Katapult

Not to be confused with Catapult.

For other uses, see Katapult (disambiguation).

Katapult

Katapult in use
Original author(s)	KDE Developers
Developer(s)	TDE Developers
Stable release	R14.1.1 / October 20, 2023; 15 months ago (2023-10-20)[1]
Repository	mirror.git.trinitydesktop.org/cgit/katapult/
Written in	C++
Operating system	Linux
Type	Application Launcher
License	GPL
Website	web.archive.org/web/20090214151146/http://katapult.kde.org/wiki/KatapultHandbook

Katapult is a free and open source application launcher developed originally for KDE 3 and now used on the Trinity Desktop Environment (TDE). It is licensed under the GPL. It was inspired by another application launcher, Quicksilver for Mac OS X.[2] Original development ceased in 2008 and it was removed in KDE 4, but it has been maintained by the TDE developers ever since.[3]

Some of the functionality of Katapult has been integrated into the built-in KRunner program that ships with KDE Software Compilation 4.[4][5]

Features

Katapult allows the user to quickly launch applications and open files by pressing the Alt + Space keys and then typing the beginning of the file or application name. Users do not have to type out the entire name, only the first parts of it.[6] It could started by pressing Alt + F2 or finding it in the application menu. It can only find programs in the K Menu[2] and it can only find files in the top level home directory.[7] Configuration settings can be accessed by pressing Ctrl + C after opening the program.[6]

Katapult has integration with other KDE applications. It will open up songs searched through it in the Amarok music player. The program allows for bookmark importing from Konqueror or Mozilla-based browsers such as Firefox. The user could then search for bookmarks through Katapult and it would open them in Konqueror.[2]

Katapult also features a calculator, a spell checker, plug-in support, and the ability to use different themes.[8]

See also

• Comparison of applications launchers
• KDE Plasma Workspaces
• Quicksilver (software)

References

1. "katapult - Katapult – a general purpose launcher". mirror.git.trinitydesktop.org. Retrieved 2024-01-05.
2. Min, Andrew (28 May 2007). "Launch your programs faster with Katapult". Free Software Magazine. Archived from the original on 10 February 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
3. "Katapult - a general purpose launcher". TDE Gitea Workspace. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
4. Goscinski, Emanuel (11 February 2008). "KDE 4.0 released - Packages for Kubuntu available". kubuntu-de.org. Archived from the original on 17 June 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
5. Min, Andrew (14 January 2008). "KDE4 by Andrew Min". Full Circle Magazine. Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
6. Upfold, Peter (18 March 2008). "Katapult - a general purpose launcher for KDE | FOSSwire". fosswire.com. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
7. Sharma, Mayank (15 July 2007). "Katapult yourself to keyboard productivity". Linux.com. Archived from the original on 14 June 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
8. Smith, JT (27 October 2008). "Katapult - KDE application launcher in openSUSE Linux". Linux.com. Retrieved 5 January 2024.

External links

• Original website (mirror) on the Internet Archive
• Katapult on Kde-Apps Archived 2007-12-12 at the Wayback Machine
• The Katapult Handbook