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Plank vs Launchy

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When comparing Plank vs Launchy, the Slant community recommends Plank for most people. In the question“What are the best app launchers for UNIX-like systems?” Plank is ranked 7th while Launchy is ranked 11th. The most important reason people chose Plank is:

Plank is a good choice for those looking for something simple that just does its job well. There is no UI for options built in to the dock as to change anything those options will have to be accessed through a text file.

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Common Questions

What are the best app launchers for UNIX-like systems?

Pros

Pro
Simple and minimal

Pro
Solid and lightweight

Pro
Third party themer available

An additional third party app has been developed that allows theming the dock without the use of any extra resources. This is great for those that are not using elementary OS and the elementary tweaks extra.

Pro
.deb files available for Debian based distros

For those using Debian based distros Launchy is very easy to install as their website has 32 and 64bit .deb files available. For all other diistros Launchy will have to be compiled from source.

Pro
Easily themed with many available on the web

Launchy can be easily themedby placing themes into the Launchy theme folder and then selecting that theme from within the apps settings. There are also many user created themes available which is great for those that want their launcher to match the rest of their OS's theme.

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Cons

Con
No right click menu for some apps outside of elementary OS

Other file explorers and terminals (those not found in the default elementary OS) do not have any right click menus for the dock meaning it is impossible to launch multiple windows for certain file explorers or terminals.

Con
Poor workplace awareness (cycling windows)

When configured to only show apps on current workspace, cycling an app open on multiple workspaces will switch workspace focus, update the dock and often leave you to cycle another app.