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Monday, April 23, 2012

Desktop Search in KDE / Linux

I am quite used to using a desktop search to find files I need. Either by their file name or contents. On Windows I am still using Google Desktop and partially built-in Windows Search.
On Linux, it was really good to see built-in desktop search in KDE. First I searched the Internet for recommendations and found Beagle and Recoll. I tried Recoll and, while it was indexing, read more about the little icon in the tray, called Nepomuk. Nepomuk is a desktop search library that is utilized through other programs / user interfaces. A very simple one, conveniently placed, is Dolphin, the file manager. The search built into it uses Nepomuk and is quite powerful. Simply click 'Find' icon in the toolbar and type the search term.
Below the search text box there are options whether to search by Filename or by Content. One can also search the current location and below or everywhere.
Additional filtering is possible by choosing a file type (document, audio, video, image), date when it was last edited, and by rating that can be given to files.

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