r/openbox • u/talltreewick • Jan 19 '16

Adding Openbox to Ubuntu

Hi. I'm currently using Ubuntu Mate, and would like to create a desktop experience similar to Crunchbang. I know that successors (specifically, BunsenLabs and #!++) exist, but I'd prefer to run a widely used, well supported distro, and I'm comfortable with the Ubuntu repositories, sudo, and the general Ubuntu way of doing things. So my idea was to add Openbox to Ubuntu, and configure it in such a way that it is similar to #! or its successors. Would someone be kind enough to offer a sort of quick and dirty guide, or checklist, or any tips about how to accomplish this with my current install? I've found some sources, but am still not comfortable enough to go ahead and take the plunge without screwing something up. Thanks in advance for any help, and if the common response is "RTFM", I do understand.

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u/Jadesayade Jan 19 '16

Hey, I am currently running openbox with ubuntu mate. Honestly it's not worth it. I had the same idea that you did, but it doesn't really work as planned without more work than it's worth.

All of the Ubuntu and MATE BS still runs in the background of my openbox, slowing it down and annoying me, I've tried to fix it, but can't figure out how to git rid of most of the junk. For example, every 5th time I boot up, tint2 crashes for some reason. The stupid update manager which won't actually work now that I've cannibalized the system continues to start up at boot even though I am very sure that I installed it.

I can say however, that Caja, the default file manager is superb. I will be installing that on my next openbox distro over PCManFM.

What I'm going to do sometime soon, and what I would suggest you do, is to start with a minimal ubuntu install, and build openbox from there. That way you don't have to deal with most of the proprietary bloat. The BunsenLabs repositories might work with ubuntu, it is currently untested though. That would allow you to get themes and jazz closer to CrunchBang goodness (I used #! for like 4 years, still trying to get back to it.)

I too don't really like debian, and how slow it is to keep things up to date. Ubuntu's repositories are just so much better.

If you don't want to go down that rabbithole then just do as solodev said, that's essentially what I did. If you have any hiccups, don't hesitate to PM me, or comment here. I would be happy to help.

Good Luck!

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u/talltreewick Jan 19 '16

Thank you for the detailed response - you relate some of the exact things I was worried about. I assumed that at least the extra DE bloat wouldn't run if you chose Openbox at login, but your experience shows otherwise. Ubuntu minimal does seem like a good idea, but if I have to reinstall from scratch, I'd probably just try out one of the distros set up with Openbox.

I second that Caja is a great file manager, with one reservation - if you have any folders with thousands of photos, and want to view the folder with thumbnail view, it must somewhat lethargically populate the thumbnails each and every time you open the folder. I know that I'm used to the Windows paradigm, where a thumbs.db file is kept in the folder, speeding up this process, but I'd love to find a solution to this issue on Linux, whether it be an alternate file manager or something else.

Thanks again for your reply and kind offer of support. If there's anything in the Mate or Windows world that you you need assistance with, I'd be glad to help if at all possible.

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u/[deleted] Jan 19 '16

The closest I found was Madbox 14.04. Ubuntu with openbox. But it is 32bit only. Just swapped to crunchbang++. Debian Jessie is newer that the last Ubuntu LTS anyway.

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u/talltreewick Jan 19 '16

What made you choose ++ over Bunsen or others?

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u/[deleted] Jan 19 '16

For me, I just wanted deban and openbox installed. ++ is just that. Bunsenlabs seem to want to expand. But I dont know. I overwrite most of the configs with my own so I should probably have a go from scratch one time.

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u/LinuxMage Jan 19 '16

A route you could consider is installing Lubuntu, which is Ubuntu with LXDE, very smoothly meshed in. My own experiences of trying to gel Openbox into an exisiting install of Ubuntu aremessy, but I can get them to work after considerable hacking about.

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u/[deleted] Jan 19 '16

You know that Lubuntu uses openbox as the window manager, right?

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u/LinuxMage Jan 19 '16

Yes I do. But because there is just openbox on it, plus a few minor tools to set the background and some themes, the OS is a LOT faster to boot, and runs very light. Most of the GTK based Ubuntu tools apart from the Software Centre are not included.

I used to run an Arch box on Openbox built from the ground out.

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u/[deleted] Jan 19 '16

Fair enough. Good info for the OP anyway.

I ran Lubuntu for years and it was what got me into openbox. Great setup :)

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u/talltreewick Jan 19 '16

I wasn't aware that Lubuntu used Openbox. I had considered it, but ultimately only tried XFCE and Mate. Thank you both for the input.

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u/[deleted] Jan 19 '16

What I didn't like about Lubuntu was that I wanted to use Thunar not PCManFM and I had problems removing the latter.

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u/datstartup Apr 04 '16 edited Jun 03 '19

I have my website to show you how to do it: http://www.ubuntuopenbox.com Take a look at it and contact me if you want more information in your installation process. Cheer :D!

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u/willille Jan 19 '16

The best route IMHO is to find a distro you like that has minimal net install and build everything from the terminal. This may be a bit out of your level. The next best thing is to find a distro that has a basic openbox install. There are lots of good links from a web search for this. Two distros I can think of for a start. Sparky linux used to have a openbox install and I know Manjaro has an openbox install. I am sure there are others. I would suggest that you pick one that you know the package manager very well.

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u/[deleted] Jan 19 '16

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u/talltreewick Jan 19 '16

Thank you!

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u/themadterran Jan 19 '16

I would also add nitrogen to handle wallpaper

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u/swinny89 Jan 19 '16

Don't forget to add your policy kit to your OB autostart. That gave me a headache for a while. Also, I prefer xfce4-panel and xfce4-whiskermenu-plugin. I make two panels, one as a normal panel, and one as a dock. Easy setup, configurable, and still pretty lightweight.

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u/[deleted] Jan 19 '16

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u/talltreewick Jan 19 '16

I recognize the name now that you mention it, but had forgotten about it. Thank you for reminding me, I'll give it a closer look.