Attachment 219695 Details for Bug 256693 – Updates for the Openbox HOWTO (v1.5)

Updates for the Openbox HOWTO (v1.5)

openbox_1.5.xml (text/plain), 32.12 KB, created by Nathan Zachary (RETIRED) on 2010-02-14 19:55:47 UTC

(hide)

Description:

Filename:

MIME Type:

Creator: Nathan Zachary (RETIRED)

Created: 2010-02-14 19:55:47 UTC

Size: 32.12 KB

patch

obsolete

><?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
><!DOCTYPE guide SYSTEM "/dtd/guide.dtd">
>
>
><guide>
><title>The Openbox Configuration HOWTO</title>
>
><author title="Author">
>  <mail link="nathanzachary"/>
></author>
><author title="Author">
>  <mail link="nightmorph"/>
></author>
>
><abstract>
>This guide shows you how to install the Openbox window manager, and references
>many potential programs to be used in conjunction with an Openbox session.
></abstract>
>
>
>
><license/>
>
><version>1.5</version>
><date>2010-02-14</date>
>
><chapter>
><title>Introduction</title>
>
><section>
><title>What is Openbox?</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>So, you've installed <uri link="/doc/en/xorg-config.xml">The X Server</uri> and
>realised that TWM just isn't going to cut it for your needs. You may have also
>had some experience with big desktop environments like <uri
>link="/proj/en/desktop/kde/kde4-guide.xml">KDE</uri>, <uri
>link="/doc/en/gnome-config.xml">GNOME</uri>, and <uri
>link="/doc/en/xfce-config.xml">Xfce</uri>. One component of those larger desktop
>suites is called the window manager (or WM for short). A window manager is
>responsible for the appearance and placement of the containers (or "windows")
>inside which programs run. Openbox is a minimalistic, no-frills-attached window
>manager.
></p>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>Why should I use it?</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>Openbox, unlike the larger desktop environments, depends on very few libraries.
>For that reason, it can provide a lightweight graphic environment that runs
>very quickly, even on older hardware. Whether your hardware is old or new,
>Openbox also provides a highly customisable and unobtrusive working
>environment. That means that if you don't want or need a panel, taskbar, clock,
>or any other program, those choices are yours to make!
></p>
>
></body>
></section>
></chapter>
>
><chapter>
><title>Installation and configuration</title>
>
><section>
><title>Initial installation</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>After you have emerged and configured <c>xorg-server</c>, installing Openbox can
>be done in one simple command:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Installing Openbox">
><comment>(Use <i>emerge -av openbox</i> to preview which packages will be installed)</comment>
># <i>emerge openbox</i>
></pre>
>
><p>
>Just like with other window managers and desktop environments, you will need to
>tell the X Server to load Openbox automatically, by adding it to your
><path>~/.xinitrc</path>.
></p>
>
><pre caption="Adding Openbox to your .xinitrc">
>$ <i>echo "exec openbox-session" >> ~/.xinitrc</i>
></pre>
>
><p>
>This will automatically start your Openbox session when you type <c>startx</c>
>at the terminal.
></p>
>
><impo>
>As each user has his or her own <path>.xinitrc</path>, you need to make sure to
>issue that command as <e>your user</e>, not as root.
></impo>
>
><note>
>You can also replace the KDE, GNOME, or Xfce default window manager with
>Openbox by following the <uri link="#inside-desktop-env">Openbox inside desktop
>environments</uri> directions.
></note>
>
><p>
>Now that you have emerged Openbox and added it to your <path>.xinitrc</path>,
>go ahead and issue the <c>startx</c> command to see Openbox in action. As you
>can see, the desktop is simply a cluttered mess!  In following with the Openbox
>philosophy, what you will see is a barebones environment from which you can
>build your desktop completely to your liking.
