Idea to a new (central) start menu

Budgie Applets
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Hi, i want to share my idea to a new start menu in Ubuntu Budgie.

The idea behind:
i like some of the features in Window$ 11 - but not the system itself - so i use Ubuntu. I like the way, where things are free to configure or to extend, the included software possibilities and the way, how a user can customize most of things. In short: it’s “my” computer, so i want to do things if, how and when i want.

So, i miss the place where i can start my work - this was the intention, to implement a new start menu. I want to have a central place, whre i can find files / directories, applications, my weather and some news.

Please feel free, to discuss here my idea and what to improve :slight_smile:

My Repository and screenshots are here: Budgie Discovery

3 Likes
2025: The Year in Review
2

Screenshots look really interesting. Congrats!

Do tag when you think you are happy for folks to actively use - feedback at a specific version even if tagged as “0.0.1 unstable for feedback” type of release would be useful.

Happy to prepare a quick “unstable” package for Ubuntu Budgie users to try out directly without needing to understanding compiling source code etc.

2 Likes
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thank you for testing my idea and your feedback :slight_smile:

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Current Work in progress:

  • Settings dialog for feeds and weather
  • dynamic feed count and uri’s: add your favorite feeds (as many) as you want
1 Like
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Fixing last issues, almost the 1st release is coming to you (i hope in the end of October 2025) :slight_smile:

  • Add RSS feeds and/or weather locations as many as you want
  • RSS feeds and weather are now in settings configurable
  • Power menu is now implemented
  • Reload-Button in top right corner is now working and reloads the current RSS feed
  • Settings-Button is now working and opens a settings window

Bugs fixed:

  • settings are now centralized in one config file in user’s home “.config” directory
  • used directories (.cache and .config) are now checked for existence
  • content loading is better checked and supports now UTF-8
1 Like
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Mostly fixed / working version 1.0-dev :slight_smile:

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Thank you.
I just installed the applet (UB 24.04.3), but how do I use it?

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do you have added the plugin to your Budgie panel?
If so, just open the settings button in the right top corner, add weather location(s) and/or RSS feed urls - thats all :slight_smile:

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No, it does not appear in the list of available applets.
I restarted just in case, but still nothing.

However, it is well installed:

apt list discovery*
discovery-applet/now 1.0-1 amd64  [installed, local]
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excellent. I have a package ready to go. I’ll update with 1.0 and throw it into an unstable PPA for 24.04/25.04/25.10 users - also later 26.04 once the archive reopens.

I’ll also tweak the package for our wayland PPA to confirm it works there.

Will throw a link here when done.

1 Like
11

@jlb new release fixes installation target.
Now you should see the plugin

1 Like
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Thanks a lot, @Andreas! This time the applet appears in the list and can be added to the panel.

However, I tried adding my location to get the weather forecast by typing Location, FR), but it doesn’t work: at best, it crashes the applet, at worst, it crashes the session (Oops, something went wrong…).

Another thing: on the Github screenshots, the applet displays in German. On my computer, it remains in English.
The same goes for the “Start” label in the panel.

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@jlb thank you for testing again.

at first: when adding your location to the weather - when does it crash the applet/desktop session?
by click the search icon/button or by selecting a location?

translations are currently only in german, i need some help to translate other languages.

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By clicking the search button.
If you want, I’m willing to take care of the French translation.

1 Like
15

This is a very interesting plugin, will you also be testing if it will work in the experimental wayland sessions before the transition to wayland only budgie? I’d be happy to test that, and see if I can recruit some help on an English translation front, if needed

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Just released the last dev release - after this release, a first initial release will come the next weeks.

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Sorry, Andreas, it’s the same problem: searching for a location crashes the applet and/or session (UB 24.04.3).

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Thank you again!
I’ll try the plugin the next days on a Ubuntu 24.x VM (i develop on 25.04, i hope i can find a bug then)

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@jlb just tested on a Ubuntu 24.04 installation on a VM - the plugin crashes when pressing the settings button, and after new login into desktop, the app crashes agin. Its difficult to debug, i think there are libraries in the background crashing.

I’ll try to support the LTS version too :slight_smile:

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Yes, I think quite a few users use LTS. On a VM, it seems to crash even more. Why don’t you do a real installation?