Why use Conky?

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Oraticus
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Re: Why use Conky?

Post by Oraticus »

My take: it reminds me of a solution looking for a problem but all that says is that it has the data when you want it and tries to look pretty at the same time.

On the other hand eye-candy does seem to grab attention certainly my attention. Why?
I am using mx21.1 KDE at the mo', and while i love the cool steady look of LM Cinnamon the other one is so damn attractive.

EDIT hmmm 2nd thoughts?
Maybe it does partly fulfil a functional purpose, and maybe partly a decorative purpose, and maybe like scented patterned shape things in the auto, truck, pickup, ... it makes the user feel much improved by it being there along with the option to change it or turn it off all at the same time?
It has an appeasement factor?
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smurphos
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Re: Why use Conky?

Post by smurphos »

all41 wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 1:15 pm Yep--I get that way sometimes as well. But I do like the info. My solution is a panel launcher for conky.
Nice - particularly suited to be assigned as a hot corner command or a Nemo action (right click on Desktop and have a Toggle Conky option)
For custom Nemo actions, useful scripts for the Cinnamon desktop, and Cinnamox themes visit my Github pages.
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smurphos
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Re: Why use Conky?

Post by smurphos »

Oraticus wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 2:41 pm It has an appeasement factor?
It's a tiny bit addictive as well - once you successfully make your own config or tweak an existing one, you will always come back to it to tweak some more. Once you conky you cannot stop.
For custom Nemo actions, useful scripts for the Cinnamon desktop, and Cinnamox themes visit my Github pages.
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Re: Why use Conky?

Post by Oraticus »

smurphos wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 3:40 pm It's a tiny bit addictive as well - once you successfully make your own config or tweak an existing one, you will always come back to it to tweak some more. Once you conky you cannot stop.
A non-destructive tweak giving a sense of achievement and ownership - maybe even bragging rights?
Isn't there a marketing term for that: hook? draw?
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Bleys
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Re: Why use Conky?

Post by Bleys »

sdibaja wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 9:42 am Lean Conky is here
https://github.com/jxai/lean-conky-config

"One notable feature is automatic discovery of devices such as network interfaces and mounted disks. "
Name/Label your partitions
Very interesting Conky. I'm just realizing that I still have a lot to learn about conky.

thanks for the link!
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Termy
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Re: Why use Conky?

Post by Termy »

AZgl1800 wrote: Wed Mar 02, 2022 9:59 pm why use Conky when other tools are pretty much taking care of everything already?
What other tools are there which have taken care of what conky(1) does? I've not heard of anything else, unfortunately; conky(1) seems to be the defacto standard for placing that sort of thing on a desktop. I've not used it for years, but I do know it's immensely versatile and can cater to various stylistic and statistical needs; AFAIK, it's unrivalled in this area, status bars aside.
I'm also Terminalforlife on GitHub.
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all41
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Re: Why use Conky?

Post by all41 »

smurphos wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 3:40 pm
Oraticus wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 2:41 pm It has an appeasement factor?
It's a tiny bit addictive as well - once you successfully make your own config or tweak an existing one, you will always come back to it to tweak some more. Once you conky you cannot stop.
lol I went through those hoops as well--but I have never decorated it like a Christmas tree.
I finally got the info I wanted where I wanted it and have been moving this same conky.rc among my systems since
17.1 or so. It's all conky-std version. Because of the transparencies the wallpaper choices are limited.
Valles Marineris works well for night time (lack of blue) and gets more vivid with redshift.
@Oraticus
maybe partly a decorative purpose,
Not here--most would call mine dull--I call it informative.
Everything in life was difficult before it became easy.
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Re: Why use Conky?

Post by Oraticus »

Termy wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 8:09 pm
AZgl1800 wrote: Wed Mar 02, 2022 9:59 pm why use Conky when other tools are pretty much taking care of everything already?
What other tools are there which have taken care of what conky(1) does? I've not heard of anything else, unfortunately; conky(1) seems to be the defacto standard for placing that sort of thing on a desktop. I've not used it for years, but I do know it's immensely versatile and can cater to various stylistic and statistical needs; AFAIK, it's unrivalled in this area, status bars aside.
To be fair to the Conky on this machine it displays on one of the four virtual desktops/work spaces and maybe that is where it ought to reside?
Just a keyboard shortcut away.
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Koentje
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Re: Why use Conky?

Post by Koentje »

Some may call it a ricer tool, but i think it has a lot of potention! For me it is all about the info i can get out of my system, my NAS or info from the internet. It's an addiction, i keep messing with it! I even made my own security camera system! :)
I tried to theme it a little, but that is not a priority at the moment, its a bit messy..
This all is displayed on a old 19" Sony with color problems.. the colors in the screenshot are way harder and blue parts are presented as green.
http://www.cobrasoft.nl/pics/conky_mess1.jpg

And this i have on my workspace (no space left on the 19") ;)
http://www.cobrasoft.nl/pics/conky_mess2.jpg
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Re: Why use Conky?