></p>
>
><p>
>Since you're looking at nothing more than a black screen, you may be wondering
>where the menu is. If you click your right mouse button, you will notice that a
>menu pops up in the location of your cursor. This menu is nothing more than an
>example to illustrate the style of an Openbox menu. Since it <e>is</e> just an
>example, none of the items in the menu will work unless you have actually
>emerged those programs. In the next section, you will see how to create your
>own menu that contains links to <e>your</e> programs.
></p>
>
><impo>
>If you click to view the menu and notice that there is nothing legible, 
>you need to install some fonts.  media-fonts/corefonts and 
>media-fonts/ttf-bitstream-vera are two common choices.
></impo>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>Menu configuration</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>Since the default Openbox menu is essentially useless to you for the reasons
>mentioned above, it's time that we create one that will work. Everything in the
>Openbox menu is written in the appropriately named <path>menu.xml</path> file,
>which can be in the user-specific location of
><path>~/.config/openbox/menu.xml</path>, or in the system-wide location of
><path>/etc/xdg/openbox/menu.xml</path>. By default, the only
><path>menu.xml</path> file that is created is the system-wide one which applies
>to all users on the system.
></p>
>
><p>
>An easy way to get a basic menu file which you can modify is to use MenuMaker,
>which will generate a <path>menu.xml</path> file based on the programs which
>you currently have installed on your system. To do so, you must firstly emerge
>it:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Installing MenuMaker">
># <i>emerge menumaker</i>
></pre>
>
><p>
>Once it is installed, make sure to logout of root, and back into your user account.  
>You then instruct MenuMaker to create a menu specifically using the Openbox XML 
>syntax:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Using MenuMaker to generate a basic Openbox menu.xml">
>$ <i>mmaker -v OpenBox3</i>
></pre>
>
><p>
>The generated menu will be located at
><path>~/.config/openbox/menu.xml</path>. You can then choose to leave it as 
>your user-specific <path>menu.xml</path>, or to additionally copy it to the 
>system-wide menu configuration as well:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Overwriting the default system-wide menu.xml files">
># <i>cp .config/openbox/menu.xml /etc/xdg/openbox/menu.xml</i>
></pre>
>
><impo>
>It is a good idea to use MenuMaker to generate a default menu, as it will have
>the Openbox root-menu items. These items include a virtual desktop switcher,
>and the commands to restart and exit your Openbox session.
></impo>
>
><p>
>When you open up the <path>menu.xml</path> file in your favourite editor (nano,
>for example), you will notice that the XML tags used are very human-readable
>and easily understandable. You may choose to modify the default file to fit
>your needs, or you may want to write it from scratch (don't worry, it's really
>not that difficult). The basic syntax for the menu XML is as follows:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Editing the menu.xml file">
>&lt;?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?&gt;
>&lt;openbox_menu&gt;
>&lt;separator label="NAME_OF_SEPARATOR" /&gt;
>&lt;menu id="IDENTIFIER" label="NAME_OF_MENU"&gt;
>  &lt;item label="NAME_OF_PROGRAM"&gt;
>    &lt;action name="execute"&gt;&lt;execute&gt;/LOCATION/OF/BINARY&lt;/execute&gt;&lt;/action&gt;
>  &lt;/item&gt;
>&lt;/menu&gt;
>&lt;/openbox_menu&gt;
></pre>
>
><p>
>The above example will work for any applications that launch with standard 
>options in their own windows, but what if you need to append options to 
>the program at launch time?  That is no problem either, but the syntax of 
>the menu item is slightly different.
></p>
>
><pre caption="Editing the menu.xml file">
>&lt;?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?&gt;
>&lt;openbox_menu&gt;
>&lt;separator label="NAME_OF_SEPARATOR" /&gt;
>&lt;menu id="IDENTIFIER" label="NAME_OF_MENU"&gt;
>  &lt;item label="NAME_OF_PROGRAM"&gt;
>    &lt;action name="execute"&gt;&lt;command&gt;/LOCATION/OF/BINARY --OPTION1 --OPTION2&lt;/command&gt;&lt;/action&gt;
>  &lt;/item&gt;
>&lt;/menu&gt;
>&lt;/openbox_menu&gt;
></pre>
>
><p>
>Simply replace anything in CAPS in the above two examples with your information.
