Five Tips For The Openbox Window Manager

Openbox has always been my favorite floating window manager. It holds a special place in my heart due it being the first window manager that I used when I switched to Linux. And I still find it so darn comfy to use!
REFERENCED:
► menumaker.sourc... - MenuMaker
► gitlab.com/dwt... - DT's Openbox configs
► gitlab.com/dwt... - DT's tint2 panel configs
► gitlab.com/dwt... - DT's Dark GTK Theme
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Your support is very much appreciated. Thanks, guys!

[@MaboxLinux]

The all-time Window Manager. You can use it the way you like - with a keyboard, a mouse, or both .

[@trippybird3682]

I like it a lot in this distro called mabox =)

[@powerpackip112]

Openbox in Mabox is amazing!!!

[@aleksandar_techtattoo6337]

Yes thanks ❤️ almost 1 year whit MAbox Linux 😁

[@otniel58]

New Mabox user here! 😀

[@harshwardhansingh6433]

composition don't work on mabox for me

[@raymondgradzewicz]

I'm a simple man, I see Openbox the title, I click.

[@alphabennyrosy5068]

Damnnnn that hair 😂 love it

[@raymondgradzewicz]

@@alphabennyrosy5068 Thanks :)

[@thecashewtrader3328]

OwOpenbOwOx

[@dougtilaran3496]

Not simple. Intelligent to da max !

[@TheKeksadler]

This video came at the absolute perfect time. Just started using openbox today

[@fawzanfawzi9993]

Wow, I was thinking of using LXDE beside my Tiling Window Manager and you uploaded just in the right time.

[@theretromillennial]

I have a soft spot for openbox. I first used it on the old Crunchbang distro that I ran on my old Acer Aspire netbook from 2011-2014. I was new to Linux and it was the first distro that I really tinkered with to make it the way I wanted it.

[@russellrussell5495]

I start my Openbox experience with Crunchbang ++ and then tweak from there. The (pipe) menus, tint2, dmenu, tiling and GUI confs are almost all already in place and the distro comes completely unbloated. Add lx-hotkey from synaptic and you're good to go ;-)

[@dougtilaran3496]

@@russellrussell5495 lx-hotkey good tip

[@johnc3403]

You're right about our first serious distro. For me, after much distro hopping, it was Crunchbang Linux with Openbox that just felt right. Crunchbang is long gone but Openbox lives on for me in my Arch install.

[@kanashimi6209]

Thank you for the advice Derek! I love OpenBox, my current rice is built around it.

[@rickbhattacharya2334]

I really really like openbox it's easy , simple to configure and powerful .

[@kendawg_mcawesome]

[cracks can] . . . [big sip] . . . ah, now THAT was a window manager Also my first standalone, always gives me a flood of nostalgia.

[@Phantom-el6oe]

It's worth mentioning that Arco Linux has Openbox ready out of the box. I only needed to install nitrogen and set appearance in system settings, no need to edit anything

[@BernardoHenriquez]

Tint2 is the best full custumizable panel i ever seen, you can turn tint2 into whatever you want, none panel is as custumizable as tint2

[@Robertass2000]

but it does not list all workspaces the same way as for instance polybar or built ins window managers bars.

[@Your_Degenerate]

Yeah, I heard that song a lot at the Roll-A-Rink back in the day.

[@stephen6409]

first one i installed was openbox by following your openbox video works great i like tint2

[@kendawg_mcawesome]

Hey DT, an interesting video idea would be how to set up OpenBox as a purely keyboard controlled floating window manager. Just an idea. I'm sure it could be done.

[@trippybird3682]

you took me back to the skating rink days with that flow dt

[@andrzejtokarski2501]

OpenBox is my favourite and a daily driver for years now

[@russellrussell5495]

My first tip: start by installing the excellent and very minimal but fully functional Crunchbang ++

[@jw_023]

I’d be curious what you think of the qtile version of Garuda Linux. For example, I needed to create a startup script to get it to work with multiple monitors and I’m curious how it compares to a basic qtile install.

[@timflatus]

Thanks. You have persuaded me to go look at openbox again. I also have good memories of using it in the past

[@luanalatte]

You're always reading my mind. I was thinking in giving openbox another shot today!

[@dougtilaran3496]

I might do a channel. Openbox deserves more intricate attention than can be found anywhere.

[@Neucher]

I like Openbox, its like a build it yourself KDE. However at that point you might as well use something like a minimal KDE.

[@LevisRaju]

Now, I use openbox with xfce panel, xfce notifications and xfce power manager. And I've added some keybindings to tile and open rofi. . All looks cool :-) Everything works.

[@genkiferal7178]

I am considering doing something similar. How much lighter on resources is it? I plan to use it on an old hdd.

[@LevisRaju]

@@genkiferal7178 on startup, its like 300MB. You can use it on your old HDD.

