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fluxbox troubles/thoughts/annoyances

I've been a fluxbox user ever since I started using Linux a couple of months ago. I tried loads of other wms, such as KDE, Gnome, Enlightenment and Window Maker, but always switched back to fluxbox for some reason. Now I've been happy with fluxbox but there are still some things that could be better for me.

1. Fluxbox 0.9.8 and 0.9.9
If any of you have tried the new developement versions of fluxbox you've probably noticed that they mess up the look of your themes badly. Or am I perhaps the only one? Is there a work around this? I'm using the stable version at the moment because I just couldn't stand the messed up themes. Is there perhaps somewhere I can go download fluxbox themes made for these versions that look better? I couldn't find any but would be pretty happy if someone could point me to one.

2. Fluxbox's lack of a taskbar
Now, this doesn't really annoy me. But what does is when I accidently minimize windows. How on earth am I supposed to get them back? I know I can remove the minimize button but I would like to be able to minimize windows and perhaps alt-tab or something to get them back. I'm also aware of that the developement version comes with a taskbar, read #1 on that matter.

3. Workspace switching with the mousewheel
This feature I love. I'm completely addicted to it and couldn't be without it. But what I would really like to be able to do is have seperate backgrounds on different workspaces. I came accross a Danish site that gave a way to do this but it relied on workspace switching with the keyboard. Is there a work around this?

4. Saving sessions
This would be so cool. Every time I start up X, which I do 1-2 times a week, I always start by starting up the same programs, Firefox, xmms, aterm, gaim, dcgui-qt, xchat. I then always ToggleDecor on them to remove the pointless boarder around them since they're always at the same place and never shut down/minimized anyway. I would really like way to save my fluxbox session and make fluxbox load that session everytime it starts. When I started fluxbox it would then have all my windows set up in the right places in the right workspaces (and without the window decorations. Is there a way to do this or any plan to implement it?

5. ToggleDecor
I probably abuse this feature but the window decorations and buttons are just pointless most of the time so I usually start by turning the decorations off once I start up a window by hitting ctrl+alt+d which I have bound to ToggleDecor in the keys file. Is there a way to make windows start up by default without the decorations?

I wanted to ask around for these features before I start implementing them by myself, which I plan to do once fluxbox's stable version hits 1.0. So, any suggestions, comment, help or even additions this list are appreciated.

Thanks.

Re: fluxbox troubles/thoughts/annoyances

[QUOTE]Originally posted by atheist
[

2. Fluxbox's lack of a taskbar
Now, this doesn't really annoy me. But what does is when I accidently minimize windows. How on earth am I supposed to get them back? I know I can remove the minimize button but I would like to be able to minimize windows and perhaps alt-tab or something to get them back. I'm also aware of that the developement version comes with a taskbar, read #1 on that matter.

I have fluxbox 0.9.9, and seem to have a taskbar.

3. Workspace switching with the mousewheel
This feature I love. I'm completely addicted to it and couldn't be without it. But what I would really like to be able to do is have seperate backgrounds on different workspaces. I came accross a Danish site that gave a way to do this but it relied on workspace switching with the keyboard. Is there a work around this?

Beside the taskbar, I also seem to have an entry on the GUI allowing me to switch between workspaces (haven't tried it). If I right click, I also get a menu with the option of switching workspaces.

[

3. See here http://www.fluxmod.dk/content.php?article.8 Too involved to recap so go visit.

4. Dunno about saving positions but just add your apps to ~/.xinitrc eg

firefox &

And when you start fluxbox these apps will load.

If you don't have .xinitrc then just make one.

2. I have a taskbar, and I just upgraded to Flux 0.9.9 today.
1. The themes work fine for me.
3. I think this software does that:
http://fluxspace.sf.net
Fluxbox is a great WM, and maybe thisll help you love it more :D.

Quote:

Originally posted by Chris H
3. See here http://www.fluxmod.dk/content.php?article.8 Too involved to recap so go visit.

4. Dunno about saving positions but just add your apps to ~/.xinitrc eg

firefox &

And when you start fluxbox these apps will load.

If you don't have .xinitrc then just make one.

I believe that was the tutorial I found before. The one that relied on the keyboard for switching workspaces as well as backgrounds. As for the .xinitrc it didn't really work for me. I have my dockapps there and that works fine but when I put anything else I got some error, I can't remember which one, though, since it was a long time ago. .xinitrc doesn't remember your settings either, does it? I.e. the placement and ToggleDecor thing?

Quote:

Originally posted by LavaDevil94
2. I have a taskbar, and I just upgraded to Flux 0.9.9 today.
1. The themes work fine for me.
3. I think this software does that:
http://fluxspace.sf.net
Fluxbox is a great WM, and maybe thisll help you love it more :D.

