Running 2.2.1.1 on modern linux

Because:

• docky is a C# (mono) app
• mono is a .NET implementation
• .NET is a Microsoft technology
• Microsoft has a(n appreciated) fascination with backwards compatibility

... it is possible to run the old release of Docky on modern linux even though it is no longer maintained or in various software repos.

The focus here is on debian-based linux, specifically MX Linux 21 and Linux Mint 20.x (+ Ubuntu 20.04). I haven't tried this on other distros, but the theory likely holds.

The necessary steps are:

1. download the 2.2.1.1 release (mirrored here and here)
   • the data.tar.xz contains the compiled docky application, and should be extracted somewhere on your system. For example, /opt/docky. You can also extract it to / (like the package was originally built).
   • you likely need to install into root for locale/themes to work. But I have not tested those -- there may be other issues with them.
2. install these apt dependencies:
   • libwnck22 libmono-posix4.0-cil libgtk2.0-cil libdbus-glib2.0-cil libnotify0.4-cil libgkeyfile1.0-cil libmono-addins0.2-cil
     • on ubuntu 20.04 or Linux Mint 20.x, you'll also need to install libgconf2.0-cil, which is (sadly) not in the package repos. (it depends on libgconf-2-4, which is)
       • However, you can dpkg -i libgconf2.0-cil_2.24.2-4_all.deb from ubuntu 18.04 or debian stretch.
   • The specific .NET libraries needed are:
     • gconf-sharp (libgconf2.0-cil)
       • this is the biggest hurdle on ubuntu/mint -- the libgconf2.0-cil package is no longer maintained. See above.
     • gdk-sharp (libgtk2.0-cil)
     • dbus-sharp-glib (libdbus-glib2.0-cil)
     • notify-sharp (libnotify0.4-cil)
     • gkeyfile-sharp (libgkeyfile1.0-cil)
     • Mono.Addins (libmono-addins0.2-cil)
     • Mono.Posix, Version=4.0.0.0 (libmono-posix4.0-cil)
     • libwnck22 for something or another
     • if a plugin is throwing a .NET error about how $YOURLIBRARY-sharp is missing, see if that library is lurking in the package repo...
   • I don't know what the situation looks like on arch or fedora. But it might be similar?
3. put something on your path, so docky can actually run. I'm using a variation of the /usr/bin/docky file from the release:

#!/bin/sh

SCRIPT_PATH=`dirname $0`
SCRIPT_PATH=`cd $SCRIPT_PATH; pwd`

DOCKY_EXE="/opt/docky/usr/lib/docky/Docky.exe"

exec mono  "$DOCKY_EXE"  "$@"

• this script needs to be (1) on your path (for example, in /usr/bin), (2) executable (chmod +x /usr/bin/docky). Just as a reminder.

4. That's it. Docky should now run.

Caveats:

• some plugins are broken. Weather has been for a long time, and the disk mounter crashes Docky when you try to run it. I recommend not using the disk mounter plugin.
• I don't know the status of themes/locales. They might work. They might not.