>Alternatively, you can <c>emerge obmenu</c>, which is a graphical interface 
>allowing you to create your menus without having to manually edit the 
><path>menu.xml</path> file. It is a very small application and offers a 
>nice amount of customisation without typing any XML.
></p>
>
></body>
></section>
>
><section>
><title>Openbox theme and behaviour configuration</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>Aside from being minimalistic and lightweight, Openbox is also surprisingly
>customisable and flexible. As a user, you can easily change various settings
>related to theme, appearance, window placement, docking, and more. There are two
>options for configuring these settings within Openbox. You may either manually
>edit <path>~/.config/openbox/rc.xml</path>, or you may want a GUI to help you
>quickly change settings.
></p>
>
><p>
>If you want to manually edit <path>rc.xml</path>, you simply open up your
>favourite text editor and start making changes. You might want to make a backup
>of the original file just in case, and store it in a location like
><path>~/.config/openbox/rc.xml.default</path>. There are plenty of comments
>within the document itself that should help you with editing. Alternatively, you
>may want to look at the <uri
>link="http://icculus.org/openbox/index.php/Help:Contents#Configuration">Openbox
>configuration guides</uri>.
></p>
>
><p>
>If manually editing <path>rc.xml</path> doesn't sound like your cup of tea, you
>may want to use the GTK+ application to manage your themes and behaviours in
>Openbox. The application that you will use is called ObConf, and can be
>installed on your system just as easily as was Openbox itself.
></p>
>
><pre caption="Installing ObConf">
># <i>emerge obconf</i>
></pre>
>
><p>
>You can then open the configurator by typing <c>obconf</c> in your terminal.
>Next, you can go and add an entry for ObConf into your <path>menu.xml</path> so
>it will show up in your Openbox menu.  If the "editing the menu.xml file" code 
>listing above seemed too vague to be helpful, we'll use ObConf as an example of 
>a menu entry:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Editing the menu.xml file">
>&lt;?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?&gt;
>&lt;openbox_menu&gt;
>&lt;menu id="1" label="Configuration"&gt;
>  &lt;item label="OpenBox Config"&gt;
>    &lt;action name="execute"&gt;&lt;execute&gt;/usr/bin/obconf&lt;/execute&gt;&lt;/action&gt;
>  &lt;/item&gt;
>&lt;/menu&gt;
>&lt;/openbox_menu&gt;
></pre>
>
><p>
>While ObConf is a great GUI tool for editing many behaviour-related settings 
>for Openbox, it doesn't allow one to manipulate nearly as many settings as 
>are presented in the <path>rc.xml</path> file itself.  If you are having 
>trouble finding a particular setting which you would like to change, please 
>consult the <uri link="http://openbox.org/wiki/Configuration">Openbox Wiki</uri> 
>for more information.
></p>
>
><note>
>In recent versions of Openbox (namely >3.4.7.2), one may experience a delay 
>in the submenu opening.  This setting was introduced into the rc.xml file, and 
>is listed as &lt;submenuShowDelay&gt;100&lt;/submenuShowDelay&gt;.  Simply 
>choose a lower number that suits your needs.
></note>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>Autostart configuration</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>As mentioned above, you don't see a whole lot when you issue the <c>startx</c>
>command for the first time after installing Openbox. In addition to customising
>your menus and changing the behaviour of the window manager, you will probably
>want to have some programs automatically start with your Openbox session. There
>is an easily-editable <path>autostart.sh</path> script that allows you to do
>just that. Just like with the <path>menu.xml</path> file, there are two
>different locations of the <path>autostart.sh</path> script--the system-wide
>(<path>/etc/xdg/openbox/autostart.sh</path>), and the user-defined
>(<path>~/.config/openbox/autostart.sh</path>).
