more coming later
(on Wikipedia)
http://openbox.org/wiki/Main_Page
A straightforward but powerful window manager.
Openbox has been my window manager of choice for years now. Over that time, I've amassed some significant knowledge which I'll try to maintain here.
A component of LXDE.
- Simple Openbox themerc
- minimal openbox style
- rc.xml
- versus Blackbox
-
Openbox configuration has old notes.
-
- While supposedly not abandoned, Openbox has bugs reaching back to 2007.
-
theme update -- Blackbox/Fluxbox themes converted to Openbox.
--
- 2020-03-10 - 3.6.1 on Debian 9.9.0-i386-xfce-CD-1
- 2020-03-10 - 3.6.1 on Debian 10.1.0-amd64-xfce-CD-1
- 2016-03-28 - 3.5.2 on Slackware 14.1
- 2016-03-26 - 3.5.2 on Lubuntu 14.04.4 LTS
- 2015-05-12 - (version not recorded) on Slax 7.0.8 x86_64
-
~2009-04? - 3.5.0 on Lubuntu (version not recorded)
- Default with Lubuntu. Working wonderfully.
-
2009-04-17 - 3.4.7.2 on (distribution not recorded)
- 2008-11-17 or earlier - 0.70.1 on (distribution not recorded)
- ~2008-08-17 - (version not recorded) on PCLinuxOS 2008
-
2007-04-20 - (version not recorded) on (distribution not recorded)
- A brief test.
-
I previously used Blackbox
2016-03-28 - 3.5.2 ∞
Installed using slpkg - https://slackbuilds.org/repository/14.1/desktop/openbox/
\slpkg -s sbo openbox
xwmconfig
and set xinitrc.openbox-session
as the default window manager. Note that there is also an entry in pkgtool
> config.
-
Note that openbox could be re-compiled with
--disable-session-management
- While I've noted that, I may not pursue this for some time.
-
With two monitors, the alt-tab thing appears on only one monitor. I want it on both, or at least on my primary monitor and not the one I often have turned off.
- 3.4.9 -- Show the desktop pager popup on the primary monitor instead of on all monitors.
- https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/284912/lubuntu-15-10-dual-monitor-setup-issues
2016-03-26 - 3.5.2 ∞
(no notes were taken)
2015-05-12 - (version not recorded) ∞
Quite easy.
FYI, it appears that Blackbox is available by default.
1) get it
\slax activate openbox
This gets dependencies! Yay!!
2) run xwmconfig
and configure the window manager to be xinitrc.openbox-session
3) edit ~/.config/openbox/autostart
you probably want something like
xterm & firefox & lxpanel & dolphin &
4) exit X with control-alt-backspace
5) Menu > Session Type > Custom
6) log back in as user root password toor
If you reboot, this system will now autolog into Openbox.
2009-04-17 - 3.4.7.2 ∞
Almost perfect.
I have a fair history with it and know it well enough. Without further testing and comparison, this would be my first choice.
For just a basic developer system, Openbox alone is just fine. Otherwise I would recommend at least LXPanel.
-
Doesn't allow me to
right-click
on the frame of a window to get the menu. That sucks, I miss that from Blackbox. It means that maximized windows completely remove my ability to use the menu.- Not really important though.
- 2017-11-12 - Some time later I would have maximize ignore one pixel on the left of the screen, so I could still do this. I have no idea how though. It's been years since I've really examined my configuration.
2008-11-17 or earlier - 0.70.1 ∞
Cannot alt-space-n
. Instead, have to alt-space-(let go of alt)-n
dpi ∞
[These are not my notes. I don't have a source for them.]
Check your DPI by typing into a terminal
xrdb -query | grep dpi
To set it permanently for your session, type the following at the terminal:
echo "Xft.dpi:96" >> ~/.Xdefaults xrdb -merge ~/.Xdefaults
Then put the last line at the beginning of your autostart.sh, to make the adjustment permanent.
toggle window decorations ∞
<keybind key="W-d">
<action name="ToggleDecorations"/>
</keybind>
~2008-08-17 - (version not recorded) ∞
So much time passed and I tried all kinds of other things, including working with a newer Blackbox. But I ended up breaking down and going to openbox because I needed more official support from PCLinuxOS and I didn't want to fart around anymore.
It turns out that some farting around was still needed, but things are going well.
Installation ∞
It's in the repository..
openbox libopenbox1 obconf
Then I have an .xinitrc with"
openbox-session & wmpid=$! nohup fbpanel > /dev/null& nohup xterm > /dev/null& wait $wmpid
I have to kill kdm and then log in at the console and do startx
. I have no clue how to edit kdm. =(
2007-04-20 - (version not recorded) ∞
Originally tested a very long time ago. I liked it, but I liked Blackbox more and used it for quite some time. At the time, I said that this would be my second choice after Blackbox, but I didn't say why.
Last updated 2020-07-02 at 16:02:48