Openbox

Openbox is a stacking window manager for the X Window System originally derived from the Blackbox (window manager) project. It provides a lightweight, standards-compliant, highly configurable environment suitable for users who prefer minimal desktop integrations such as those offered by distributions like Debian, Arch Linux, and Gentoo. Openbox is often chosen for its speed, extensibility, and ability to integrate with desktop components from projects like GNOME, KDE, and window compositors such as Compton.

History

The project began as a fork of Blackbox (window manager) around 2002, undertaken by developers including Keith Packard and Daniël van Vugt to pursue features and standards not present in the original codebase. Early releases incorporated support for extended window hints specified by Freedesktop.org while maintaining a small memory footprint favored by advocates of lightweight environments such as users of Puppy Linux and Tiny Core Linux. Over subsequent releases the codebase evolved through contributions from volunteers including Jorge A. Castro and others associated with community hubs like SourceForge and later GitHub. The project intersected with broader desktop evolution driven by events such as the rise of X.Org Server forks and the emergence of compositing in X Window System ecosystems.

Features

Openbox implements standards from Freedesktop.org including the Extended Window Manager Hints and application interoperability protocols used by toolkits like GTK and Qt (software); this enables integration with suites such as GNOME, KDE Plasma, and LXDE. It supports features commonly sought by power users: customizable keybindings inspired by concepts in Xlib event handling, menu generation compatible with menu.xml conventions, and window placement policies akin to those in twm. Openbox's lightweight design has made it popular in projects like Xfce spin-offs and minimal distributions such as CrunchBang derivatives. It can work alongside compositors like Compton, xcompmgr, or Picom to provide effects similar to those in Compiz while maintaining compatibility with display servers like X.Org Server.

Configuration and Customization

Configuration in Openbox is primarily file-based, using XML files such as rc.xml and menu.xml, a lineage of approaches also used by projects like IceWM and Fluxbox. Users customize behavior via keybindings compatible with xbindkeys conventions and can script dynamic menus with tools from the GNU ecosystem or languages like Python (programming language), Perl, and Bash (Unix shell). Graphical configuration utilities, maintained by community contributors and packaged for distributions like Ubuntu, Fedora, and Manjaro Linux, provide front-ends similar to those found in LXAppearance and ObConf; these tools allow theme selection interoperable with engines used by GTK+ themes and icon sets from Icon theme repositories. The window manager’s adherence to Inter-Client Communication Conventions Manual-style hints permits fine-grained interoperability with session managers such as ConsoleKit and systemd-logind.

Usage and Integration

Openbox is used both as a standalone session and as a component within desktop environments like LXDE and lightweight spins of Xfce; distributions including Debian, Arch Linux, and Gentoo provide packages and community documentation for integration. Users commonly pair Openbox with panels and applets such as Tint2, Conky, and Polybar to recreate feature sets similar to those in MATE or Cinnamon (desktop environment). Its low resource usage makes it suitable for older hardware and embedded systems used in projects like Raspberry Pi images and community remixes for BeagleBoard. Window placement and stacking behaviors align with interoperability expectations from toolkits like GTK and Qt, enabling smooth operation with software suites such as LibreOffice, Firefox, and Thunderbird.

Development and Community

Development has been community-driven with contributions coordinated through platforms historically including SourceForge and later GitHub; stewardship has included maintainers from the wider open-source community such as Keith Packard and Daniël van Vugt. Discussion and support occur on mailing lists, IRC channels on networks like Freenode (now often migrated to other networks), and forums hosted by distributions such as Arch Linux Forums and Debian User Forums. The user base spans contributors from projects like LXDE, downstream distributions like CrunchBang derivatives, and independent enthusiasts who maintain themes, menu utilities, and integrations with compositors and panels. Licensing under the MIT License has enabled forks, packaging, and inclusion in derivative projects while community-maintained documentation lives in wiki systems used by Arch Wiki, Debian Wiki, and assorted blogs and tutorials maintained by open-source advocates.

Category:Window managers