Hey everyone! I've recently made the switch to Linux and settled on Xubuntu, which is perfect for my older hardware. Before that, I tried a few different distros like Mint, Fedora Workstation, Arch, and Kubuntu. I remember using a distro where I could just start typing on the desktop and a search prompt would appear in the center of the screen. It felt super convenient because I didn't have to open anything beforehand. I'm curious if I can get something like that on my Xubuntu setup, and if so, what it's called or how to install it since I can't recall which distro it was!
3 Answers
You might also be referring to Ulauncher! It’s a lightweight app launcher that can work on various Linux setups, including Xubuntu. You can set it up to launch with a hotkey too.
If you’ve used GNOME before, it could be that behavior you're recalling! You can hit the 'Windows' key and just start typing to search for apps. Rofi is another popular launcher that you could try on Xubuntu as well!
It sounds like you’re talking about KRunner, which is part of the KDE Plasma desktop environment. It can access files, apps, and more just by typing on the desktop. Unfortunately, you can't really use KRunner on Xubuntu since it relies on Plasma.
Yeah, it’s tightly integrated with Plasma, but you might want to explore other options.
Rofi is pretty minimalist and handy, definitely worth a shot!