Has anyone ever been able to leave openbox for good?

nan · 2009-07-05 17:23:03

I used to feel like I'd never be able to leave openbox. Gave awesome a try but never had the time to configure it properly due to lack of time, and I went back to ob. But eventually, when I did have the time, I realized that nothing could fill a tiling wm's void.

Elegia · 2009-07-05 18:18:31

I've been using openbox for a couple of months now and I absolutely love it. Tried xmonad, but I didn't really 'get' it. I might look into it again in the future, but for now I love my openbox environment.

scarecrow · 2009-07-05 18:28:28

The reason I've abandoned Openbox is that I've used it the wrong way (via lxde) which is a very buggy affair.
I've used Openbox with my fav DE (namely XFCE4), but I have not found any real advantages over the default xfwm4 window manager.

gazj · 2009-07-05 19:57:28

Why have a debate, you don't HAVE to use just one window manager, just switch them on the fly http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=42670

karabaja4 · 2009-07-05 20:05:04

My route was KDE3 -> GNOME (for a long time) -> Openbox -> Compiz-standalone -> Openbox

So, the only thing I left openbox for was compiz standalone because I wanted some eye candy.

But it's far too buggy for my taste.

First off, compiz-deskmenu is buggy. There is a wierd sleep() function at the beggining which apperantly pauses the display of the menu to "simulate" time interval between clicks. So, "longer" clicks won't open the menu (even if you modify the interval). It can be QUITE frustrating, if the menu doesn't open when you click it. Also, it sometimes doesn't open if you try to click near the edge of the desktop.

I found a MUCH better replacement for deskmenu, called myGtkMenu - try it, it's far less buggy. You install it the same way as compiz-deskmenu.

But, over time, I got bored off desktop effects (wobbly, expo, cube, glue) and decided I don't really need them. Also, compiz-fusion made my firefox scrolling choppy. It was bareable, but in openbox it was far smoother.

So I am back to openbox at the moment, and i doubt I'll be leaving soon.

aport · 2009-07-05 23:57:18

I ditched Openbox for KDE4. More specifically KDE 4.2. Previous versions were huge piles of buggy crap. KDE 4.2 really knocked my socks off. Wow.

madalu · 2009-07-06 00:37:15

I tried gnome just a week or so ago to see where compiz was at. I did
appreciate the tile and grid additions to compiz.

But openbox feels *so* right. I couldn't imagine using anything else.

I've tried every variety of tiling window manager there is. In the end
I find such a window organization too constricting -- I prefer ad hoc
tiling with Openbox's GrowToEdge actions.

DarkMind · 2009-07-06 02:20:05

openbox is only a black bar with NOTHING

ArchArael · 2009-07-06 07:46:40

DarkMind wrote:

openbox is only a black bar with NOTHING

Well...that's all I need.

demian · 2010-05-11 18:34:49

I'm always trying other WMs. For instance I recently gave some tiling WMs a try and i really liked the concept. They didn't do too well in floating mode, though.
So now I have Openbox with stiler and many shortcuts for moving and resizing windows.

I'm so damn comfortable with Openbox now i don't think i'll ever use something else. Much like with Arch.

Last edited by demian (2010-05-11 19:35:02)

m4co · 2010-05-11 18:58:01

demian wrote:

I'm so damn comfortable with Openbox now i don't think i'll ever use something else. Much like with Arch.

Amen.

I got a bit sick of OpenBox (!) and decided to try something else.
I just want to be 100% sure that this is the best wm for me.

So I went to KDE, much prettier, love the whole concept.
5 mins later and I was back to OpenBox
I still think KDE is the best desktop though. Gnome has much to improve.

And I tried others.
Now I'm between OpenBox and Compiz.
Compiz is prettier and it's a nice mix between tile + floating windows with it's plugins.

Sure I'll miss the keyboard shortcuts but I can give it a try anyway.

So far OpenBox is the best one.

JohannesSM64 · 2010-05-11 19:30:36

I'm also on OB still, even though I've used a bunch of tiling WMs, I came back to OB. Among tiling WMs I prefer manual tilers (Ratpoison and Musca especially) but they can't replace OB for me. I've never had an issue with it. The main advantages for me is that it's practically bug free, works with practically all software, nearly everything can be done either by keyboard or by mouse, and it's not overengineered/bloated. It also has fine-grained control over keyboard or mouse binds, better done than any other WM I've tried. A tiling WM is nicer when I'm only working with uzbl and terminals, but doesn't go well with everything. Many programs work better when they can use their own window sizes instead of being shoe horned into a frame. One thing I miss in OB is a nicer configuration system (something like Ratpoison would be great), but I've already configured it to my needs anyway. Haven't touched the config in a while.

Last edited by JohannesSM64 (2010-05-11 19:42:15)

schen · 2010-05-11 21:16:02

I used to use openbox until I dumped it for DWM. I felt that I could customize it a lot easier.

bwat47 · 2010-05-11 21:20:19

gnome > all

arinlares · 2010-05-11 21:40:42

I used Fluxbox which is easy to theme, Openbox which looks better. I thought I was going to settle on Openbox, but started playing with Awesome because I like the ability to tile and float as I need to. I'm considering setting up Openbox and PyTyle to function like Awesome. Any time I'm using a GNOME environment, however, I'll use Openbox as the WM.

