How do I make my Ubuntu Desktop have a dock at the bottom and system utilization widgets on the side?

Google reverse image search tells me that the picture is from here: https://web.archive.org/web/20140808134149/https://builtvisible.com/ubuntu-intrepid-ibex-installation/.

In the screenshot, it's Ubuntu 8.10 (that's almost 10 years old now, and the 2008 date shown confirms this), Using Compiz for desktop animations, Emerald (window decoration border theming), AWN (Dock), and Conky for the display on the right.

If you want to get something similar on Ubuntu 16.04, there's several possibilities:

  • Ubuntu 16.04 has an option to put the dock / sidebar on the bottom of the screen, although you'll need to install Unity Tweak Tool to enable it. See here for more details.

  • For the display on the right, you can install conky - it has a lot of options and can display almost anything. (I spent many hours fiddling with it...)

  • If you really want to exactly replicate that screenshot, You'll need MATE desktop (Ubuntu MATE , comes with it), then install Compiz reloaded (Ubuntu MATE comes with it) which AFAIK includes Emerald to get you those semi-translucent themed widow borders, Conky for the display on the desktop, and then a dock (e.g. Plank. AWN Doesn't really exist anymore, but maybe you can still get it to work..?).


Move launcher from side to bottom

Assuming you don't want to install a totally new desktop, you can simply move the launcher from the side to the bottom with this command:

gsettings set com.canonical.Unity.Launcher launcher-position bottom

Reference

Use Conky to display time

As mentioned in comments the time is most likely created using Conky. You can find many examples on setting up Conky in Ubuntu Forums. Here is my humble Conky display:

Conky Realtime Network 4

Someone commented in jest about making Conky run at 60Hz. I thought it would be fun to try so changed the refresh rate from .75 times per second to .0167 times per second which is about 60 Hz or 60 Frames Per Second:

Conky 60hz.gif

Sorry about the hole in the middle it normally has nVidia GPU information but I've booted with Intel iGPU and am trying to find out how to get performance statistics on it.

Notice how Conky CPU percentage jumps from .5% at normal speed to about 5% at 60Hz speed. Also note my browser doesn't refresh the screen as fast as the .gif that is running (it's about 3 to 4 times slower?).

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