Summary: Us Linux users are still awaiting a full-featured Google Desktop which includes Gadgets. Until then, check out Screenlets

I’m not exactly sure where I have been hiding, but somehow the existence of Screenlets whizzed right by me. Built for the Linux desktop, Screenlets are a good Google Gadgets alternative.

KDE users have long had Super Karamba as a way to put widgets on their desktops but us Gnome users haven’t had much luck unless we wanted to install all the KDE libraries – which really isn’t that big a deal, but having KDE controls on apps kicking around your Gnome desktop is kind of disconcerting. I installed Screenlets yesterday with a simple apt-get install screenlets and within seconds had shiny widgets stuck to my desktop. Very cool stuff.

Screenlets comes with a good selection of widgets right out of the box and there are many more user contributed widgets available from the Screenlets.org wiki.

Unlike the early days of Super Karamba, I’ve found Screenlets to be relatively stable and they feed my need for shiny toys. I’ve heard tell that there is a way to import native Google Gadgets as Screenlets, but haven’t had time to play with that yet. Any tips or pointers in that area would be appreciated.

Tags: google, google gadgets, screenlets, widgets

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