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SDsolar
Asked: 2017-07-17 02:29:48 +0800 CST

How to make my Ubuntu 16.04 system display a to-do reminder?

  • 772

Sometimes I get interrupted while programming and would like to have some sort of alarm function that can remind me to do sometihing important.

I do not want to build a clock, nor do I want the kind of thing my smartphone does.

Just an on-screen reminder would be best. Non-recurring. I know there used to be a program called reminder that would do this. I also know about sticky-notes but have a policy of never changing my repositories for any reason. Also there is one called something like remindor but it won't work with 16.04 LTS.

So now I can't locate anything similar.

Maybe someone in the community knows this.

How can I make my Ubuntu do this easily? Hopefully with just a single command (because this is usually in response to a phone call for help elsewhere).

---EDIT: I had to actually install the at command on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS:

sudo aptitude install at
16.04

4 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    Here is one that does the pop-up notifications. It will work from the command line, and even works in cron jobs.

    The simplest way to use it is like so:

    echo 'notify-send "FINISH THAT MIDNIGHT PROGRAM"' | at 20:00

    (Thank you, @M. Becerra)

    It presents a pop-up in the upper right of all the desktops but without command-line parameters it is silent and goes away in just a few seconds, so here is a good article that explains the high points:

    Gnome Desktop Notifications Specification

    It can make noises if necessary, for instance.

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  2. There is a program called xpad that works from the command line and from the GUI. Install it like this: 

    sudo apt install xpad

    Then to run it, type 

    xpad

    It pops up a yellow sticky-note-like window so I can keep that on-screen to remind me to call the boss when I get back, or to finish something I was working on.

    It can be locked to the taskbar in case it needs to be minimized. Also, when closed entirely, it comes back with the text intact. That's a plus.

    Looks like it will be useful.

    But I still need something that will pop up and interrupt me at a set time, whether as a one-off or as a daily cron.

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  3. A utility program that will pop-up reminders is Day Planner (http://www.day-planner.org)

    The developer's web site states: "Day Planner is a program designed to help you easily plan and manage your time. It can manage appointments, birthdays and more and makes sure you remember your appointments by displaying reminders."

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  4. Xterm can show a dingy little black reminder window... but it stays up until you close it, unlike notify-send.

    This one-liner reads a line from the terminal, then displays the reminder in xterm after sleeping for ten minutes.

    $ read -p 'reminder? ' e;e=`printf %q "$e"`; sleep $((60*10)) ; xterm -e bash -c "read -p $e"

    Here's a bash one-liner using ebay-alarm

    $ ebay-alarm 10 min -- xterm -e bash -c "read -p `printf "%q" "$(read -p 'reminder? ' e;echo $e)"`"

    It's hard to read because the one-liner, uses this method: xterm -e bash -c "script" , but the reminder message has to be read, then escaped with printf.

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