Conky
Conky is a highly configurable, rather complex system monitor that is light on
system resources and can give you information about nearly anything. The
downside is that you need to learn how to configure it. Simply installing
Conky from the software repositories only gets you started. However, for
those who want specific information displayed on their desktop at all times, it
is invaluable and well worth the time it takes to figure it out. We give an
example here, but to truly appreciate the power, flexibility, and possibilities of
Conky, visit https://github.com/brndnmtthws/conky.
Conky uses text files for configuration and is often started using a short script.
The example shown in Figure 16.1 is from Matthew’s personal configuration
on his workstation and is intended as a simple example to get you started.
In this example, Conky gives information about the kernel, the operating
system, the hostname of the system, and the current time and date. It
continually updates with information on load averages, CPU usage and
temperature, battery status, and RAM and disk usage. In addition, it shows
networking details, including the internal network IP address and the IP
address assigned to the outside-facing router the network uses to connect to
the wider world and current inbound and outbound network connections. (The
IP address is assigned by the ISP, and it changes, so if you try to attack
Matthew’s home network using