Gnome Pie is an application inspired by a World of Warcraft addon called OPie, that tries to offer a different way of launching applications in Gnome.
Gnome Pie - visual application launcher
Gnome Pie consists on multiple "pies", and each one is triggered by a keyboard shortcut you set.
Each "pie" has it's own role: a category of applications, a media control "pie" (play/pause/previous/next), a "pie" that allows you to control the focused window (maximize, unmaximize, close, etc.) and so on.
You can of course create new or delete some of the already existing pies so you have full control on what each pie does.
Each "pie" has it's own role: a category of applications, a media control "pie" (play/pause/previous/next), a "pie" that allows you to control the focused window (maximize, unmaximize, close, etc.) and so on.
You can of course create new or delete some of the already existing pies so you have full control on what each pie does.
With Gnome Pie you can basically add as many commands that can be accessed using keyboard shortcuts to a single "pie" so you only have to remember one keyboard shortcut, which some of you might find useful.
The application is Ubuntu-friendly and comes with a PPA for easy installation, an Ubuntu application indicator and even a Unity theme:
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| Unity theme |
Some of the other built-in themes:
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| Adwaita theme |
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| Glossy theme |
Gnome Pie video
Here is a video I've created with Gnome Pie in action (you can also see all the available themes):
What's missing?
"Pies" can only trigger applications / commands and run various keyboard shortcuts but you can't combine applications with actions - for instance, you can't select a file and perform some command or do any other fancy stuff that's available in Synapse or Kupfer.
Gnome Pie is eye-catching and fun, but is it useful? What do you think?
Install Gnome Pie in Ubuntu
Gnome Pie worked great in my test but before proceeding, please note that Gnome Pie is experimental so it may not work for you, it may crash, etc.
Install Gnome Pie in Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot, 11.04 Natty Narwhal or 10.10 Maverick Meerkat using the following commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:simonschneegans/testing
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gnome-pieIf you're not using Ubuntu, you can download Gnome Pie via GitHub.
Once installed, launch Gnome Pie from the menu and then use CTRL + ALT + A to launch some applications, CTRL + Alt + B for bookmarks, etc. You can find all these keyboard shortcuts, change them or create new "pies" in the Gnome Pie Preferences (which you can access via its AppIndicator / Notification Area icon).
To submit a bug or help with the project, check out its GitHub page.
To submit a bug or help with the project, check out its GitHub page.
