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I searching for a software similar to KRunner or Alfred on MacOS. which is able to to global search on my system and if needed to extra tasks. I used to use Albert, but it seems not to be maintained any longer. Ulauncher did not convince me and I could not get CerebroApp to run, and actually would prefer a more lightweight option.

Is there anything else which works as fast as KRunner on KDE and has the same functions for GNOME?

Pablo Bianchi
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SnowGepard
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2 Answers2

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It seems that Albert is still maintained, a new version was released recently: https://github.com/albertlauncher/albert/

Zhart
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  • Is not abandoned but [its activity slowed down a lot since 2018](https://github.com/albertlauncher/albert/graphs/code-frequency) – Pablo Bianchi Nov 22 '21 at 20:59
  • Thanks for the hint. I saw that as well. Let's hope developments speeds up some time again. – SnowGepard Feb 23 '22 at 11:11
  • Actually the development has never slowed down. 0.18 was just such a huge change that I could not release. I were just working locally only. – ManuelSchneid3r Mar 09 '23 at 16:07
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ulauncher

The best alternative in my opinion is ulauncher.

It's discussed to include it as a standard app in Debian and maybe ubuntu will follow. The ulauncher homepage gives many plenty of extension and also how to build your own extension. It is highly configurable and works with plasma (baloo, ...) and gnome.

For installing follow the description on ulauncher download section , where a deb or PPA installation links are given.

For the ppa use:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:agornostal/ulauncher
sudo apt update
sudo apt install ulauncher

To run it as a service using systemctl you may copy the following script into your service directory:

$ sudo editor /lib/systemd/system/ulauncher.service

[Unit]
Description=Linux Application Launcher
Documentation=https://ulauncher.io/
After=display-manager.service

[Service]
Type=simple
Restart=always
RestartSec=1
ExecStart=/usr/bin/ulauncher --hide-window

[Install]
WantedBy=graphical.target

Now you can start or enable ulauncher as service.

Pablo Bianchi
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abu_bua
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    And it have a [huge extension catalog](https://ext.ulauncher.io/?sorting=github_stars) – Pablo Bianchi Nov 22 '21 at 21:09
  • Why you don't run it just at login? Maybe [you should place it on `$HOME/.config/systemd/user`](https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/367237/209677) or [if system-wide](https://askubuntu.com/a/919059/349837) – Pablo Bianchi Nov 23 '21 at 05:53
  • Yes good point ! Would be better. `/etc/xdg/autostart/` would be another possibily for system wide autostart. – abu_bua Nov 23 '21 at 11:42
  • XDG Autostart is more for graphical applications you want to show when you log in to your desktop session, while what Ulauncher actually needs is to start a background service and ensure that it keeps running and be prepared for launching. So if you can use systemd it's better. – Albin May 22 '22 at 21:27