Tina HuynhTable of Contents
For those of us who have regularly used a voice assistant on our other applications (i.e. Cortana, Siri, Google Assistant, Bixby, Alexa, etc.), you may be looking around for a Linux alternative for your new system.
Yes, there are ones that can be transferred to Linux. For example, there is an unofficial client for Goggle Assistant that exists for Linux via snap (linked here) but what else is there?
Dragonfire
"A virtual assistant for Ubuntu" developed by Mehmet Yildiran in Python to make life easier for its users.
An interesting feature of Dragonfire is that if you did not run the --headless option, then you will see the hologram every time you hear a response:
You can run it on a Debian or Ubuntu system and install it through the .deb file or by cloning the GitHub repo. There is also a troubleshooting section that is very helpful with the installation and usage of this system.
Some of the built-in commands are:
DRAGONFIRE | WAKE UP | HEY
GO TO SLEEP
FILE MANAGER | OPEN FILES
OPEN (BROWSER | CHROME | FIREFOX)
OPEN [CAMERA, CALENDAR, CALCULATOR, STEAM, BLENDER, WRITER, MATH, IMPRESS, DRAW, TERMINAL]
SOFTWARE CENTER
OFFICE SUITE
PLAY | PAUSE | SPACEBAR
SHUT DOWN THE COMPUTER
GOODBYE | BYE BYE | SEE YOU LATER
(SEARCH|FIND) * (IN|ON|AT|USING) WIKIPEDIA
(SEARCH|FIND) * (IN|ON|AT|USING) YOUTUBE
(SEARCH|FIND) * (IN|ON|AT|USING) (GOOGLE|WEB)
(SEARCH IMAGES OF|FIND IMAGES OF|SEARCH|FIND) * (IN|ON|AT|USING) (GOOGLE|WEB|GOOGLE IMAGES|WEB IMAGES)
Kalliope
Kalliope is a customized personal assistant. This one can definitely be one to add to the side projects list. (I know I am going to add it to mine)
Kalliope can be installed on Debian, Ubuntu systems as well as single-board computers such as Raspberry Pi.
Note: Python 3 is required since Python 2 is no longer supported
The breakdown of getting started with the customization of this assistant is straight-forward and easy to follow. I can't wait to get started with this project!
Mycroft
Mycroft AI, started in 2015, is "AI for everyone". The community builds upon Mycroft's skills, which are tested by other approved community members and available to download for everyone.
Hey Mycroft, what’s the weather like?
Hey Mycroft, tell me about dinosaurs.
Hey Mycroft, play Beck on Pandora.
Hey Mycroft, set a timer for 5 minutes.
Hey Mycroft, play the news.
Hey Mycroft, what’s a conundrum?
Ever wanted to contribute to an AI project? Here's your chance! They give opportunities to make a new voice for Mycroft, help write technical documentation, create skills, fix bugs, translate, and so much more!
Jarvis
Admit it. We've all wanted what Tony Stark had. His relationship with Jarvis? But, is that realistic?
Well, there are versions of Jarvis as a personal/voice/virtual assistant everywhere! (Told you everyone wanted a "Jarvis")
Here is a version of Jarvis that runs on the command line. His voice can be enabled manually. Very neat.
There are even tutorials/projects about how to build your own Jarvis using Python! What a great side project with a uttermost satisfying reward at the end - a personal assistant!
Some links I quickly found (if you have some better ones, please leave them in the comments below):
Conclusion
A voice/personal assistant is wonderful to use. But let's be honest/realistic, how often do you use yours? Do you have one? If so, which do you use the most? I'd love to hear your opinions on the area of phone and computer assistants.
Happy coding!
