Some questions regarding Openbox

zodmaner · 2007-09-23 19:28:57

Yes, I've read Openbox article on Archwiki. Yes, I've plowed through most of Openbox official website.

In fact, I've got Openbox up and running quite fine, thanks in no small part to all of the resources listed above (and more, actually). But I'm still a Openbox newbie. And while I found it to be everything it claimed to be (light, fast, flexible, etc.), I have encounter some bumps that makes me return to my GNOME desktop, specifically:

1. I have GNOME installed and it interferes with Openbox, badly. Most of the programs that I run in Openbox (such as Liferea) also open a lot of GNOME processes. Even Thunar have this little GNOME 'foot' logo on it's panel and it also reuses most of the Nautilus resources (thumbnail, bookmark, etc.). Is this normal? And is it possible to make Openbox less GNOME dependent? (Preferably without having to uninstall GNOME it self ).

I want both WMs (WM and DE actually) to be as much independent of each other as possible (with the only thing in common is the applications). Currently it feels like I'm running a lite version of GNOME (which is not good). Will disable Openbox's GNOME SESSION in autostart.sh help me accomplish this?

2. Composite. Is xcompmgr the only option? I have some strange issue with it and would really like to know other alternatives. (Problem with urxvt true transparency, to be exact. Transparency works fine with GNOME Terminal. Don't ask me why).

3. I have a strange problem with Sonata. It is very 'sluggish' in Openbox. It takes longer to open, menu is less responsive, etc.. Which is both absurd and insane because in GNOME it was very fast and responsive. (It's used the same profile that I use on GNOME).

So why is Sonata in Openbox seems to be slower than when I run it in GNOME? Is it because I do something wrong or what? Do anybody have any idea what is the problem here?

4. Do you have to manually add programs into menu.xml? Is there something similar to GNOME-FAM feature in openbox?

Well, that's it! I really want to try out Openbox more, but unless I can find a way to make it less 'GNOMEly' then I really can't see why I should use it instates of GNOME.

mezoko · 2007-09-23 19:33:13

You can use obmenu to add items to the menu (manually), but I almost find it better to add them manually because you have a better list of what you use all the time and if you need something extra for the day just open up something like xfrun4 or gmrun and type in the program.

thayer · 2007-09-23 19:45:24

I've been using OB for only a couple months and, like you I've switched back to GNOME a few times. Sooner or later though, I miss OB... I don't know if it's the speed factor or just because I *love* being able to customize my apps menu the way *I* want it, and not the way GNOME wants it.

Anyway, here's my two cents...

1. When you start OB are you running openbox-session or openbox-gnome-session? If the latter, try the former and see if that addresses some issues. As for Thunar using the same bookmarks, etc., yes that's completely normal. Thunar and Nautilus are both GTK applications and they follow some of the same standardized formats for things such as bookmarks.

2. Yes, Xcompmgr is the only solution presently. I do wish that Compiz Fusion (or a new composite/window manager) would branch into separate processes. I keep hoping someone will pick up Xcompmgr and turn it into something more than a proof-of-concept project. Openbox may one day implement a composite manager as well--or so they've hinted. It's funny you mention the urxvt bug, because I just made a post about this! I might've found a patch, but I haven't tested it yet. I'll let you know.

3. Sorry, no clue.

4. As far as I know, there isn't an auto-update feature for the menu structure. If there was, I'd probably hate it! LOL

The first time I setup my OB menu, I used menumaker to grab a basic list of installed applications. Then, I used Xfce's appfinder to look for bits and pieces that menumaker missed. Then I vetted my menu.xml file and organized it into a hierarchy that suits me. Since then, I just comment in/out tools and other scripts as necessary. It's a bit more maintenance than say GNOME, but I wouldn't want it any other way.

Last edited by thayer.w (2007-09-23 19:47:23)

abhidg · 2007-09-24 17:37:37

i use a pipemenu to generate a list of all apps in ob.
utility which generates the pipemenu is "obm-xdg" bundled with obmenu.
i think you need to have "gnome-menus" installed for it to work properly.

Arch Linux

#1 2007-09-23 19:28:57

Some questions regarding Openbox

#2 2007-09-23 19:33:13

Re: Some questions regarding Openbox

#3 2007-09-23 19:45:24

Re: Some questions regarding Openbox

#4 2007-09-24 17:37:37

Re: Some questions regarding Openbox

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