Ugh. I don't know why, but there's something about fluxspace that just makes me not want to use it. o_O
About the themes working for you... Are you sure? They aren't... like... (hard to explain) weird? (Yeah, this could be phrased better I know.) Are you using the original fluxbox themes? The ones that you used for the stable version too? Gah. I need to get that working.
And as for the taskbar. I did mention there was a taskbar for the developement versions, the themes all just look too ugly for me to be able to use 0.9.9.

To better explain the theme "yukkiness" I've got four screenshots here comparing two themes. Two are from my lap which is running fluxbox 0.9.9 and two are from my desktop pc running fluxbox 0.1.14. The ones being taken on my desktop having the suffix stable

Cryosleep: http://157.157.158.165/pub/cryosleep.png http://157.157.158.165/pub/cryosleepstable.png
Fluxcarnation: http://157.157.158.165/pub/fluxcarnation.png http://157.157.158.165/pub/fluxcarnationstable.png

Re: fluxbox troubles/thoughts/annoyances

Quote:

Originally posted by atheist
I've been a fluxbox user ever since I started using Linux a couple of months ago. I tried loads of other wms, such as KDE, Gnome, Enlightenment and Window Maker, but always switched back to fluxbox for some reason. Now I've been happy with fluxbox but there are still some things that could be better for me.

Same here, except that I eventually switched to ice. (Well, blackbox, then fluxbox - and then ice.)

1. Fluxbox 0.9.8 and 0.9.9
If any of you have tried the new developement versions of fluxbox you've probably noticed that they mess up the look of your themes badly. Or am I perhaps the only one? Is there a work around this? I'm using the stable version at the moment because I just couldn't stand the messed up themes. Is there perhaps somewhere I can go download fluxbox themes made for these versions that look better? I couldn't find any but would be pretty happy if someone could point me to one.

Try searching this site - it has to do with themes taking new config options that screw up the taskbar and so on. There's a thread on it. (I have no idea why they ship broken themes.)

2. Fluxbox's lack of a taskbar
Now, this doesn't really annoy me. But what does is when I accidently minimize windows. How on earth am I supposed to get them back? I know I can remove the minimize button but I would like to be able to minimize windows and perhaps alt-tab or something to get them back. I'm also aware of that the developement version comes with a taskbar, read #1 on that matter.

That's a major reason I switched. Devel's taskbar is not as good as ice's and stable's outright sucks. If you want a taskbar and broken themes, do devel. You want themes and a broken taskbar, do stable.

3. Workspace switching with the mousewheel
This feature I love. I'm completely addicted to it and couldn't be without it. But what I would really like to be able to do is have seperate backgrounds on different workspaces. I came accross a Danish site that gave a way to do this but it relied on workspace switching with the keyboard. Is there a work around this?

I don't see why the switching method would have anything to do with it. If it works at all, it should work with a scroll wheel.

4. Saving sessions
This would be so cool. Every time I start up X, which I do 1-2 times a week, I always start by starting up the same programs, Firefox, xmms, aterm, gaim, dcgui-qt, xchat. I then always ToggleDecor on them to remove the pointless boarder around them since they're always at the same place and never shut down/minimized anyway. I would really like way to save my fluxbox session and make fluxbox load that session everytime it starts. When I started fluxbox it would then have all my windows set up in the right places in the right workspaces (and without the window decorations. Is there a way to do this or any plan to implement it?

Look into the 'remember' settings and the 'apps' file. Not sure of the details but you should be able to specify configs for apps and maybe launch them. If not, add them to one of the startup scripts and they should then take their 'app' options when started.

5. ToggleDecor
I probably abuse this feature but the window decorations and buttons are just pointless most of the time so I usually start by turning the decorations off once I start up a window by hitting ctrl+alt+d which I have bound to ToggleDecor in the keys file. Is there a way to make windows start up by default without the decorations?

Probably through the remember settings/apps file, again.

It's ironic. The devel versions have often been flaky which was annoying. And they also made me realize how *un*satisfied I was with flux 0.1.14. I switched to ice and see a lot of things flux is trying to implement have already been done and done well. I keep trying the 9x's and keep using ice. By trying to make flux better, they made me realize how much better it needed to be, and I switched. Like I say, ironic.

Also the damn mozilla focus bug. That's *still* there (despite being 'fixed' several times) and it's not mozilla's problem because it *only* happens in flux. That was another major deal-breaker.

This IceWM you speak of sounds tempting. I think I'll give it a try, although I'm tired of testing WMs. It always takes time and effort to configure them to your liking. If it has easily configurable keyboard shurtcuts, such as ToggleDecor and does what you say it does... I guess I'm sold, though.

As for fluxbox themes that work with the devel versions, I'm having a hard time finding any. I'll keep searching for a bit, though, but if any of you have any links I'd appreciate them.