></p>
>
><p>
>In the default <path>autostart.sh</path>, you will notice a bunch of lines
>calling for programs like the gnome-settings-daemon, XDG, and others. These
>lines will generate errors upon logout if you don't have the programs installed
>and configured. The easiest thing to do when getting started with Openbox is to
>just comment out these lines by using the # symbol.</p>
>
><pre caption="Commenting out lines in autostart.sh">
># Run XDG autostart things. By default don't run anything desktop-specific
># DESKTOP_ENV=""
># if which /usr/lib/openbox/xdg-autostart >/dev/null; then
>#  /usr/lib/openbox/xdg-autostart $DESKTOP_ENV
># fi
></pre>
>
><p>
>In the above example, the comment symbol (#) was added before each line. The
>commenting method is preferred to just deleting the lines because you may want
>to add support for some of those startup items at a later time. Thus, leaving
>the default lines in place could ease that process.
></p>
>
><p>
>Adding your own programs to the <path>autostart.sh</path> script is as easy as
>writing in the program name for many applications. For instance, if you have
><uri link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/app-admin/conky">Conky</uri> (a
>lightweight system monitor) installed, and want it to start automatically with
>your Openbox session, you simply add the following line to your
><path>autostart.sh</path>:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Adding Conky to your autostart.sh">
>conky &amp;
></pre>
>
><p>
>The ampersand (&amp;) after the command allows that application to load up in
>the background. You will most likely want to load all the applications in your
><path>autostart.sh</path> script in the background because doing so will let
>Openbox and other programs load without the previous one finishing.
></p>
>
></body>
></section>
>
><section>
><title>Setting the background</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>Some things that you might take for granted in bigger desktop environments are
>not included by default in Openbox. One such thing is setting your desktop
>background. In order to place an image as your wallpaper, you will need to
>emerge a program like <uri
>link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/media-gfx/feh">feh</uri> or <uri
>link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/x11-misc/nitrogen">nitrogen</uri>.
><c>feh</c> is a simple image viewer that can also set the background, <e>and</e>
>it can easily be put into the autostart script. Once you have emerged
><c>feh</c>, you can issue the following command to set the background:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Using feh to set the background image">
><comment>(feh has many other options instead of --bg-scale, 
>which will scale the image to the screen dimensions.
>Consult the feh documentation.)</comment>
>$ <i>feh --bg-scale /path/to/image.jpg</i>
></pre>
>
><p>
>Once you have set the background manually, a file called <path>.fehbg</path>
>will be created in your home directory. This file simply contains the above
>command that you just entered in the terminal, and is automatically updated
>when you issue a different background command. Now, to set your background
>automatically upon login, you can add the following line to your
><path>autostart.sh</path> script:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Using feh to set the background image">
>source $HOME/.fehbg &amp;
></pre>
>
><p>
>If you don't particularly care for the idea of having to issue a command in the
>terminal in order to set your background, you can alternatively use
><c>nitrogen</c>. It will allow you to set a folder for your background images,
>view thumbnails of those images, and fit, stretch, or tile them to your
>desktop.
></p>
>
><p>
>Installing <c>nitrogen</c> and getting it into your Openbox menu requires a few
>more steps than are readily apparent. First, you need to <c>emerge nitrogen</c>.
>Second, you need to run <c>nitrogen</c> with your backgrounds folder appended:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Starting nitrogen with your image folder">
>$ <i>nitrogen /path/to/your/backgrounds/folder</i>
></pre>
>
><p>
>Third, you can set your background image, but it will not be there after you
>logout. Just as with <c>feh</c>, you need to restore your background by editing
>your <path>autostart.sh</path> script to have the following line:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Restoring your background with nitrogen">
>nitrogen --restore &amp;
></pre>
>
><p>
>This will cause nitrogen to load automatically when you start your Openbox session, 
>and that can lead to a slightly slower load time than using feh.
