Why Voco exists
A new machine revealed a missing gesture.
I switched to Linux a few weeks ago after becoming disappointed with Apple and its MacBook Pro. These used to be the creme de la creme when it came to high end laptops. I do not believe that still holds true anymore. These machines are very heavy, no longer as aesthetically impressive as they once were, and still are very expensive. I decided to try out a Lenovo ThinkPad because of my keen interest in experimenting with Linux. I love it, and with the current advancements in agents operating in CLIs, I now have a machine that is very powerful at a third of the price with assistants helping learn how to use it and build things for it.
The desktop had intelligence. It lacked a native voice gesture.
With this new change come new challenges. Not all the applications I was used to, or potential new ones, are immediately available. That can also be seen as a great opportunity to learn and build.
The idea
What if speaking felt native?
This is where Voco, my latest mini project, enters the conversation. I loved seeing how people are now dictating to their CLIs instead of typing, not just to CLIs, but in fact to a lot of applications. I really liked the idea and wanted to give it a try. To my surprise, Whisper Flow is not yet available on Linux. But what if I could build it myself? That could save me a few pounds at the expense of some precious tokens.
- Voicemicrophone
- Audio sampleslocal capture
- Local transcriptNemotron · CPU
- Focused fieldclipboard paste
Under the surface
Default dictation stays inside the laptop.
Voco is a free, open source desktop dictation tool for Linux. Press Alt+D to start speaking and again to stop. The current release runs a local English NVIDIA Nemotron model on the CPU, with no GPU, account or cloud transcription required. It pastes the transcript into the focused text field and never presses Enter. For privacy, audio stays on your device; update checks contact GitHub.
- CaptureNative microphone capture on Wayland; browser capture on X11
- Native engineLocal English NVIDIA Nemotron model · CPU
- Desktop deliveryClipboard paste · review before sending
The cursor contract
Speak naturally. Review before sending.
Text arrives through clipboard paste, replacing the clipboard contents. Keep the target field focused until dictation stops, then review before sending. Interrupted transcripts remain available in Voco for recovery.
your voice becomes text here
Sessions are limited to ten minutes. Voco never presses Enter, and generic desktop paste cannot safely rewrite an entire message after Stop.