Plank Dock: A Lightweight Dock Application Alternative for Linux

Plank Dock is a simplest dock application on the world. Its goal is to provide just what a dock needs and nothing more, which means its provides the very basic dock application functionality: launch applications and switch between running applications. Plank Dock is built under Docky technology but without fancy things like docklets, painter and even settings dialog.

Install Plank Dock on Ubuntu
Ubuntu users can install Plank Dock by adding its PPA repository:

• sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ricotz/docky
• sudo apt-get update
• sudo apt-get install plank

Once installed, Plank Dock can be accessed via Accessories section of the Menu.

Plank Dock doesn't have settings windows, so you need to edit its configuration file manually. But don't worry because the configuration file is well-commented, so you won't find any difficulties editing it. The file is located in "~/.config/plank/dock1/settings"

Adding launcher to Plank Dock
Simply, right click on running application icon and select "Keep in dock".

Remove launcher from the dock
Drag the application icon out of the dock.

I have tested Plank Dock on my Xubuntu 12.10 Quantal Quetzal and it runs very fast and smooth.

Regards :)