></p>
>
></body>
></section>
></chapter>
>
><chapter>
><title>Programs to use with Openbox</title>
><section>
><body>
>
><p>
>The following is a list of some programs which you might want to use within your
>Openbox environment. While the list contains numerous terminal emulators, file
>managers, panels, and more, it should by no means be considered exhaustive. If
>none of the programs listed fit your needs, please check the appropriate
>categories in Portage for more options.
></p>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>Terminal emulators</title>
><body>
>
><ul>
>  <li>
>    <uri
>    link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/lxde-base/lxterminal">LXterminal</uri>
>    is the default terminal emulator for LXDE. It is very lightweight, and based
>    on VTE. While EvilVTE offers many more customisation options (including
>    transparency), LXterminal has a graphical interface for some of the more
>    common options (font, colors, et cetera).
>  </li>
>  <li>
>    <uri
>    link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/x11-terms/evilvte">EvilVTE</uri> is
>    an extremely lightweight terminal emulator based on (you guessed it) VTE. It
>    supports tabs, multiple encodings, as well as an easy and extensible
>    configuration file.
>  </li>
>  <li>
>    <uri link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/x11-terms/mrxvt">Mrxvt</uri>
>    is a multi-tabbed rxvt clone with XFT, transparent background and CJK
>    support. It also features session support for each tab.
>  </li>
>  <li>
>    <uri link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/x11-terms/aterm">Aterm</uri>
>    supports transparency and backwards compatibility with rxvt. It was
>    originally designed for the AfterStep window manager, but easily integrates
>    with other environments.
>  </li>
>  <li>
>    <uri link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/x11-terms/eterm">Eterm</uri>
>    is a terminal based on vt102 and designed to be a more feature-rich
>    replacement for xterm.
>  </li>
>  <li>
>    <uri
>    link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/x11-terms/rxvt-unicode">Rxvt-unicode</uri>
>    is a clone of rxvt that supports Unicode, daemons, embedded perl, and
>    multiple fonts simultaneously.
>  </li>
>  <li>
>    <uri
>    link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/x11-terms/terminal">Terminal</uri>
>    is the VTE-based default for the Xfce desktop environment, so it does
>    require some Xfce libraries to run. However, it is still fairly speedy, and
>    supports transparency and is easily customised.
>  </li>
></ul>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>File managers</title>
><body>
>
><ul>
>  <li>
>    <uri
>    link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/x11-misc/pcmanfm">PCManFM</uri> is
>    the lightweight filemanager from LXDE. It supports tabbed browsing, drag and
>    drop, thumnails for images, bookmarks, volume management, searching, and
>    more. It also provides supports for managing the desktop background and
>    drawing desktop icons (both optionally).
>  </li>
>  <li>
>    <uri link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/xfce-base/thunar">Thunar</uri>
>    is the standard file manager from Xfce. It features a bulk renamer,
>    user-customisable actions, and an extension framework, along with many
>    optional plugins, such as media tag editing. It depends on several Xfce
>    libraries, but it's still slimmed down compared to other file managers like
>    Nautilus (from GNOME), and Konqueror (from KDE).
>  </li>
>  <li>
>    <uri
>    link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/gnome-base/nautilus">Nautilus</uri>
>    is the powerful file manager from the GNOME desktop environment. It features
>    volume management, thumbnails for images, searching, and some system
>    configuration. As it depends on many of the GNOME libraries for proper
>    function, it can seem a bit heavy compared to some of the other file
>    managers.
>  </li>
>  <li>
>    <uri link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/app-misc/gentoo">Gentoo</uri>
>    (no relation to this glorious Linux distribution) is a two-pane style file
>    manager. It is incredibly lightweight, but lacks a some features now
>    prominent in modern file managers. It should definitely be considered for
>    older hardware, or if you are wanting a barebones setup.
>  </li>
>  <li>
>    <uri
>    link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/app-misc/emelfm2">emelFM2</uri> is
>    another file manager in the vein of Midnight Commander. It features a
>    two-pane window. As with the Gentoo file manager (listed above), it is
>    barebones and does not include many features prevalent in newer file
>    managers. However, it also offers a few features not found in other file
>    managers, such as a built-in commandline in a separate pane.