[@francisbeausoleil804]

Thanks DT,! your videos, and time dedication is very appreciated. You helped me a lot, answered some questions, doubts and thanks, back to Openbox. way better workflow now, still learning, getting more used to keybinding, learning the configs...!!! again thanks! I know we can be pest often , hopefully you will continue as long as you'd like, Take good care!

[@jawuku3885]

I quite like jgmenu for my Openbox desktop menu.

[@trwired]

Are you using a compositor? When you showcase pseudotiling, the window movement and sizing appears to be nicely animated. I don't think my vanilla Openbox does that.

[@russellrussell5495]

Indeed. I asked the same question on this thread. I'm guessing it's a compton setting? Are you any closer to working out how to do it?

[@trwired]

@@russellrussell5495 Vanilla compton couldn't do it the last time I checked, but there was a proof-of-concept fork providing animations laying around github somewhere. Unfortunately it looked abandoned, so I didn't dig further, but I think that's what DT most likely used.

[@jk-mm5to]

Will(has) Distrotube release(d) a Distrotube distro?

[@raimondvsspeedruns8469]

no, he said he doesn't want to become a help channel

[@bored_god_slayer]

Can you do polybar in openbox video and customization guide?

[@raddinox2707]

Hey DT, Thanks to your (old) videos I started to put together an OpenBox based custom "DE" on my machine. I don't like the tiling window managers so OpenBox is a good compromise for using all the other cool stuff you are using but not using a tiling window manager. I was using KDE at the same time and playing around with OpenBox on the side. But few days ago my Debian SID got an update which removed my entire KDE install because I wasn't paying attention when updating🤣But I stayed on OpenBox with my tint2 panel and installed lots of other stuff you usually talk about, like rofi etc. Would love to see you make some new OpenBox videos

[@daviddupoise6443]

When I think back ... I tried OpenBox on a Monday, was in bed with i3 by Thursday ;) I don't really know why. Falls into the category of "just not for me" FTR: not on i3 anymore either but she was good.

[@StrikerEureka85]

solomon grundy, is that you?

[@subuntu]

I heartily recommend configuring Apwal on desktop left click for a fast and light popup launcher. I've used it with open box for heaven knows how many years. Edit. Tip, use left ALT to left click grab a window and resize. Lightning fast and no struggling to grab a 1px border

[@Blessed2bFresh]

I really need to learn Git. As I've gotten deeper into Linux, I see how much I've missed.

[@millankumar9245]

Hey DT! Love the video! I am definitely going to try openbox now! Is there a way to use the "xmobar" with openbox? I absolutely love mine from my xmonad setup, and I think it would go well in openbox.

[@adamsinger77]

Yes you can

[@adamsinger77]

Been a openbox user since the beginning and before that I was using blackbox. I love openbox and still use it everyday at work. On my personal computers I tend to use budgie or xfce these days but when I wanna get sh*t done and done fast I use openbox.

[@genkiferal7178]

Is there a reason you don't use xfwm with OpenBox? I am considering leaving XFCE because it is bloated and removing some of the bloat (such as xfburn) can break your desktop. I wonder how much lighter the above combo would be and what things I'd miss out on. I have 1TB on a slowly-dying hdd and wanna use it up before it dies, so I need something super light.

[@adamsinger77]

@@genkiferal7178 i use openbox with a tint2 panel. There is also a bunch of other software but i try to keep everything i use standalone that do not depend on other desktop environments components to run. Like pcmanfm instead of nautilus since nautilus requires a lot of gnome components where pcmanfm does not. My entire system if i do it from scratch and want to stay minimal is very small... Not sure exact numbers but if i install it with lets say a minimal Debian install then id say less then 5GB space. Also using a window manager like openbox is very low impact on memory. My current system right now at idle is running 200 to 300MB of ram. And i do have a good amount of services running.

[@genkiferal7178]

@@adamsinger77 I'm going to try Debian with xfwm (first) and then with THAT, I'll run a few custom (base version) antiX with minimal-fluxbox in VMs. I want to try something like Whonix has - a few isolated apps running in VMs and maybe I'll use Ice apps and Docker here and there, too. But, do i install Debian server or will the regular Debian give me options other than the normal 4 D.E. it offers? I always chose Xfce, so never paid attention.

[@ShaunakHub]

Can I install Openbox alongside KDE ? Or there will be conflicts (like often happens if I install KDE and Gnome in the same setup)..

[@DistroTube]

Openbox won't affect KDE at all. Openbox is one program...not a bajilllion programs which is the case with the full GNOME DE.

[@rizkyadiyanto7922]

you can, but i think some features will be lost

[@NaviciaAbbot]

Hey DT! I don't know if this has been answered before, but is there a reason you explicitly call fish when launching a terminal instead of setting it as your login shell with `chsh`?