About the switching method. The script from fluxmod is called everytime you press the keys that switch the workspace and can't therefor be called by the mousewheel since it only switched workspaces when the mouse is over the desktop or taskbar.

This Mozilla focus bug you speak of... I've never experienced it or heard of it before. What's it like?

Quote:

Originally posted by atheist
This IceWM you speak of sounds tempting. I think I'll give it a try, although I'm tired of testing WMs. It always takes time and effort to configure them to your liking. If it has easily configurable keyboard shurtcuts, such as ToggleDecor and does what you say it does... I guess I'm sold, though.

I know what you mean about testing getting old. Sometimes it's fun when you're just playing around but when you're really *looking* for something, it can be frustrating. But as far as features, you may not like ice. Flux has a really simple 'toggledecor' whereas ice has a 'winoptions' file which is more like this:

jterm.icon: Planet.png [sets the icon in the task bar, etc.]
jterm.tray: Exclusive [keeps it in the tray, never on the taskbar itself]
jterm.allWorkspaces: 1 [sets it to show on all workspaces]
jterm.fHide: 0 [this and the next lock it down - no moving, resizing, etc.]
jterm.fMinimize: 0
jterm.fMove: 0
jterm.fResize: 0
jterm.dTitleBar: 0 [this knocks off the titlebar]
jterm.dBorder: 0 [and this knocks off the border - completely transparent now]
jterm.ignoreQuickSwitch: 1 [doesn't show up in alt-tab switching]

I have 'aterm -name jterm &' in my ~/.xinitrc and have that console at fullscreen at all times. All the rest of my aterms are normal. So there's a lot of control, but several settings to set.

Keyboard shortcuts are a simple 'key "Super+a" aterm' in ~/.icewm/keys.

Superficially, ice and flux are very different but, in a lot of ways, they're similar. One issue is that flux usually looks nice whereas ice has some awful themes. But infadel2 is pretty nice and I severely modified it to make it gray, along with other stuff, so it matches your average apps better.

As for fluxbox themes that work with the devel versions, I'm having a hard time finding any. I'll keep searching for a bit, though, but if any of you have any links I'd appreciate them.

Well, I think 'Blue' or 'BlueFlux' or something works (that's in the default styles). And somebody at this site has created 'bloodline' and some others which mostly work. There's 'tertius' and 'dark and transparent'. Stray themes, but I don't know of a centralized 'these work for stable, these for devel'.

About the switching method. The script from fluxmod is called everytime you press the keys that switch the workspace and can't therefor be called by the mousewheel since it only switched workspaces when the mouse is over the desktop or taskbar.

Oh, I see. Hm. Well, I don't think Ice can do separate desktop backgrounds either. And the way you describe, I can't think of a way around it with flux.

This Mozilla focus bug you speak of... I've never experienced it or heard of it before. What's it like?

It's this weird thing that I'm not sure how to reproduce, but it's known about. Mozilla simply loses focus. If you try to type into an input box like I'm doing now to reply to you, it just *won't* type. (I think it happens in the address bar, too.) Switching workspaces and switching back, minimizing and maximizing mozilla - it eventually comes back as you shake the focus, sort of. But it's a real pain. Random, but a pain.

-- http://themes.freshmeat.net/projects/darkandtrans/

I think that works. I couldn't find the others. Try the newer themes at http://www.fluxmod.dk/download.php?list.14

Thanks for your reply.

As for IceWM... I fiddled around with it for some time but to tell you the truth it really didn't look good enough for me. I'm not sure if I'll try anymore since looks are pretty important to me when it comes to window managers. o_O

Thanks for the tips on the themes.

As for the different desktops for workspaces it seems I'm out of luck. I do have an idea of how to implement it using the fluxbox source code though... not sure if it'll work though, since my experience in window manager programming is rather limited. I tried making a window manager (Yttrium) with my friend, though, but it got boring pretty quick so we never really finished it. I guess I'll wait and see what 1.0 brings us first, though.

And that focus bug. Oh, yeah. I remember that now. That used to be EXTREMELY annoying. It seemed to disappear when I switched from firebird to firefox, though.

The apps file in Fluxbox dev is really handy...it'll let you set startup applications, per-application window decorations, as well as any other window state (iconified, sticky, dimensions, etc.).

Solutions to most of your troubles can be found in the links at http://fluxbox.sourceforge.net/
multiple backgrounds: http://fluxspace.sourceforge.net/
new theme settings: http://fluxbox.sourceforge.net/docs/en/faq-dev.php

I don't know what the issue with the taskbar is...I've been using Fluxbox for a couple of years and always had a taskbar. Sometimes an application will become iconified (hit the wrong button), but this can be retrieved through the workspace menu (middle-click).