Getting the image

Build the image with:

docker build --tag=conky .

If you want the command-line version, use:

docker build --build-arg X11=no --tag=conkycmd .

Running the container

After building, you can run the graphical version with:

docker run --rm -ti --net=host -e DISPLAY -v ~/.Xauthority:/root/.Xauthority conky

The command-line version is simpler:

docker run --rm -ti conkycmd

To pass options to Conky, specify conky twice: once as the image name and once as the command. For example:

docker run --rm -ti --net=host -e DISPLAY -v ~/.Xauthority:/root/.Xauthority conky conky --version

This prints the Conky version. Because X is not required for this command, you can also run:

docker run --rm -ti conkycmd conky --version

If you want to experiment with the configuration first, run:

docker run --rm -ti --net=host -e DISPLAY -v ~/.Xauthority:/root/.Xauthority conky bash

Make any changes you want in the configuration.

conky -c configurationfile ; exit

See the Docker documentation for many other ways to use this container.

Why?

Disadvantages of using Docker:

• You need to install Docker. This can be done by following the instructions in https://docs.docker.com/install/ to install Docker CE. Installing it through your distribution's package manager may also work.
• Much of the information displayed will reflect the current container rather than the entire host system.
• At the moment, the Docker image is still under development.

Advantages of using Docker:

• During installation, you do not need to worry as much about which compilers and libraries are installed, or how they are configured.
• Containerizing Conky makes it much less likely that problems with Conky will affect the rest of the system.
• Your Conky will run in exactly the same environment as everyone else's, so if it works for one person, it should work for others as well, regardless of distribution or host configuration. The Conky configuration itself, and the Conky version, still matter.
• Problems are easier for developers to reproduce, which can lead to faster debugging.