Meyithi · 2010-05-11 21:55:47

DWM has a problem with full screen flash like fullscreen YouTube/BBC iPlayer, which is a deal breaker to me with my netbook, so I'm back on OB as well.

schen · 2010-05-11 22:32:43

@Meyithi
That's only a bug for the newest dwm release. The developer will try to fix it as soon as possible.

Ogion · 2010-05-11 22:40:30

I used Openbox for a while, but i hated the config file (XML eww) and only used it because the gui config tools of openbox did their job.
But since i have tried tiling wms i ask myself how i could have lived without them before..(i used to manually 'tile' my windows all the time..).
I must agree that openbox simply worked and was friendly in that regard, but it was absolutely uninspiring. fvwm, which i used for quite a while, was much better in that regard, and now with tiling wms i'm happy.
Used xmonad a while, went on a tiling wm hopping spree and am now on i3.

Ogion

gaunt · 2010-05-12 01:35:07

I actually came to Arch because Awesome wouldn't run on Fedora, but that was during the era of 'change your config every other week' so I ended up going to OB in a search for a light and stable WM. I've tried to go to tiling WMs, really I have, I even tried going cold turkey on ratpoison (then backed off to good old wmii) but it's always been such a pain to get conky/a systray working in tiling, and I kinda want stuff like a volume manager. The next tiler on my list is xmonad - once I get the guts to learn how to grok haskell. For now, however, OB+tint2+conky creates such a nice and minimal desktop for me that I don't need to think about it.

smakked · 2010-05-12 02:41:02

i switch all the time these days still looking for the perfect DE/WM but am starting to realize it isn't going to happen, i like OB but square corners really piss me off and annoy me LOL.

At the moment i have Window maker installed because i CBF using my machine at all....getting bored again \

Army · 2010-05-12 09:22:20

I used Openbox for a long time, but now I feel much more at home with i3. Tiling WMs have some advantages I don't want to miss anymore. But Openbox is the best floating WM I ever used.

nomadicalien · 2010-05-12 13:26:16

I've been using openbox for quite a while but I use it with pytyle to enable tiling features and can disable when I feel like it
Works great for me, but haven't really tried a full tiling wm enough to judge yet.

pablokal · 2010-05-12 13:27:44

The main advantages for me is that it's practically bug free, works with practically all software, nearly everything can be done either by keyboard or by mouse, and it's not overengineered/bloated. It also has fine-grained control over keyboard or mouse binds, better done than any other WM I've tried

+1
Its simplicity does it for me. Tiling is not an issue for me...

vi3dr0 · 2010-05-12 16:38:23

You know what? KDE4 + Openbox kicks ass

I just returned to OB yesterday after few months. It's just so light, so snappy... The only thing that bothers me is focus stealing policy.

Last edited by vi3dr0 (2010-05-12 16:39:27)

JohannesSM64 · 2010-05-12 18:23:24

vi3dr0 wrote:

The only thing that bothers me is focus stealing policy.

Care to elaborate?

Arch Linux

#101 2009-07-05 17:23:03

Re: Has anyone ever been able to leave openbox for good?

#102 2009-07-05 18:18:31

Re: Has anyone ever been able to leave openbox for good?

#103 2009-07-05 18:28:28

Re: Has anyone ever been able to leave openbox for good?

#104 2009-07-05 19:57:28

Re: Has anyone ever been able to leave openbox for good?

#105 2009-07-05 20:05:04

Re: Has anyone ever been able to leave openbox for good?

#106 2009-07-05 23:57:18

Re: Has anyone ever been able to leave openbox for good?

#107 2009-07-06 00:37:15

Re: Has anyone ever been able to leave openbox for good?

#108 2009-07-06 02:20:05

Re: Has anyone ever been able to leave openbox for good?

#109 2009-07-06 07:46:40

Re: Has anyone ever been able to leave openbox for good?

#110 2010-05-11 18:34:49

Re: Has anyone ever been able to leave openbox for good?

#111 2010-05-11 18:58:01

Re: Has anyone ever been able to leave openbox for good?

#112 2010-05-11 19:30:36

Re: Has anyone ever been able to leave openbox for good?

#113 2010-05-11 21:16:02

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#114 2010-05-11 21:20:19

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#115 2010-05-11 21:40:42

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#116 2010-05-11 21:55:47

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#117 2010-05-11 22:32:43

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#118 2010-05-11 22:40:30

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#119 2010-05-12 01:35:07

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#120 2010-05-12 02:41:02

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#121 2010-05-12 09:22:20

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#122 2010-05-12 13:26:16

Re: Has anyone ever been able to leave openbox for good?

#123 2010-05-12 13:27:44

Re: Has anyone ever been able to leave openbox for good?

#124 2010-05-12 16:38:23

Re: Has anyone ever been able to leave openbox for good?

#125 2010-05-12 18:23:24

Re: Has anyone ever been able to leave openbox for good?

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