>  </li>
></ul>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>Desktop management</title>
><body>
>
><ul>
>  <li>
>    Though <uri
>    link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/x11-misc/pcmanfm">PCManFM</uri> is
>    mainly a file manager, it also gives you the option to manage the desktop
>    background (instead of using <c>feh</c> or <c>nitrogen</c>) and draw
>    desktop icons. It should be noted that with the current release (0.5.x), it
>    is not readily possible to get rid of the default "My Documents" icon on the
>    desktop.
>  </li>
>  <li>
>    <uri link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/x11-misc/idesk">iDesk</uri> is
>    a simple program used to draw desktop icons. It supports shadowed and
>    anti-aliased fonts, PNG images, "snap-to-grid" placement, and changing the
>    desktop background.
>  </li>
></ul>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>Panels</title>
><body>
>
><ul>
>  <li>
>    <uri link="http://code.google.com/p/tint2/">Tint2</uri> is a simple panel
>    and taskbar (based on the ttm code). It supports color/transparency, a
>    clock, and drag and drop between virtual desktops.
>  </li>
>  <li>
>    <uri
>    link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/x11-misc/pypanel">PyPanel</uri> is
>    an easily customised panel written in Python and C. It features
>    transparency, shading, tinting, location and layout configuration, font
>    type, autohiding, application launcher, clock, and more.
>  </li>
>  <li>
>    <uri
>    link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/lxde-base/lxpanel">LXPanel</uri> is
>    the default panel and taskbar from LXDE. It features a launcher, menu,
>    clock, and a GUI-based configurator. It is feature-rich while depending on
>    very few packages, making it a good choice for a lean system.
>  </li>
>  <li>
>    <uri
>    link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/xfce-base/xfce4-panel">Xfce4-panel</uri>
>    is the default panel from the Xfce desktop environment. It supports
>    application launchers, detachable menus, a pager, tasklist, clock, applets,
>    and more.  It does, however, require a few of the Xfce libraries which are
>    not dependencies of some other panels.
>  </li>
>  <li>
>    <uri
>    link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/x11-misc/fbpanel">FBpanel</uri> is
>    a simple, extremely lightweight panel that supports window lists, launchers,
>    a clock, and a few other goodies. It's not the most featureful panel, and it
>    can be cumbersome to configure, but it needs only GTK+ to run.
>  </li>
></ul>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>Pagers and systrays</title>
><body>
>
><ul>
>  <li>
>    <uri
>    link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/x11-misc/netwmpager">NetWMpager</uri>
>    is an EWMH-compliant pager that integrates nicely into any of the *box
>    environments. It is not as obtrusive, and is much more readily customisable
>    than many of the other available pagers.
>  </li>
>  <li>
>    <uri
>    link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/x11-misc/bbpager">BBpager</uri> is
>    a desktop pager that was originally written for BlackBox, but works nicely
>    with Openbox as well. It does have some BlackBox dependencies though.
>  </li>
>  <li>
>    <uri
>    link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/x11-plugins/docker">Docker</uri> is
>    the system tray that is made especially for Openbox. It has no extra
>    dependencies, and gives you the ability to view and use tray icons for
>    supported GTK and QT-based applications.
>  </li>
>  <li>
>    <uri link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/x11-misc/trayer">Trayer</uri>
>    is a system tray that was modified from the FBpanel code, and is often used
>    with FVWM. One of its perks is that it supports transparency.
>  </li>
></ul>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>Session management</title>
><body>
>
><ul>
>  <li>
>    <uri link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/lxde-base/lxsession">
>    LXsession</uri> is the stripped down session manager from LXDE. It is
>    designed to remember applications that the user was running at the last
>    logout, and to automatically restart those programs. It also supports the
>    HAL daemon.
