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What is so "amazing" about it? I mean it's nice. But I don't see anything that makes it more special than e.g. fvwm or blackbox.

My windowmanager is better than your windowmanager - why? It's a next generation windowmanager. So it's gotta be great ...

Nietzsche's "Overman" runs it!

what the heck is up with ubiks comment rating? -299.40!?!?

"I wonder what "next generation window manager" really means. "

It means exactly the same as everything else that is "Next Generation": nothing.

Not quite.

"Next Generation" means "more recent than previous generation".

Nothing more than that, though.

Why do we need to know every single release of Openbox? Is it that important?

Yes.

Long answer: Linux has taken up much of the alternative operating system space. Since news regarding really alternative operating systems is much sparser today than it was when OSNews started, we need to adapt to fill that void. Reporting on lesser known window managers and desktop environments for X takes that role.

Is a score of -500 the new punishment for disagreeing with the editors? I doubt 500 people mod'ed this down.

Seriously, it's a minor bugfix release. It's not really all that importat or interesting.

1. Why do we need to know every single release of Openbox? Is it that important?

This is OSNews, why shouldn't it be reported. Just skip over it and go to the next post if you're not interested.

OpenBox, as with the *Box's in general (black, flux), offers a nice WM for older or memory-short machines. I run it on my PI/PII laptops. It really is not a competitor to the native WM's that come with the Gnome or Kde Desktops. I think it is better as a lightweight WM by itself. I also like to use one of the *Box's with VNCServer - I don't want Gnome or Kde firing up remotely! One of the lightweight WM's is better suited for this purpose.

As for the NEVER ENDING comment we hear about "Why do you report on XYZ at OSNews?", please let it go everybody. If you don't want to read a particular article, most keyboards have PageUp and PageDown buttons on them. Some of these fancy new mice even have scroll wheels! Use them.

[EDIT] [OT] - I hope the poor guy who got a -500 for his first post doesn't give up! Hang in there!

Edited 2007-08-06 20:38

It really is not a competitor to the native WM's that come with the Gnome (or Kde) Desktops

Excuse me? Metacity has got to be one of the most featureless window managers in existence. Exactly how can Openbox not compete?

It doesn't compete with metacity because replacing the metacity WM with Openbox, but still using the rest of Gnome, will bring no benefit at all.

What you need to do to make a fast lightweight desktop is get rid of Gnome and all of its dependencies.

Try Openbox + fbpanel + gtk + pcmanfm (or rox filer) instead of Gnome.

Try metacity + fbpanel + gtk + pcmanfm (or rox filer) instead of Gnome.

Try JWM + fbpanel + gtk + pcmanfm (or rox filer) instead of Gnome.

Try LXDE instead of Gnome.

Try XFCE instead of Gnome.

Any of those will fly, compared with Gnome on the same system. All of them are not as powerful as Gnome. It is a classic speed vs functionality trade-off.

It is meant as a replacement for GNOME or KDE on older machines which don't have the resources. Typically it is meant for a machine that originally came with Windows 95 or Windows 98 installed.

There are a few lightweight desktops built around lightweight window managers:
http://lxde.sourceforge.net/
http://www.icewm.org/

Openbox is typically used for "ligtweight spin-off" types of distributions:
http://tinyme.mypclinuxos.com/
http://www.mypclinuxos.com/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;i...
http://www.mypclinuxos.com/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;i...

(I am waiting for test 5 of Tinyme myself to put on an old IBM T20 laptop I have).

I hope this helps.

Another one: http://grafpup.org/

Edited 2007-08-07 02:15

deb2006 said: "2. I have tried it with Gnome, and I don't see any benefit..."

Exactly my experience with all the *boxes: no benefit, didn't feel any lightness etc. If you wanna fly use WMI or DWM.

It is not the Openbox WM (or even GNOME's WM metacity) that is the problem, it is the GNOME desktop itself.

If you want to fly (even on old hardware), then [ (Openbox or metacity or sawfish or xfwm4) + (fbpanel or lxpanel) + (rox filer or pcmanfm) ] is a perfectly acceptable approach to a lightweight desktop.

Once again, it was not Openbox that caused the lack of benefit that deb2006 reported, it was the "tried it with Gnome" bit that caused the lack of benefit. deb2006 did not replace the resource-hog software (Gnome desktop) that was causing the sluggishness.

Replacing Gnome's metacity WM with Openbox WM, or even for that matter with WMI or DWM indeed won't have any benefit.

Edited 2007-08-07 10:54

So I'll shuffle it down your throat

2. replace *box with WMI
3. notice how frustrating this gnome + WMI setup is
4. get rid of gnome and take off

This is not for everybody but that lightweightness and nextgenerationnes arguments are as irritating as denis enlargement ads

Or, alternatively, just do this:

2. notice how frustrating this gnome + metacity setup is
3. replace metacity with openbox + fbpanel
4. get rid of gnome and take off



Well, OK. As you say, it isn't for everybody.

But if some people are indeed looking for a lightweight desktop to bring some new life back to older hardware, that is still capable of running current gtk applications at useable speed, then those people do need to understand how to go about it.

Replace Gnome. Or replace KDE. replace the "heavy" bit that is holding the system down. That is the trick.

As you point out, there are several viable way to do that replacement. It isn't really an argument ... pick something that suits your purpose and fits the bill ... or don't. You could just go & buy new kit if you have the money and you don't feel inclined to experiment here. The point is ... there are some people who do want to do something functional and lightweight with old hardware. If you don't want to do that then fine, don't, and don't waste your time reading a thread like this and getting yourself all irritated about it.

lxpanel: http://sourceforge.net/projects/lxpanel/

fbpanel: http://fbpanel.sourceforge.net/

Personally, I am looking at the combination of Openbox and fbpanel.

This should be much "lighter" than XFCE, and it should run GTK2 applications just fine even on older, resource-limited hardware.

pypanel seems to be mighty popular, but make sure you also check out:

Tint: http://code.google.com/p/ttm/
AWN: http://code.google.com/p/avant-window-navigator/

Also, I highly recommend installing gmrun and bind it to some keyboard shortcut (like "W-e") in OpenBox. It's a simple gtk window which lets you start programs with tab-completion.

Obconf.

http://icculus.org/openbox/index.php/ObConf:About

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Openbox#Configuration

This may also help:
http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Openbox#Configuring_Openbox



Originally, yes. Currently, no.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Openbox
"Openbox is a free window manager for the X Window System, licensed under the GNU General Public License. Openbox was originally derived from Blackbox 0.65.0, but has been totally rewritten in the C programming language and, since version 3.0, is not based upon any code from Blackbox."

Edited 2007-08-07 06:38

Ubuntu still distributes Openbox 3.3. There's a world of difference from 3.3 to 3.4.