How to Install Cairo Dock on Ubuntu 9.10

In the following tutorial, we will show you how we installed Cairo Dock on Ubuntu 9.10. Cairo Dock is an animated application launcher or desktop dock that works much like the dock used in Mac OS X, but is much more flexible and customizable. Cairo-Dock also supports composition and Open GL rendering, allowing for some fascinating animated effects.

As of (11/04/09), Cairo Dock was not included in the Main Ubuntu Karmic repositories. So here is what we did to get Cairo Dock Installed on Ubuntu Karmic.

Note: Step 3 will enable Universe and Multi-Universe repositories. Multi-Universe is not required. To enable Universe only, manually uncomment only the Universe Sources from /etc/apt/sources.list.

How to Install and Run Cairo Dock on Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic

  1. Open a Terminal (Applications > Accessories > Terminal)
  2. Type sudo su
  3. Type sed -i -e "s/# deb/deb/g" /etc/apt/sources.list
  4. Type apt-get update && apt-get install cairo-dock
  5. Launch Cairo-Dock (Applications > Accessories > Cairo Dock)

You should be presented with a nice customizable Cairo-Dock on Ubuntu

Cairo-Dock on Ubuntu 9.10

If you are experiencing black background issues, see our tutorial on How to fix the "Cairo Dock Black Background" problem.