[@DistroTube]

Because too many people use /bin/sh as the shebang in their scripts, which points to the default shell on your system. Moral of the story is that people need to start using /bin/bash as their shebang to help out us fish users.

[@abaneyone]

I'm a fan of Openbox too, thanks to Mabox. 😁

[@andrewgrasman8951]

I don't see why I would use openbox without lxqt/lxde you already use a bunch of their tools and it's just an easier starting place

[@jdecicco91]

I don’t understand this part either.

[@russellrussell5495]

@@jdecicco91 I've tried to configure lxqt to work for me like my openbox set up. I can't do it. Guess it's easier to build up from scratch rather than strip something down/apart.

[@genkiferal7178]

@@russellrussell5495 i am thinking that now, too. When you remove something, you always risk breaking your system and sometimes don't find out for a week - too late to know what broke it. making lots of notes and only removing things once every few days helps, but that is tedious.

[@muCephei_]

damn I love this channel

[@MarcelRobitaille]

Been using openbox exclusively for years.

[@mohammadmohammadalian2611]

i'm waiting for tmux tutorial :)

[@An1Kum]

Hi @DistroTube , can you do a review on Astra linux OS. I find it very interesting and very different. Runs on ~ 220 mb for a rather full sized distro.

[@hotscriptgg]

That music joke... :D

[@genkiferal7178]

Are there stylesheets and/or preconfigured conf files online (with pics hopefully) so that we can borrow the hard work that someone else has done - in the same way i now use Pling store to get XFCE's themes? Thanks, DT, for sharing yours. But, I want to see many choices.

[@fluffypinkpandas]

how do i get Alt Rightclick functionality back? i cant resize the convenient way. I have to use the dumb edge click way..... like a windows user

[@russellrussell5495]

Hey DT, how do you get your openbox windows to glide smoothly from side to side? I've got the tiling all in place but the windows snap into position. Is it a compton setting or something in the openboxbox config?

[@Viken43]

If you want to try out openbox then I would recommend ArchBang

[@ptrinx6610]

I never used menumaker, there are dynamic others like openbox_menu (with lxmenu), obmenu-generator etc or even in tint2 I have jgmenu, also something that is great to use are the tint2 executors basically you can create what ever you need and even auto-update the info or buttons to play music or update system etc ...

[@wojtekburzynski654]

I have softspot for built-in terminal in Dolphin. I wish more file managers would have it.

[@rodrigosouto9502]

Openbox is amazing bro

[@Phydoux2112]

I loved OpenBox but it doesn't like my pyramid monitor setup for some reason. If I open something on a bottom monitor, the top ends up on the lower portion of the upper monitor and it's really annoying at times. Haven't figured out how to fix it.

[@aleksandar_techtattoo6337]

Guys, one question is there any way to make auto tilling windows in open box ? Thanks

[@ruirodrigues705]

pure and simple!

[@CrustyAbsconder]

LABWC is now available as an alternative to Openbox. It uses Xwayland

[@benjy288]

I tried labwc recently, but it lacks smart window placement, so if you open a terminal it will place it in the middle of the screen, and if you then open a file manager it will place it directly on top of the terminal, which sucks, and there doesn't appear to be any way to change that, I even tried copying my openbox config file to the labwc config file but it didn't change anything except for the window decorations, it seems a shame that most new window managers lack smart window placement.

[@dominikriegler]

Hi DT! You make great content about Linux. I'm considering to make the switch to a Linux Phone in December 2021. The reason? I'm having the "perfect" android phone for my usecase and I want to try something different. And no- I'm NOT switching to Apple. As you are using Arch every day, there is a huge possibility that you might have already thought about a linux phone yourself. Could you give your opinion about this idea, because I'm really not sure how to transfer existing data to linux for example my Android Calendar (the things I saved on it) and other things like often used apps (for example Whatsapp, Amazon(Primevideo), GoogleMaps, the app of my phone provider (how many minutes or data is left on my contract), and some more). Do they also work under Linux phones and if not - is there somepossibility to create a virtualization layer for running these apps on the linux phone? If I got to choose the device, it probably might be the Pro1X from f(x)Tech, or some other similar device, capable of running linux natively. Thank you very much for taking your time to read this comment.

[@ipshitshaha7244]

Can you show your keybinding on openbox & a session on how can we do that ourselves?

[@pascalvorbach6829]

That looks nice, i try our tonight THX 👌🏻

[@syscrashwashere]

👍

[@enderger5308]

Hey, I think you should check out the LuaKit project. It has become active a good few months back and IMO it feels like a nicer QuteBrowser (then again, I hate Python with a burning passion so I may be biased) and may be worth considering.

[@aspect2670]

Can you make a video on how to set up ur distro like this?

