What I'm trying to do is disable the Unity side bar (launcher) which shows by default and is on the left and use Docky instead. I want to keep all of the rest of the features of Unity (the nice integration of application menus and the top bar for instance).
Ubuntu – Replacing Unity bar with Docky
dockyunity
Related Solutions
Here's how to set it up:
First install compizconfig-settings-manager
.
Open the run dialogue: (alt+f2).
Type
about:configand press enter, or click the icon that comes up.Click on reveal mode for the launcher:
Change the reveal mode for the launcher from left, to the top left corner.
As mentioned in doug's comment, you need to lower the reveal time out to get this to work correctly. It is a bit tricky, but it works.
In order to integrate Java applications with the Unity bar you will need an external library. There is one called Java Ayatana that you can get from a PPA. Instructions are on that page but I'll put them here
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:danjaredg/jayatana
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install jayatana
You will need to log out and back in after installing. The instructions here will install the latest version and will keep up to date, the link I put in my comment above is outdated and must be manually installed so I recommend you use this instead.
From the page I linked above there is a tab labeled "wiki" which has a file "configuration". This file explains how to set up a Java program to utilize the Unity top bar. You will need to create a Java desktop application (.desktop file).
Best Answer
What I do is
This makes it basically impossible to open the unity bar. If you want to open to access the unity bar just use the super key to open the dash and it should be right there.
Ziggy :D
P.S: this will only work in Ubuntu 12.04