>  </li>
>  <li>
>    <uri link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/xfce-base/xfce4-session">
>    Xfce4-session</uri> is the session manager from, you guessed it, Xfce.  It
>    is capable of saving several sessions, and provides methods for logging out,
>    rebooting, and suspending your computer.  It does, however, have many Xfce
>    dependencies.
>  </li>
></ul>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>Configuration tools</title>
><body>
>
><ul>
>  <li>
>    <uri link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/x11-misc/obconf">ObConf</uri>
>    is a GUI application allowing you to customise the Openbox window manager
>    without manually editing <path>~/.config/openbox/rc.conf</path>.
>  </li>
>  <li>
>    <uri
>    link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/lxde-base/lxappearance">LXappearance</uri>
>    is a GTK theme and icon configurator used with LXDE.  It provides a nice
>    graphical interface for setting the theme and icons, while depending on very
>    few extra libraries.
>  </li>
>  <li>
>    <uri
>    link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/x11-themes/gtk-chtheme">GTK-ChTheme</uri>
>    is a simple application allowing for easier switching of GTK themes and your
>    font. Currently, it does not allow for the switching of icon themes.
>  </li>
>  <li>
>    <uri
>    link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/x11-themes/gtk-theme-switch">GTK-theme-switch</uri>
>    is another simple application that lets you change your GTK theme.
>  </li>
></ul>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>Miscellaneous</title>
><body>
>
><ul>
>  <li>
>    <uri link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/app-admin/conky">Conky</uri>
>    is a lightweight system monitor that can display over 250 objects, including
>    date and time, CPU usage, memory usage, IMAP/POP3 email, top processes,
>    hardware sensor data, and even info from your music player. It is highly
>    customisable both in appearance and data display. We also have a <uri
>    link="/doc/en/conky-howto.xml">Conky configuration guide</uri> available.
>  </li>
>  <li>
>    <uri
>    link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/app-editors/leafpad">Leafpad</uri>
>    is a simple text editor. It is very lightweight, but includes features like
>    codeset options, and the ability to undo/redo without limits.
>  </li>
>  <li>
>    <uri link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/media-gfx/feh">feh</uri> is a
>    simple image viewer that runs from the terminal, but it also has many other
>    features. It can display a slideshow of images, create an index print,
>    dynamically zoom, and set the desktop background (detailed instructions
>    above).
>  </li>
>  <li>
>    <uri
>    link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/media-gfx/gpicview">GPicView</uri>
>    is a GUI-based image viewer. Though it has more dependencies than
>    <c>feh</c>, it is incredibly quick to load and run.
>  </li>
>  <li>
>    <uri link="http://packages.gentoo.org/package/x11-misc/slim">SLiM</uri> is
>    the Simple Login Manager, which allows you to login to your Openbox session
>    via a graphical interface instead of the terminal. It has very few
>    dependencies, and supports many themes, but should not be used on machines
>    that require remote logins.
>  </li>
></ul>
>
></body>
></section>
></chapter>
>
><chapter id="inside-desktop-env">
><title>Openbox inside desktop environments</title>
><section>
><title>LXDE</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>If installing each component of a working environment sounds like a little
><e>too</e> much customisation, but you still want the flexibility of Openbox,
>you may want to look into a desktop environment that uses Openbox as its default
>window manager. That environment is <uri link="http://www.lxde.org/">LXDE</uri>,
>the Lightweight X Desktop Environment. Designed to require even fewer system
>resources than Xfce, it is built around Openbox.
></p>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>Openbox inside GNOME</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>If you already have a GNOME environment installed, you may just want to replace
>the Metacity window manager with Openbox. Fortunately, this is quite a simple
>task! You will need to fire up your favourite editor, open your
><path>~/.xinitrc</path> file, and put the following command inside it:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Adding an Openbox-GNOME session to your .xinitrc">
>exec openbox-gnome-session
></pre>
>
><p>
>If you use GDM or another graphical login manager, you will see a new
>"GNOME/Openbox" option in your session menu. You can simply select that option
>instead of manually editing your <path>~/.xinitrc</path>.
