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Tune Or Disable Tracker Search Tool In Linux
Posted by Kevin Purdy at 3:00 AM on October 2, 2008
By default, the latest version of Ubuntu comes with the Tracker search and indexing tool installed, enabled, and, as the How-To Geek points out, occasionally eating up some serious CPU cycles. Over at his blog, the Geek shows newcomers to Ubuntu (and other Linux distros with Tracker installed) how to scale back Tracker's needs, limit where it searches, or just uninstall the thing entirely. Ubuntu users, are you finding Tracker useful on your desktop, or do you hope to see it downgraded to an optional installation in the next release (which is right around the corner)? Let us know in the comments.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
mdz
Posted October 8, 2008 7:50 PM
Ubuntu has never shipped a version with tracker enabled by default. It is installed, but in active unless the user opts to turn it on.
valadil
Posted 3:37 AM 2/10/08
Tracker is one of the first things I disable on a new install. I know where my files are and I know how to use find and grep.
valadil
vishr
Posted 3:22 AM 2/10/08
I dont use it. I have organized all my files very well, so I now where to access them.
vishr
tandonmiir
Posted 4:08 AM 2/10/08
I agree with the other commenters:
Over the past 7ish years of only using Windows XP, I do not think to use search tools, I mostly rely upon a strict folder hierarchy to place my files.
Funny, maybe if I'd been using a Mac the better part of a decade I'd be more adept at utilizing search tools...
tandonmiir
penguiniator
Posted 4:03 AM 2/10/08
@vishr: Same here. I always disable these desktop search applications, because they invariably hog processor and hard drive cycles. And I have my stuff organized.
penguiniator
severnclay
Posted 3:59 AM 2/10/08
I very rarely search for files (see vishr's answer above), but I've found that its much better behaved now - once it gets through your drive once, you can just set it to only index on idle, and it pretty much stays out of the way. I almost wish I had more of a reason to use it...
severnclay
TheLouis
Posted 4:31 AM 2/10/08
Search functions are nice, but I never understood why some people needed the fast indexing option...
If you organize your files, searching should be a very rare exception, whereupon you can spend the 5 minutes necessary to find that misplaced file. A little directory structure goes a long way.
TheLouis
a0peter
Posted 4:26 AM 2/10/08
I uninstall first thing. I use gnome-do and locate instead.
a0peter
tonyshangrila
Posted 4:18 AM 2/10/08
@vishr: Absolutely. Some of these desktop search apps seem pretty robust and cool, even; now if I only had any use for them...
tonyshangrila
zoomZAP
Posted 5:19 AM 2/10/08
If you have a whole lot of files and you want to be able to index their content, then some sort of indexing/search tool is essential. I'm pretty well-organized, but I get tons of files from clients that I've never even opened let alone read. I find that Google Desktop Search is far better than Tracker or Beagle, although since I installed Hardy all I've done is disable Tracker (I haven't needed a search program recently, so I haven't installed one).
zoomZAP
combat chuck
Posted 7:56 AM 2/10/08
I didn't even know it was there. So I checked it when I got home and it turns out that my Ubuntu variant (Ultimate) has it disabled by default. So that's nice. If I want to find a file, I use Gnome Do or run a search in Nautilus. That usually works.
combat chuck
VMAAXT
Posted 8:36 AM 2/10/08
@zoomZAP: I also use the big G to index my files. I just love being able to double tap ctrl and have search right there. It's even handier since I learned how to use it as an app launcher.
VMAAXT
rainwalker
Posted 12:46 PM 2/10/08
Tracker NEVER worked for me, and I've been using Ubuntu since Dapper. I started using Beagle instead (some people have complained that it's a hog, but I haven't had any problems).
rainwalker
AceParrot
Posted 11:14 AM 2/10/08
Ubuntu 8.04 doesn't have Tracker enabled by default, so by 'latest' I take it you mean 7.10...
AceParrot
CaptainHowdy
Posted 9:28 AM 2/10/08
So I have the small problem that I download to much crap and never have the time to organize it. I also have about 11 external hard drives that I have gotten over the years and they are all simply loaded with files.
I tried to organize the hard drives by moving around files but waiting 18 hours to shuffle about 160 Gigs of data between different drives got really old really fast, so a search program is great for me when I cannot remember where I stored that file in my 3 TB of hard drive space.
CaptainHowdy
wildfun
Posted 3:16 PM 3/10/08
Is there anything similar to this installed by default on PCLinuxOS? I'm a recent convert.
wildfun
DukeXC
Posted 12:37 PM 6/10/08
Tracker would be a lot nicer if it was dependable, which I haven't found it to be. I'm thinking when I upgrade to 8.10, I'll see how Beagle works.
As someone else mentioned, Gnome-Do's file/folder plugin is amazing if you know what you're looking for beforehand, and don't feel like pulling up Nautilus and going through four or five subdirectories to get to it.
DukeXC