[@manvendrasingh4556]

How did you get that transparent menu , please elaborate

[@tiktok.4527]

like my ex-girlfriend, always have a place in my heart😋

[@AnibalTafur]

7:25 lol

[@thundreturtle]

I remember the song!

[@jessegodsey]

Where's the bag of chips next to you ?? Lol, I am use to seeing them somewhere in the video at times :-)

[@slavko5666]

LXQt works best with it.

[@cevizagaci31]

I like Openbox too but wish I could tile windows with mouse too instead of keybindings only :(

[@genkiferal7178]

can i not place a window exactly where I want it and in the size and shape I want it? or is that just for the tiling option?

[@shin3837]

openbox is fun！

[@kelley64]

Jock Jams :)

[@deepsea313]

Did anyone else catch that cha cha slide reference? 😂

[@mikemarcum9407]

Openbox is ok but my favorite is Fluxbox... You've never really given it much of a chance... All config files just plane text files. MenuMaker works great to start the menu, tint2 is great nitorgen for desktop image and of course many of the the others you mentioned for OB... But the deal maker for me is the window TABBING in Fluxbox. Please.. please give it a REAL try... Use it for 2 or months and I wouldn't be surprised if you changed your mind about how you feel about OB. I used it as my daily driver for over 2 years. Even built a Karaoke machine with Fluxbox as the user interface that any level user could log into and start using it out of the box as they say.

[@genkiferal7178]

I like minimal-Fluxbox, but hate its panel. I have XFCE and its panel shows me how many file manager or notepad windows I have open. That has proved very useful. I cannot seem to the workspaces or two sets of arrow on left or right off of Fluxbox's panel. i use keys for those instead. Also, I haven't been able to make fluxbox's panel so that my opened windows always open above it - instead of over it. Rox-panel has a function that allows me to easily makes keyboard shortcuts, but then i have two panels (Rox's and Fluxbox's). So, I have to move icons to Rox-panel, make keyboard shortcuts, then remove Rox panel. if I add a new program and want a keyboard shortcut, again I must temporarily add Rox-panel. I only have Fluxbox on a live usb and am testing it to see if i can replace my too-bloated XFCE.

[@russellrussell5495]

I just discovered that the bog-standard install of MX-XFCE is less ram intensive at boot up than my minimal install of Openbox!!! XFCE: 460 M; 92 tasks, 121 threads, 1 running; Load av. 0.38 0.27 0.15 OB: 488 M, 66 tasks, 137 threads, 1 running; Load av. 0.44 0.60 0.26 Thoughts? Is that a possible issue with OB being 'feature complete' whilst XFCE/Xfwm can continue to make things lighter and more efficient?

[@genkiferal7178]

what about after boot up when your browser or a few text editor windows are open? I am testing out antiX now (not bad! less bloated than MX).

[@lemler3337]

gnome2 > mate > xfce4 i even make xfce look like mate with the 2 panel layout... lol

[@jonathan-vf2ql]

Hahahah dip baby dip

[@kadenchristensen2502]

The only thing that stops me from using Openbox is the lack of mouse controlled window snapping. If I'm using floating the convenience of snapping windows with the mouse is hard to live without for my workflow. Otherwise it's a fantastic window manager. :)

[@lingux_yt]

D erek T aylor from istro ube using ark heme. cool

[@SYNERGiST]

try github.com/johanmalm/labwc it's quite good in this early stage but you need to compile it by yourself. The developer will soon release his first release 0.1.0. I compiled it for now and this is going to be a really good openbox but for wayland.

[@dougtilaran3496]

It's a draw for me. Openbox/IceWM(Sparky/antiX)

[@rztrzt]

I'm just not fond of the xml config files.

[@arseniydmitriev]

Tip #6: Set a proper wallpaper.

[@genkiferal7178]

Moscow doesn't like moss?! Moss is wonderful. Nature is wonderful. You must be a big city boy who loves gray concrete

[@mazenmohsen3423]

First

[@aliothspectranet5678]

Doesn't really teach anything about customizing already made themes, which, disappointing

[@swirl6996]

openbox is terrible

[@madmaxgrey]

wow talk about something that hasn't been updated for 5 years. i rather everyone stay away from it. something that old there is no point in using even the documentation is extremely outdated. go use IceWM or something. at least that's still getting updates

[@DistroTube]

It hasn't been updated because there's nothing to update. Openbox is a very small program that is essentially feature complete. And it's the default window manager in LXDE and in LXQt so there's dozens of distros using it. So let's not overreact.

[@technomatic6285]

What DT said. Also, it's his channel, he decides what to make a video on. If you have any feedback on the video itself, only then comment. Otherwise just ignore.

[@russellrussell5495]

@@DistroTube Yup. I heard someone say it's already 'feature complete' so what's to update? By the way, I use Crunchbang ++