activities-overviewgnome
I currently have Ubuntu GNOME 15.10 with GNOME 3.18 installed, however even though I like mostly everything about GNOME 3, I would like to remove the Activities Overview button, and get the Application Menu pull-down menu there instead of it.
How can this be achieved?
Yes it is possible with this Overview all windows extension.
Although it won't work after install, download the schemas folder from its git repo and paste in extension folder.
Path of extension folder:
~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/OverviewAllWindows@amiller27
Overview shortcut will be super+ctrl+tab.
An slightly edited version of this script allows multiple selection of applications at once:
#!/usr/bin/env python3
import subprocess
import os
dr = "/usr/share/applications"
apps = []
for f in [f for f in os.listdir(dr) if f.endswith(".desktop")]:
try:
content = open(dr+"/"+f).read()
if not "NoDisplay=true" in content:
lines = content.splitlines()
name = [l for l in lines if l.startswith("Name=")][0].replace("Name=", "")
command = [l for l in lines if l.startswith("Exec=")][0].replace("Exec=", "")
comment = [l for l in lines if l.startswith("Comment=")]
comment = comment[0].replace("Comment=", "") if comment else "No description"
apps.append([name, command, comment])
except:
pass
apps.sort(key=lambda x: x[0]); apps = sum(apps, [])
displ_list = '"'+'" "'.join(apps)+'"'
try:
chosen = subprocess.check_output([
"/bin/bash",
"-c",
'zenity --list '+\
'--multiple '+\
'--column="Applications" '+\
'--column="commands" '+\
'--column="Description" '+\
'--hide-column=2 --height 450 '+\
'--width 500 '+\
'--print-column=2 '+displ_list
]).decode("utf-8").split("|")
for item in chosen:
item = item.strip()
item = item[:item.rfind(" ")] if "%" in item else item
subprocess.Popen([
"/bin/bash", "-c", item
])
except subprocess.CalledProcessError:
pass
list_apps.pyTest- run it by the command (open a terminal window, type the command and press Return):
python3 /path/to/list_apps.py
If all works fine, add it to a shortcut key: choose: System Settings > "Keyboard" > "Shortcuts" > "Custom Shortcuts". Click the "+" and add the command:
python3 /pat/to/list_apps.py
to a shortcut key combination you like.
The script lists all .desktop files in /usr/share/applications, and checks if the line NoDisplay=true is in the file (which means it is not meant to be used as a GUI). Then it looks into the files, looks up the application name and the command to run it.
The difference with the linked answer is mainly the fact that the zenity window is set to allow multiple selections.
Best Answer
In order to achieve this the easiest way you will need to install two extensions by following these instructions.
These are the extensions: Applications Menu (which will add back the Applications Menu - this extension is pre-installed so you will only need to activate it, not install it), and Activities Configurator (you will need this to easily remove the
Activities Overviewbutton).Once you have both installed, have opened the
gnome-tweak-tool, and are in the settings panel for theActivities Configurator(instructions for all these steps are provided in the first link), click the slider which is labelledRemove Activities Buttonin order to set it toOnrather than its current stateOff:This will remove the
Activities Overviewbutton and all which will be left in its place will be theApplications MenulabelledApplicationswhich will have been created when you installed theApplications Menuextension.And here is the final result!
You will still be able to view the Activities Overview if you wish by click on the
Applications Menuand then onActivities Overviewat the bottom or by pressing SUPER. And you can of course always reverse these settings as well as disable or completely remove these extensions in thegnome-tweak-tool'sExtensionssection.