Conky (software)

{{Infobox software

| name = Conky

| logo =

| screenshot = Conky-unix-program-screen-shot.png

| caption = A typical Conky appearance

| author = Brenden Matthews

| developer =

| released =

| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|edit|reference|P348}}

| latest release date = {{start date and age|{{wikidata|qualifier|P348|P577}}}}

| programming language = C, C++

| operating system = Linux, FreeBSD, and OpenBSD

| genre = System monitor

| license = GPL and BSD licenses[https://raw.githubusercontent.com/brndnmtthws/conky/master/COPYING Conky's license info]

| website = {{URL|https://conky.cc}}

}}

Conky is a free software desktop system monitor for the X Window System. It is available for Linux, FreeBSD, and OpenBSD.[https://github.com/brndnmtthws/conky Conky homepage] Conky is highly configurable[http://www.linux.com/feature/136147 Expert's guide to configuring Conky] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203213230/http://www.linux.com/feature/136147 |date=2009-02-03 }} by Dmitri Popov on Linux.com[http://debaday.debian.net/2007/09/02/conky-highly-configurable-system-monitor-for-x/ Conky: highly configurable system monitor for X] by Casey Stamper on Debian.net[http://blog.kickino.org/archives/2006/09/25/T23_09_45/ GKrellM vs. Conky] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202050734/http://blog.kickino.org/archives/2006/09/25/T23_09_45/ |date=2008-12-02 }} by Sebastian Wieseler and is able to monitor many system variables including the status of the CPU, memory, swap space, disk storage, temperatures, processes, network interfaces, battery power, system messages, e-mail inboxes, Arch Linux updates, many popular music players (MPD, XMMS2, BMPx, Audacious, etc.), weather updates, breaking news, and much more.[http://conky.sourceforge.net/docs.html Conky documentation] Unlike system monitors that use high-level widget toolkits to render their information, Conky is drawn directly in an X window. This allows it to be configured such that it consumes relatively few system resources.[http://www.linux.com/articles/56931 CLI Magic: Lightweight Conky is a system monitor powerhouse] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081107104836/http://www.linux.com/articles/56931 |date=2008-11-07 }} by Shashank Sharma on Linux.com

Conky was hailed as "one of the best maintained, and definitely one of the most useful, programs in the world of open source" in Linux Magazine.{{cite journal |first= Jan |last= Rähm |url= http://www.linux-magazine.com/w3/issue/100/086-087_conky.pdf |title= Vital Signs: Monitoring your system with Conky |date= March 2009 |journal= Linux Magazine |pages= 86–87 |access-date= 2010-04-13 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091222021001/http://www.linux-magazine.com/w3/issue/100/086-087_conky.pdf |archive-date= 2009-12-22 |url-status= dead }}

It comes pre-configured in the default installation of Pinguy OS and CrunchBang Linux.{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20101022042208/http://www.pinguyos.com/ PinguyOS Homepage]}}{{cite web |url=http://crunchbanglinux.org/wiki/about |title=About CrunchBang Linux [CrunchBang Linux Wiki] |accessdate=2012-02-28 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120128175851/http://crunchbanglinux.org/wiki/about |archivedate=2012-01-28 }}

History

Conky is a fork of [http://torsmo.sourceforge.net/ torsmo], a system monitor that is no longer maintained.[https://github.com/brndnmtthws/conky/wiki/FAQ Conky FAQ] Torsmo, however, continues to be used in systems where applications that use minimal resources are preferred. Damn Small Linux, for example, runs torsmo in its desktop root window on the default installation of its Live CD.[http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/notes.html Changelog of Damn Small Linux] Conky derives its name from a character in the Canadian television programme Trailer Park Boys.[https://github.com/brndnmtthws/conky/wiki/What-Is-Conky%3F What is Conky?]

Common uses

While Conky is suited for use as a system monitor, it can also be used to gather and display many other sources of information and can be extended with the Lua programming language.

Conky has also been ported to devices such as the Nokia N900[http://maemo.org/downloads/product/Maemo5/conky/ Nokia N900 Conky package] and can be ported to practically any system with GCC and an X11 implementation.

Users have created and distributed many customized scripts, demonstrating Conky's modularity and versatility in function and appearance. [https://web.archive.org/web/20160303192101/http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=281865%2F A thread] on the Ubuntu forums has grown to over 2,000 pages of users sharing their configurations.[http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=1645914 Post your .conkyrc files w/ screenshots][http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Conky+scripts?content=52896 Conky scripts][http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=4219577 Conky Gmail Revisited][http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=1194508 Howto: Get a beautiful Conky 1.4.2 setup]

Usage example

A simple configuration for Conky which displays the time on a user's desktop is as follows:

Note: As of version 1.10 Conky has changed the syntax used.

conky.config = {

alignment = 'middle_middle',

background = false,

border_width = 1,

cpu_avg_samples = 2,

default_color = 'white',

default_outline_color = 'white',

default_shade_color = 'white',

draw_borders = false,

draw_graph_borders = true,

draw_outline = false,

draw_shades = false,

use_xft = true,

font = 'Free Mono:size=30',

gap_x = 5,

gap_y = 60,

minimum_height = 5,

minimum_width = 400,

net_avg_samples = 2,

no_buffers = true,

out_to_console = false,

out_to_stderr = false,

extra_newline = false,

own_window = true,

own_window_class = 'Conky',

own_window_type = 'desktop',

stippled_borders = 0,

update_interval = 1.0,

uppercase = false,

use_spacer = 'none',

show_graph_scale = false,

show_graph_range = false

}

conky.text = [[

${time %H:%M}

]]

A simpler example of the old syntax:

update_interval 30

own_window yes

own_window_type desktop

use_xft yes

xftfont DejaVu Sans:size=14

alignment bottom_right

TEXT

${time %H:%M}

Default configuration file location is {{mono|$HOME/.conkyrc}} or {{mono|${sysconfdir}/conky/conky.conf}}. On most systems, "{{mono|sysconfdir}}" is {{mono|/etc}}, and you can find the sample configuration file there ({{mono|/etc/conky/conky.conf}}).