[IDEA] Improved autostart.sh

Nik_Doof · 2009-01-23 08:20:09

I've been looking at autostart.sh and wondering if we can do some bash scripting to make it a little more painless.

Maybe creating "commands" (or functions in bash script) to do the following:

service - execute this program in the background, doesn't matter if ob is alive or not
desktop - execute this program after a reasonable pause, or after ob is alive and working
startup - execute this program before ob starts.

so you would end up with something like:

service "xfce-mcs-manager"
service "gnome-power-manager"
service "thunar --daemon"
service "gnome-screensaver"
service "sshfs ..."

startup "nitrogen --restore"
startup "xcompmgr-crunchbang --startstop"
startup "conky"

desktop "nm-applet"
desktop "parcellite"
desktop "gwibber"
desktop "pidgin"
desktop "gpodder"

Or something based on the idea of having a ~/.config/openbox/autostart.d/ and inside that you have a file per program startup. Just chucking ideas around.

wmdiem · 2009-01-23 11:02:19

How would it get executed? I thought autostart.sh only ran when ob started?

corenominal · 2009-01-23 11:22:06

I like it. All those sleep commands look quite untidy. I also like the "~/.config/openbox/autostart.d/" idea -- it should not be difficult to implement. Maybe it would be a good idea to ask people to come up with their own implementations and then ask them to publish? More heads and all that.

Nik_Doof · 2009-01-23 11:34:48

wmdiem wrote:

How would it get executed? I thought autostart.sh only ran when ob started?

Autostart.sh is executed before openbox by /usr/bin/openbox-session.

It makes reference to a global autostart script, which could prove useful in implementing this system. I think though, as the packages are included as part of openbox, I'll need to rebuild the openbox package with the new config settings.

My idea is to modify the openbox-session like above, loading in ~/.config/openbox/startup.conf, and using the entries in that drive the bootup in this method:

services
startup
openbox
desktop

Maybe even replacing the startup with a little python script to handle the heavy lifting better, but i'll attempt bash first smile

corenominal · 2009-01-23 12:01:38

Nik_Doof wrote:

Maybe even replacing the startup with a little python script to handle the heavy lifting better, but i'll attempt bash first

Bash would be good for me, but I am easy. smile

kestrel · 2009-01-23 13:34:23

Is this something we should be work with or at least be in communicating with the upstream developers on? I don't see a roadmap on the Openbox site but I'm sure they have one or at least the idea of one. I maybe mistaken that #! is the only distro that has Openbox as its default window manager but I'm quite confident that it is the best distro:D with Openbox as its default window manager. That being the case we have a special responsibility and relationship to Openbox. Just saying that we might want to work with the upstream and contribute back to the upstream and also look for ways to nurture the Openbox ecosystem. Great for us and great for them.

I love this idea as long as it doesn't break Openbox. Having a autostart.d/ with individual files for each application would make it easier to shuffle and share but adds a new layer of complexity. Greater complexity does not seem the Openbox nor the #! way of doing things. As you can see I'm of three minds on this, excited, cautious and out to lunch.

michaelramm · 2009-01-23 14:07:27

I totally agree with Will on this.

With that said, I think that we are the perfect place to test this new (and improved, IMHO) to test this out. It will need a lot of testing so that the new Openbox convert can still maneuver around the file and get thing goings on their system. We are a small distro with a small community of VERY interested users.

I would love to see a GUI tool for autostart.sh (a la the Sessions box in ubuntu). Something that is easy for the user to get programs in and out of autostart.sh. Kind of like the Obmenu...sometimes I want to edit menu.xml, sometimes I just want to get the item added to the menu.

Michael

papparonny · 2009-01-23 14:15:57

i have some ideas floating around regarding the startup-process and configuration that maybe serve us well, but is still very rough around the edges.. ill try to get it down on paper(or rather as text on this forum)

kestrel · 2009-01-23 14:25:19

michaelramm wrote:

... a GUI tool for autostart.sh (a la the Sessions box in ubuntu). Something that is easy for the user to get programs in and out of autostart.sh. Kind of like the Obmenu...sometimes I want to edit menu.xml, sometimes I just want to get the item added to the menu.
Michael

Brilliant!

Maybe this is all we need.

The GUI could use whatever metaphor it wants, like dividing apps into desktop, background, start minimized, etcetera and then could just write out the usual autostart.sh file. Best of both worlds maybe. Old-school hackers could still vi and those comfortable in the GUI could remain in their comfort zone. It could easily manage those pesky "&".

Last edited by kestrel (2009-01-23 14:30:14)

snowpine · 2009-01-23 14:27:14

This conversation is a little over my head, but I am glad to see some great ideas getting tossed around! Makes me wonder if it's time to "fork" Crunchbang Stable and Crunchbang Testing. smile

iggykoopa · 2009-01-23 14:36:42

If we do end up with a gui I'd like to help with that(if we do one and if it uses python). Sadly though my shell scripting isn't up to par with the quality this would need to be. Sounds exciting big_smile

edit: also since this aims to be user/newbie friendly are we still expecting people to go out and find if they need to add a sleep to the command? or are we going to have sane defaults for common programs that they can just select?

Last edited by iggykoopa (2009-01-23 14:39:24)

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#1 2009-01-23 08:20:09

[IDEA] Improved autostart.sh

#2 2009-01-23 11:02:19

Re: [IDEA] Improved autostart.sh

#3 2009-01-23 11:22:06

Re: [IDEA] Improved autostart.sh

#4 2009-01-23 11:34:48

Re: [IDEA] Improved autostart.sh

#5 2009-01-23 12:01:38

Re: [IDEA] Improved autostart.sh

#6 2009-01-23 13:34:23

Re: [IDEA] Improved autostart.sh

#7 2009-01-23 14:07:27

Re: [IDEA] Improved autostart.sh

#8 2009-01-23 14:15:57

Re: [IDEA] Improved autostart.sh

#9 2009-01-23 14:25:19

Re: [IDEA] Improved autostart.sh

#10 2009-01-23 14:27:14

Re: [IDEA] Improved autostart.sh

#11 2009-01-23 14:36:42

Re: [IDEA] Improved autostart.sh

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