Winbar

A familiar X11 panel/dock to ease new linux users transition

demo.mp4

Packages required for building

• Void Linux

sudo xbps-install -S git gcc cmake make pkg-config pango-devel cairo-devel librsvg-devel libxcb-devel xcb-util-devel pulseaudio-devel xcb-util-wm-devel libxkbcommon-devel libxkbcommon-x11 libconfig++-devel xcb-util-keysyms-devel xcb-util-image-devel xcb-util-cursor-devel dbus-devel fontconfig-devel alsa-lib-devel papirus-icon-theme lxappearance unzip

• Arch Linux

sudo pacman -S git gcc cmake make pkg-config pango cairo librsvg libxcb xcb-util pulseaudio xcb-util-wm libxkbcommon libxkbcommon-x11 libconfig xcb-util-keysyms xcb-util-image xcb-util-cursor dbus fontconfig alsa-lib papirus-icon-theme lxappearance unzip

• Ubuntu

sudo apt install git g++ make cmake checkinstall pkg-config libpango1.0-dev libcairo2-dev librsvg2-dev libxcb1-dev libxcb-util-dev libpulse-dev libxkbcommon-dev libxkbcommon-x11-dev libconfig++-dev libxcb-keysyms1-dev libxcb-image0-dev papirus-icon-theme lxappearance unzip libxcb-randr0-dev libxcb-record0-dev libxcb-ewmh-dev libxcb-icccm4-dev libx11-xcb-dev libxcb-cursor-dev libdbus-1-dev libfontconfig1-dev libasound2-dev libxcb-xinput-dev libxcb-xinput0

• Debian

sudo apt install git g++ make cmake checkinstall pkg-config libpango1.0-dev libcairo2-dev librsvg2-dev libxcb1-dev libxcb-util-dev libpulse-dev libxkbcommon-dev libxkbcommon-x11-dev libconfig++-dev libxcb-keysyms1-dev libxcb-image0-dev papirus-icon-theme lxappearance unzip libxcb-randr0-dev libxcb-record0-dev libxcb-ewmh-dev libxcb-icccm4-dev libx11-xcb-dev libxcb-cursor-dev libdbus-1-dev libfontconfig1-dev libasound2-dev libcurl4 libcurl4-openssl-dev libxcb-xinput-dev libxcb-xinput0

• Fedora

sudo yum install git cmake g++ cairo-devel pango-devel librsvg2-devel xcb-util-devel pulseaudio-libs-devel xcb-util-wm-devel libxkbcommon-x11-devel libconfig-devel xcb-util-cursor-devel dbus-devel fontconfig-devel xcb-util-keysyms-devel alsa-lib-devel

Installation

• Download the source and enter the folder

git clone https://github.com/jmanc3/winbar
cd winbar

• Run the install script.

./install.sh

If compilation fails, it should tell you what headers are missing and you can look up what you need to install for your distribution to get that library.

Changes you might want to make

• Not every setting from the legacy winbar.cfg has been ported to the new system yet (although eventually they will be), so, if you want to make those changes meanwhile, copy '/etc/winbar.cfg' into '$HOME/.config/winbar/winbar.cfg', and make the modifications you'd like.

Recommended Setup

Winbar is just a taskbar. You'll need to run it on a desktop environment or windows manager. The recommended desktop environment is KDE Plasma (kwin) because it allows winbar access to features it wouldn't otherwise have: Slide animations when menu's open, window preview on hovering a thumbnail, working 'Sign out'/'Shutdown'/'Restart' buttons, and (if you activate 'blur' in your KDE settings) a nice blur which is close to 'acrylic.'

To autostart winbar with your computer, do the following:

mkdir -p ~/.config/autostart/

And then, inside that folder, write the following, and save it as 'winbar.desktop':

[Desktop Entry]
Exec=winbar
Icon=
Name=winbar
Path=
Terminal=False
Type=Application

Winbar should now auto start with your computer. You'll want to remove the default KDE panel by right clicking your desktop wallpaper and entering edit mode.