They dock at the bottom or top of your screen, giving a home to menus and icons for launching programs, showing active applications in taskbars, or helping you switch between virtual desktops. The aim of the PerlPanel project is to use Perl to provide a platform-independent panel. At the same time, PerlPanel aims to let users add their own applets, simply by hashing up a couple of scripts.
Trial Run
On Ubuntu, you can install PerlPanel and the Perl modules on which it depends by typing sudo apt-get install perlpanel at the command line. To take it for a trial run, type /usr/bin/perlpanel. Figure 1 shows the panel GUI at the bottom of the desktop.
If the space at the bottom of the screen is already occupied by another panel, you can move it to the right or left border, or just ditch it if you feel brave enough to burn some bridges behind you.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Digital Autonomy
• The Answer Was Already on the Shelf
• Changing the Chip Industry: How Public Investment Has Grown Open Silicon
• United Nations Open Source Portal Goes Live
• EU Open Source Strategy Plays Key Role in Tech Sovereignty Package
• France Says “Au Revoir” to Microsoft
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Linux Surpasses Double-Digit Market Share
According to two sources, the Linux operating system has hit a major milestone in market share that naysayers thought would never happen.
-
AI Helped Develop a Linux Exploit
A use-after-free race exploit was discovered and exploited on CentOS Stream 9.
-
Yet Another Linux Kernel Vulnerability Discovered
Affecting millions of systems, a kernel flaw discovered by Qualys could allow users to gain root privileges.
-
Ubuntu 26.10 to Include Ubuntu Certified Hardware Check
If you've ever wondered if your laptop or PC is officially certified to run Ubuntu, that curiosity will soon be met.
-
Substantial Update to IPFire Now Available
The lastest version of IPFire features a fundamental change to how the system handles DNS.
-
Gnome Working on Test Center App to Make Testing Easier
It's now possible to test experimental features on the Gnome desktop without worrying that you'll break things.
-
New Vulnerability Discovered in Linux Kernel
Hiding out for nearly 15 years, the Ghostlock vulnerability allows a standard logged-in user to gain root privileges.
-
New Linux Flaw Lets Attackers Escape VMs
A 16-year-old vulnerability allows an attacker to escape a virtual machine, gain access to the host, and execute malicious code.
-
Hannah Montana Linux Is Back!
Developer Noah Cagle decided the world needed the once obscure but beloved Linux distribution and gave it a decidedly pink refresh.
-
System76 Refreshes the Lemur Laptop
If you're looking for a laptop with tons of power and battery, look no further than the latest iteration of the System76 Lemur Pro.