Modern desktops try to make the user's work with the computer as pleasant as possible. In the short term, you reach only for the PC features that you really need in daily life, and developers mostly hide the detailed information about the system. However, if you need quick information about the free space on a hard drive, for example, you'll likely have search for the information.

That's where the Conky [1] system monitor comes in handy. It displays just about all the information you need in a desktop widget (Figure 1). You can configure the display as you like and position it anywhere on the desktop.

Conky doesn't come with a graphical interface for configuration, and you need a configuration file to adjust the application. However, the additional conky-colors script lets you enter configuration commands without having to edit the file manually.

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