Hello. I've just used the netinstall iso of Debian 10 to make a Fluxbox-fronted system with minimal and light applications. I'm impressed with what this has done for a nine year old Thinkpad, also extending its battery life by an unexpected couple of hours or more during varied use. (This laptop I'd originally intended to set up just for word processing, and with the wireless off and brightness down a bit a battery with 70% capacity now is showing 9 1/2 hours from a full charge.)

I've used Wicd instead of Network Manager, and though it is working very well I would like its taskbar applet to appear consistently on the taskbar - it does if wicd-gtk is started manually now, though it didn't when first installed (?) The applet remains when wicd-gtk is closed but at present isn't otherwise appearing.

Wicd is already starting automatically at boot, with wifi connecting almost straight away, so the Debian Wiki didn't yield the right information, seeming to talk in terms of everything being manually set; the Archwiki shows the phrase "wicd-client --tray" which feels as if it's what I need, somewhere? So I think I'm needing to replace something that was done automatically while wicd was installing. There's nothing in wicd-gtk's settings that deals with this.

Thanks for any input.

How are you currently starting the daemon, and the applet?
Commands, files and output please.

I'm not having to start it and didn't have to put anything myself in any kind of autostart file - wicd starts automatically from having installed it. I wouldn't know what to inspect to see which part of the file system contains its start routine. I know now that 'wicd-client --tray' puts the applet on the taskbar so maybe I should just put that in the Fluxbox startup up file (presumably as 'wicd-client --tray &')? If that isn't then effectively wicd being started twice?

Since 2008 I've mostly been a live CD user, installing the OS from there, and this is only the second time I've attempted anything like a custom install, so though above average with my knowhow I'm not knowledgeable enough to say anymore or know what output you're asking for.***

Is what I suggest correct or do I need to alter how wicd already starts if I'm going to use 'wicd-client --tray &' or is that command only pertaining to the applet and not the entire application?

Thanks for any further pointers.

*** I started using Slim as a login manager a year ago as it didn't display graphical artefacts with the xorg.conf I was using with either this Thinkpad or another machine and lightdm, and only then did I become conscious that there was this part of the Linux workings that automated what is not automated for more hardcore users. I don't necessarily think that my curiosity or compulsions regarding moving from a ready-made OS are a good thing - I should be writing a novel...

So do you have a tray icon when you log in? AFAIU you don't.
But your wifi works? AFAIU it does.
Open a terminal, type:
If that returns nothing then yes, you need to add that command to startup.
You said you read the ArchWiki about wicd - did you not see the bit where it says that it runs as a daemon/client? That means two processes. I guess the first one is just 'wicd'. Check 'systemctl | grep wicd', then 'systemctl status <whatever you found in the first command>' to be sure.

Fabulous. Thanks, that's wrapped this up for me - I have used the Fluxbox startup file though .xsession and .xsessionrc had appeared during my googling.