CrunchBang Linux

vikrang

Member

Registered: 2011-02-17

Posts: 11

OpenBox when installed along with other DE

Hi,

I have a general doubt abt OB...I believe it can be used as a WM along with other DE or just replace a DE (which I suppose Crunchbang, Archbang and others seek to do..

In the second case,to put it in layman's terms , the engine may be based on Debian or Ubuntu or Gentoo but the Interface is provided by OB.

I would like to know the correct way to proceed installing OB ...Supppose I want a Sabayon based OB , should I download a Sabayon Core without DE  then proceed with installing OB?

I just observe that if OB is installed on top of say an LXDE version of Sabayon , the characteristics of both LXDE and OB appear together in a pure OB session..(Just like when u install both KDE and GNOME, you will have the apps of both even when u choose only one)

Also OB is a WM and not a DE from what I read, so the apps installed will necessarily pull in library files from KDE/GNOME or the respective DE's repos....So , in theory there is nothing called a "Pure OB installation" right?? Suppose I choose the wrong combination of Apps say  very heavy packages from KDE with numerous dependencies then my installation is going to be bloated and the real advantage of OB would be lost...So is it right in concluding OB will take the colour of the DE to which the apps belong...That is If I mostly have 90% of the apps belonging to KDE , it would be a KDE based OB or other way around..

So actually how do you benchmark OB 's performance and generalize that OB is the fastest ? Just a thought.

Also ,how do u choose the packages wisely -- Say choosing the right app for a task to optimize performance? (Minimum depends and max performance)?

bobrossw

#! Die Hard

Registered: 2011-02-08

Posts: 521

Re: OpenBox when installed along with other DE

re: using OB independently and on other distros...you're right!  That's one of the great things about linux, most distros give you choices at all different levels.  You can use OB as a complete replacement for a desktop environment.  Or you can combine it with any number of panels.

incidentally, what you noticed about LXDE is because LXDE combines openbox and lxpanel together.  What winds up happening when you've got both installed is the config files for openbox get replaced by the ones from LXDE, and your openbox session all of a  sudden looks like an LXDE session.

Basically what you're noticing here is a real core difference between Linux and other OS's.  The kernel is the only thing that the different distros have in common, everything else is up to the distros to package as defaults, and the user to change around as they see fit.

pvsage

Internal Affairs

From: North Carolina

Registered: 2009-10-18

Posts: 13,282

Re: OpenBox when installed along with other DE

I thought LXDE *was* Openbox, just with the LXDEPanel and a few other goodies added...

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anonymous

The Mystery Member

From: Arch Linux Forums

Registered: 2008-11-29

Posts: 9,418

Re: OpenBox when installed along with other DE

So , in theory there is nothing called a "Pure OB installation" right??

A pure Openbox installation would just be a bare Linux distro like a Debian netinstall or Arch + Openbox. No user apps just Openbox.

Suppose I choose the wrong combination of Apps say  very heavy packages from KDE with numerous dependencies then my installation is going to be bloated and the real advantage of OB would be lost...

Correct.

So is it right in concluding OB will take the colour of the DE to which the apps belong...That is If I mostly have 90% of the apps belonging to KDE , it would be a KDE based OB or other way around..

If you installed KDE and then replaced Kwin with Openbox then you would have KDE+Openbox.

If you just installed some individual KDE apps on top of Openbox then it would be Openbox with some KDE apps.

Also ,how do u choose the packages wisely -- Say choosing the right app for a task to optimize performance? (Minimum depends and max performance)?

Choose cli applications or gtk2 apps (without Gnome dependencies) or qt apps (without KDE dependencies). Also this page may help:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Li … plications

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snowpine

#!-a-roo

Registered: 2008-11-24

Posts: 2,950

Re: OpenBox when installed along with other DE

One thing to keep in mind about apps is that they only load their dependencies into RAM when you launch them. So for example if you like to use Amarok (a popular KDE music player) sometimes, installing it will not slow your system down, except when you are actually using Amarok.

Unless you have a small hard drive or low system specs (which of course may be the case for a lot of users), you shouldn't be afraid of using your favorite Gnome or KDE apps in #!. Certainly these apps will be no slower (and probably a bit faster) than running them in Ubuntu or Kubuntu.

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hhh

Caught in the Vortex

Registered: 2010-08-04

Posts: 2,346

Re: OpenBox when installed along with other DE

I thought LXDE *was* Openbox, just with the LXDEPanel and a few other goodies added...

Yes, though it would be more correct to say it's a DE that uses Openbox as its window manager.

@the OP, Openbox standalone resources...
http://urukrama.wordpress.com/openbox-guide/
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Openbox
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Openbox
http://openbox.org/wiki/Help:Getting_started

vikrang

Member

Registered: 2011-02-17

Posts: 11

Re: OpenBox when installed along with other DE

Thanks to all ...That has cleared some muddle in my head!

Last edited by vikrang (2011-04-20 10:52:02)