this post was submitted on 31 Jul 2025
15 points (94.1% liked)

Linux

58342 readers
1775 users here now

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

Rules

Related Communities

Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0

founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS
 

I feel like I'm googling the wrong thing since I'm mostly getting start menu replacements and not a supplement. I want to click the ps button or a keyboard button and have a grid pop up over my apps that displays pinned apps/games that I can scroll through and launch with my controller or keyboard. Does something like that this exist?

top 15 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] dropped_packet@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] dil@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

I saw that while looking but isn't it just another way to search? I want to limit what can be sin just have a few specific games

[–] Marty_TF@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 month ago

if you have a specific list, and are willing to manually configure this launcher, rofi is the way to go, as it is fully scriptable

[–] dropped_packet@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Ahh I may have misunderstood sounds like you're trying to "pin" applications to be launched. This is more app launcher than dock.

[–] dil@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I want a dock/panel that goes away and pops up based on a shortcut, like slides on screen or pops up on top, rofis prob the move, like ddterm but for games

[–] wwwgem@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Rofi is certainly a great choice, though it relies on scripts to customize it to your needs. These scripts can be anywhere from extremely basic to insanely complex but you have to create them.
Personaly I use it as:

  • an app launcher
  • a clipboard manager
  • an infobar to show things like the date/time, memory usage, disk space, battery level, wifi signal…
  • an omnibar to perform an internet search, quick units conversions
  • a calculator for simple math
  • a bookmark manager (list, open, edit, add, remove)
  • a password/2FA token manager (list, edit, add, remove, autofill internet fields)
  • a wifi manager
  • a vpn manager
[–] dil@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 month ago

Oh I'll definitely look into that, sounds fun to setup

[–] mnmalst@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

https://github.com/kando-menu/kando

This should be what you are looking for? Has controller support.

[–] dil@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 month ago

That's great and definitely more on par with what I was looking for, thank you!

[–] gonzo-rand19@moist.catsweat.com 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I've used Ulauncher in the past, it looks nice and it's launched with a keybinding, but I don't know if you can configure it to only include certain apps since I don't use it anymore.

[–] dil@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 month ago

That seems useful in general, but kando was more what I was looking fot

[–] Scrath@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 month ago

Maybe you could configure KRunner to work for what you want? I'm not sure though. Haven't used it enough myself

[–] rbn@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Can't you just create a folder with links / shortcuts to all the applications and games and just open said folder with a click (or some kind of shortcut)?

[–] CCRhode@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 month ago

Exactly! I harbor nostalgia for the old Windows 3 desktop icon grid, so I open a file manager window pointing to ~/Desktop and display the *.desktop shortcuts there as icons. This is done automatically when gdm starts. My file manager is PCManFM, which is a rip-off of nautilus. Double-clicking on an icon opens the shortcut — be it to a terminal or a graphical application. I have to alt-tab to the PCManFM window of course, so I need the keyboard. Then I have to double-click with the mouse. It’s keeping both hemispheres of the brain active: subject/verb, left/right. Presumably you can map your game controller's buttons to keyboard equivalents like , , and (or map your game controller's buttons to PCManFM's hot key config), which would allow you to navigate the PCManFM icon grid.

[–] dil@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 month ago

I assumed someone would've made something that looks nice lol