fbpanel is awesome!

CheesyBeef · 2011-06-04 06:43:29

I've been using pypanel as my panel in Openbox pretty much ever since I started using Arch. I've been kind of disappointed with the fact I am unable to right-click on the tasks and close them (A windows-like habit I haven't been able to shake). However, it has been a great panel that's done what I needed it to do.

Recently I went through the Arch wiki for Openbox Themes and Apps and have been trying out a bunch of new panels. I wanted something configurable (I need launchers and a menu), nice-looking, and not too clunky. I tested a few of the panels (such as tint2 and xfce-panel), while just browsing over screenshots of most, and finally just came upon fbpanel.

Fbpanel is everything I want in a panel. Firstly, I was happy to see it has an optional menu of its own (where it pulls applications from /usr/share/applications), but I decided I'd rather use my openbox menu since it already has so many custom items in it. All I had to do was remove fbpanel's menu and make a launcher for openbox's menu.

On top of this, fbpanel has several little plugins, such as a tray which displays window positions of each workspace, cpu and memory status monitoring, AND!!! you can right-click on tasks to close/iconify them

Plus, it looks quite nice with its pseudo-transparency and curved edges.

I am very happy with fbpanel :D

ninian · 2011-09-02 23:35:59

Hadn't noticed this testimonial earlier.
All I can really say is: +1 !
It's the most comprehensive panel I have found to work with Openbox, and there is still development activity.

Gusar · 2011-09-03 01:29:17

Fbpanel has just one big problem - kill it (or it crashes) and all apps launched from it go down with it. Lxpanel (initially a fork of fbpanel) doesn't behave like that. And I bet other panels don't either. Otherwise yeah, fbpanel is nice. Also, does it now have an alsa mixer or is it still oss?

Last edited by Gusar (2011-09-03 01:31:19)

swanson · 2011-09-03 09:31:35

I like fbpanel too, on my netbook. Very few dependencies. I haven't noticed the crash symptoms yet but I'll look into it. When editing the default config file I restart it with; killall -USR1 fbpanel and it seems to not crash the open apps.

ninian · 2011-09-03 14:31:45

No crashing problems if you use what swanson mentions: killall -USR1 fbpanel
I use Volumeicon (https://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=35793) for ALSA volume control.

GSF1200S · 2011-09-14 23:24:57

Im not seeing what you guys are talking about. I am running OpenBox and I have TWO fbpanels running (one on each X-session- I run dual head separate X)- if I do killall fbpanel, both panels die as expected, but all my apps remain open. The only thing odd is that pidgin pops up (the buddy list). When I restart fbpanel on each screen, all my existing apps go right back into the taskbar as if nothing happened.

I have tried everything else, and especially for dual-head separate X, there are only 3 options: 1) fbpanel 2) tint2 3) xfce4-panel. Tint2 has no menu option (though it has launchers), and I prefer to have my OpenBox menu a simple quicklaunch list of frequently used things as opposed to containing everything on my system. Xfce4-panel has a weird bug with OpenBox where trying to click-minimize a window on my second screen causes it only to lose focus and not minimize. Fbpanel works well on both screens, supports a system tray on each screen, looks good, has launchers and a menu, and even has a popup calender on the clock! Also like Tint2, it supports psuedo-transparency- I use pytyle on both my screens, and compositing doesnt play well with pytyle at times; I can still have transparency while having the rock-solid aspects of a non-composited desktop.

On top of these things, it is light on resources, dependencies, its rock-stable, and is in active development. Definitely a +1 for me. Im surprised that soooo many people talk about Tint2 and pypanel as the panels to use for openbox.. Id think more people would be using fbpanel.

vrkalak · 2011-09-19 23:38:38

Agreed ... no problems with running or restarting the fb-panel.

I use a basic Fluxbox install built over Openbox, and I love everything about Fluxbox WM

At first, because, I was more familiar with Openbox, I continued to use the tint2 panel with Fluxbox.
Then, I saw the light ... the fb-panel is awesome. Displays everything I need.

You can see, a few, of my Fluxbox screenshots here: http://www.lostinthebox.com/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=35733
Many, many more pics of my Fluxbox desktop on http://vrkalak.deviantart.com

GSF1200S wrote:

On top of these things, the fbpanel is light on resources, dependencies, its rock-stable, and is in active development. Definitely a +1 for me. I'm surprised that soooo many people talk about Tint2 and pypanel as the panels to use for Openbox ... more people would be using fbpanel.

I am in total agreement with this statement. Openbox users should be considering using the fbpanel as a viable replacement for tint2.

Last edited by vrkalak (2011-09-19 23:44:11)

CheesyBeef · 2011-11-12 19:29:10

Glad to see others agree that it's an awesome panel

I've been using it for over 5 months now and don't think I could ever go back to any of the other panels.

It looks so nice, has all the features I need, and is light on resources.

GSF1200S · 2011-11-12 20:22:12

Grab the SVN version from the AUR and magically a right click on a taskbar button gives you the new option to move to a particular workspace! Unfortunately, at least on Openbox, the "All Workspaces" option doesnt seem to work, but the other options do.

Last edited by GSF1200S (2011-11-12 20:23:15)

CheesyBeef · 2011-11-12 22:31:15

! Epic!

Getting better by the day.

Arch Linux

#1 2011-06-04 06:43:29

fbpanel is awesome!

#2 2011-09-02 23:35:59

Re: fbpanel is awesome!

#3 2011-09-03 01:29:17

Re: fbpanel is awesome!

#4 2011-09-03 09:31:35

Re: fbpanel is awesome!

#5 2011-09-03 14:31:45

Re: fbpanel is awesome!

#6 2011-09-14 23:24:57

Re: fbpanel is awesome!

#7 2011-09-19 23:38:38

Re: fbpanel is awesome!

#8 2011-11-12 19:29:10

Re: fbpanel is awesome!

#9 2011-11-12 20:22:12

Re: fbpanel is awesome!

#10 2011-11-12 22:31:15

Re: fbpanel is awesome!

Board footer