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Default clock applet is heavy based on evolution ( I think it is provided by this package )indicator-datetime.

For this reason, on on Ubu 14.04, it is sucking about 30mb of ram ( as for htop info ) that is bit too much for a clock.

enter image description here

Is there any other alternative ? ( I just need a clock applet that display on the upper bar )

2 Answers 2

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I'm not aware of a simple/lean clock indicator, however I have a cunning alternative.

1) Write a shell script which gets the current date/time.

2) Install indicator-sysmonitor from here.

3) Add your shell script to indicator-sysmonitor as one of the sensors (and ditch the other sensors).

4) Set the update period to be one minute, more or less frequent as needed.

I have indicator-sysmonitor running showing cpu/mem, updating every five seconds and uses only 15 MB.

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  • great I didn't know indicator-sysmonitor look a nice util. In the meanwhile I migrated to crunchbang, it is for sure a better( one of the best) alternative for netbook Jul 24, 2014 at 17:59
  • custom text indicators, very good! Nov 13, 2014 at 3:20
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I've used this method successfully as a workaround to Ubuntu 14.04 Bug #1317288 (clock disappears from Unity panel).

I followed the instructions from the link above, reposted here with my bash script.

From a terminal, install indicator-sysmonitor:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:fossfreedom/indicator-sysmonitor
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install indicator-sysmonitor

Start the indicator

indicator-sysmonitor &

You should now see a cpu and memory indicator in your dash panel.

enter image description here

Click anywhere on the indicator to open its menu, and select "Preferences". In the "General" tab, enable "Run on startup:"

enter image description here

Go to the "Advanced" tab and click "New".

enter image description here

Name your new sensor "clock", give it a description, and type the following code into the "Command" field.

 date +%a\ %b\ %d\ %r

Click "OK"

enter image description here

On the "Advanced" tab, in the "Customize output:" field, delete cpu:{cpu} mem:{mem} and type

{clock}

Change the update interval to 1.0, and click "Save".

enter image description here

You should now have a day + date + time indicator in your Unity dash panel.

enter image description here

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  • Thanks for the edit Stormvirux. Embedded images make much more sense.
    – RedHand
    Sep 6, 2014 at 6:49

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