Very nice Gnome menu in Ubunty Oneiric 11.10 Unity panel

After writing my previous post and encountering further problems with the bliss lens, I hit Google to look for other approaches while watching the Eagles-Bears game. I hit what looks like paydirt for now. I found the Cardapio PPA and their Gnome menu for Unity. I modified the following instructions from UbuntuGuide, especially in replacing the Compiz changes with a simple addition to the desktop file.

I added the PPA in the terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:cardapio-team/unstable

Then refresh the package cache and install the menu system:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install cardapio

From here, you have to create the panel entry. Open gedit and paste the following into the editor:

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Terminal=false
Exec=cardapio show-near-mouse
Name=menu
Icon=gnome-main-menu

Save this file as “.local/share/applications/Cardapio.desktop” without the quotes. Close gedit, then open Nautilus, hit Ctrl-H to show hidden files, navigate to .local/share/applications, then click and drag Cardapio.desktop to the Unity launcher panel where you wish to place it and drop it there. I put mine right under the Dash icon like so:

That’s it! Just click on the Ubuntu icon to bring up the menu:

The first time you bring up the menu, it will take a few seconds to load. After that, it’s instantaneous. As with the standard Gnome menu, the Main Menu application can be used to show and arrange programs in the menu system. This is really good stuff!

I’m uninstalling the bliss lens for now in favor of the Cardapio menu. I’m feeling a whole lot better about Unity at the moment with this menu system. Many thanks to the Cardapio team for this great addition to Ubuntu Unity!

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