Linux - NewbieThis Linux forum is for members that are new to Linux.
Just starting out and have a question?
If it is not in the man pages or the how-to's this is the place!
Notices
Welcome to LinuxQuestions.org, a friendly and active Linux Community.
You are currently viewing LQ as a guest. By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics, receive our newsletter, use the advanced search, subscribe to threads and access many other special features. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today!
Note that registered members see fewer ads, and ContentLink is completely disabled once you log in.
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you need to reset your password, click here.
Having a problem logging in? Please visit this page to clear all LQ-related cookies.
Get a virtual cloud desktop with the Linux distro that you want in less than five minutes with Shells! With over 10 pre-installed distros to choose from, the worry-free installation life is here! Whether you are a digital nomad or just looking for flexibility, Shells can put your Linux machine on the device that you want to use.
Exclusive for LQ members, get up to 45% off per month. Click here for more info.
I have tried out KDE, Gnome, and Xfce4. Of the three I like Xfce4 the most. What I really want though is the ability to set up a desktop environment 100% based on what I do at my desktop.
I have started working with blackbox which I like a lot, but I need some help with customizing it a bit.
For starters I need some help figuring out how to add the 5-6 primary apps I use into the right click menu system, and eliminating some of the things I do not use.
Basically I use:
Mozilla
Evolution
Gaim
Gimp
OOo
XMMS
and a terminal.
Could anyone point me in the right direction (remembering that I am new to editing config files and the command line?)
Your file is most likely ~/.blackbox/menu. If you're using the systemwide menu, do "locate blackbox | grep menu" to find it and copy it to your $HOME/.blackbox directory.
Editing is pretty simple....the main things to remember are submenus and commands, and submenus need to be closed with "[end]".
a simple example is:
[exec] (Mozilla) {mozilla}
if you want to change your menu for all users, the file you want will probably be :
/usr/share/blackbox/menu
for editing see mikshaw's explanation above.
I used to use blackbox, im a big fan of fat free windowmanagers. But now im a true fluxbox convert, you should try it out.
Also you could try some of the configuration tools available for blackbox/fluxbox. try opening a terminal and typing:
bbconf
enjoy
ps. before you ask how to set a wallpaper, this seems to get everyone at first (took me ages to figure out) open a terminal again and type
My new menu is below but first, I have a few other questions:
For some reason I cannot get bbconf to run
[jdier@linuxbox jdier]$ bbconf
-bash: bbconf: command not found
[jdier@linuxbox jdier]$
As root:
[root@linuxbox jdier]# bbconf
bash: bbconf: command not found
[root@linuxbox jdier]#
------------------------------
Curious if anyone could point me in the direction of some easy way to switch between open applications.... I do not like a bar with applications on it, looking for something more like the middle click of Xfce4. I would like to replace the blackbox middle click with that.
_______________________
Finally, anyway to change the system font? First of all, it is very difficult to read (so small) and secondly it is not too pleasing to the eye.
for switching apps, you can also use the middle mouse button (or click the wheel) to bring up the window list. But i would seriously recomend trying fluxbox, it has the option to "tab" windows. ie: say you have a terminal a browser and your mail program open, by dragging one window with the middle button onto another, it will group all windows together with a set of tabs at the top making it a breeze to switch apps.
As for the font size/face, you can adjust this in the style file :
/usr/share/blackbox/styles
have a look trhough the style your using and try to spot all the font entries
As i said if you like the concept of blackbox, try fluxbox, it's very similar except it has newer code and a bit more functionality.
- as the Mod1 key is the Alt key, this setup changes program windows with Alt+Tab, and the programs are set up as shortcuts ranging from Alt+F1 to Alt+F12. More about setting up the keyboard shortcuts here.
i believe there is a pager applet there. Also a lot of info on configuring and using fluxbox.
alternatively you can use the blackbox pager as you probably have it already. open a terminal and type :
bbpager -w
the "-w" option means withdrawn and will place it in the slit for you. The slit is only visible when there is something in it.
(I should add that billeder means pictures in Danish)
I messed around with the startup file, but could never make it work. I got this tip, and it works. My faithful os-tux.jpg is my encouraging background now.
Not quite sure what you mean by pager - that can mean a lot of things, working with WMs...
Thank you for this discussion. It got me started on customizing my Fluxbox menu with an editor. (I had already discovered the fluxbox generate menu script.
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing
Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute
content, let us know.