Post by sdibaja »

Koentje wrote: Thu May 05, 2022 10:16 pm Some may call it a ricer tool, but i think it has a lot of potention! For me it is all about the info i can get out of my system, my NAS or info from the internet. It's an addiction, i keep messing with it! I even made my own security camera system! :)
I tried to theme it a little, but that is not a priority at the moment, its a bit messy..
This all is displayed on a old 19" Sony with color problems.. the colors in the screenshot are way harder and blue parts are presented as green.
http://www.cobrasoft.nl/pics/conky_mess1.jpg

And this i have on my workspace (no space left on the 19") ;)
http://www.cobrasoft.nl/pics/conky_mess2.jpg
hmmm... I too would like to setup a security camera system. probably about 5 or 6 cameras to start, maybe a few more later.
They would need to be wireless. being able to view on my Androids would be a bonus.
But, I have no idea where to start.
best of luck with that
Peter
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Koentje
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Re: Why use Conky?

Post by Koentje »

Mine are all wireless IP camera's except for one, that's a reverse camera from a car connected with a usb2video dongle. https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/32386781 ... pt=glo2nld

Ow and one is a rooted Samsung Galaxy J5 with ipwebcamera app.

For indoors ip camera i have these: https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/10050022 ... pt=glo2nld
For outdoor ip camera's i have this model: https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/32769953 ... 4078%7Csea

All the ip camera's and the galaxy can work on their own. I don't need any software for them. They react on motion and send pictures and video to my nas-ftp server and/or can notify me.

What i do with conky is i wget a still image from the camera and present it in a conky window with the ${image} cmd.
I run a bash script loop that keeps an eye on the ftp log and if there is a line added i get a notification in the window of that camera. I also can toggle a sound notification and/or a fullscreen notification at motion/ftp upload.
It also keeps track of how many motion pictures are uploaded per day and the time of the last image i got from wget. So i can see that it is still getting images.

With the galaxy i also extract battery info and wifi info.

Instead of a full security monitor system i went this way with conky. Mainly because of my camera's already are working stand alone and i only wanted a preview.. and i like conky and wanted to know how far i could get with it! At the moment i'm satisfied how it's working! And consumes very little cpu.
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Termy
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Re: Why use Conky?

Post by Termy »

Koentje wrote: Fri May 06, 2022 1:36 pm [...]
Woah. That is bad ass! Love it. Never heard of anyone using images in Conky; didn't even know that was possible. That makes me wish I had security cameras, or a need for one. Maybe one day!
I'm also Terminalforlife on GitHub.
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Bleys
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Re: Why use Conky?

Post by Bleys »

Termy wrote: Sat May 07, 2022 1:48 pm
Koentje wrote: Fri May 06, 2022 1:36 pm [...]
Woah. That is bad ass! Love it. Never heard of anyone using images in Conky; didn't even know that was possible.
You don't need a camera for that ;)
You can also just run a slideshow of your pictures in Conky or a cover of the song you are listening to.
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Re: Why use Conky?

Post by AZgl1800 »

I am surprised this thread has lived so long,
and I still do not like, or use Conky, it is way too distracting, and eats up my desktop.

LM Cinnamon does every I need, w/o needing to pay attention to all of that stuff :wink:
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Koentje
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Re: Why use Conky?

Post by Koentje »

AZgl1800 wrote: Sat May 07, 2022 3:05 pm I am surprised this thread has lived so long,
and I still do not like, or use Conky, it is way too distracting, and eats up my desktop.
And here you are, replying in a topic about conky.. that you don't like.
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Re: Why use Conky?

Post by sdibaja »

Koentje wrote: Sat May 07, 2022 4:12 pm
AZgl1800 wrote: Sat May 07, 2022 3:05 pm I am surprised this thread has lived so long,
and I still do not like, or use Conky, it is way too distracting, and eats up my desktop.
And here you are, replying in a topic about conky.. that you don't like.
LOL...beat me to it
Peter
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Re: Why use Conky?

Post by Koentje »

Termy wrote: Sat May 07, 2022 1:48 pm Woah. That is bad ass! Love it. Never heard of anyone using images in Conky; didn't even know that was possible. That makes me wish I had security cameras, or a need for one. Maybe one day!
You can do so much with graphics in conky! Check my oldscool cpu-gauge.. ;)
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Termy
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Re: Why use Conky?

Post by Termy »

Koentje wrote: Mon May 09, 2022 11:49 pm [...]
Noice. Kinda wish I could use Conky, but it doesn't work properly in i3WM. :roll:
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Koentje
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Re: Why use Conky?

Post by Koentje »

Termy wrote: Tue May 10, 2022 8:31 am Noice. Kinda wish I could use Conky, but it doesn't work properly in i3WM. :roll:
I heard of it, never used it. Isn't that the window manager that has no real desktop, but all are tiled windows?
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Termy
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Re: Why use Conky?

Post by Termy »

Koentje wrote: Tue May 10, 2022 8:40 am [...]
Pretty much. It's one of a few keyboard-driven tiling window managers. You're already using a window manager; sort of difficult to manage windows without one, but you probably also have many other components installed. Typically, us lot also install a compositor, to remove screen tearing and enable nice effects like fading and transparency. It's not something I'd recommend to a casual Linux user or a newcomer to Linux, unless you're feeling particularly adventurous, because it's something which primarily targets developers or, I suppose, 'power users'.
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