></p>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>Openbox inside KDE</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>Say you have KDE installed and like it, but you want more flexibility with your
>window management than KWin offers. You can use Openbox as your window manager
>inside of KDE by simply editing your <path>~/.xinitrc</path> file, and
>replacing your current exec command with the following:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Adding an Openbox-KDE session to your .xinitrc">
>exec openbox-kde-session
></pre>
>
><p>
>Now when you issue <c>startx</c> you will see KDE, but instead of KWin, you
>will have the customisability of the Openbox window manager.
></p>
>
><p>
>If you use KDM or another graphic login manager, you will see a new
>"KDE/Openbox" option in your session menu. You can simply select that option
>instead of manually editing your <path>~/.xinitrc</path>.
></p>
>
><note>
>This method of using Openbox with KDE has been tested with the KDE 3.x
>releases. While it seems highly likely that it will work with the KDE 4.x
>series, it has not been thoroughly tested as of yet.
></note>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>Openbox inside Xfce</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>If you use Xfce4 and would like to replace xfwm4 with Openbox, you will need to
>go about it a little differently than with KDE or GNOME. First, you need to
>start your normal Xfce session, and open up a terminal. From the terminal,
>issue the following command:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Killing xfwm4 and replacing it with Openbox">
>$ <i>killall xfwm4 ; openbox &amp; exit</i>
></pre>
>
><p>
>Second, you need to exit out of your Xfce session, and make sure to tick the
>checkbox that says "Save session for future login."  This will keep Openbox as
>your default window manager. Third, you will notice that you can't logout
>properly when using the default menu action. To fix this problem, open up your
><path>menu.xml</path>, and locate this line:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Finding the exit action in menu.xml">
>&lt;item label="Exit"&gt;
>     &lt;action name="Exit"/&gt;
>&lt;/item&gt;
></pre>
>
><p>
>Change it to this:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Replacing the exit action in menu.xml">
>&lt;item label="Exit"&gt;
>  &lt;action name="Execute"&gt;
>    &lt;command&gt;xfce4-session-logout&lt;/command&gt;
>  &lt;/action&gt;
>&lt;/item&gt;
></pre>
>
><note>
>With Xfce4, the root-menu provided by Xfdesktop will be used instead of the
>Openbox root-menu.
></note>
>
></body>
></section>
></chapter>
>
><chapter>
><title>Further documentation</title>
><section>
><title>External resources</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>While this document will easily take you through the inital installation and
>customisation of Openbox, it is by no means the only reference on the topic.
>There are several other resources that will aid you in creating your perfect
>Openbox setup. Some of them are listed below:
></p>
>
><ul>
>  <li>
>    On <uri link="http://openbox.org/">The Official Openbox website</uri> 
>    you will find more detailed information regarding theming, creating menus 
>    (including pipe menus), autostart scripting, and much more. This site also 
>    has information regarding new releases, upgrades, and instructions on how 
>    you can contribute to development.
>  </li>
>  <li>
>    The <uri link="http://urukrama.wordpress.com/openbox-guide/">Urukrama's
>    Guide to Openbox</uri> blog contains a plethora of information about
>    switching GTK+ themes, setting up keybindings, desktop effects, and other
>    programs to use in conjunction with Openbox. Though the tutorial was
>    originally written for use with Ubuntu, everything is applicable to Gentoo
>    (and other Linux distributions for that matter).
>  </li>
>  <li>
>    <uri link="http://www.box-look.org/">Box-Look</uri> provides numerous
>    themes, icons, wallpapers, fonts, and tools to be used with Openbox (as well
>    as the other *box window managers like Fluxbox, Blackbox, PekWM, etc.)
>  </li>
></ul>
>
></body>
></section>
></chapter>
></guide>

Actions: View

Attachments on bug 256693: 180014 | 189638 | 190382 | 195919 | 201155 | 202210 | 219695 | 219697 | 231845