Fluxbox-0.9.15.1

Introduction to Fluxbox

The Fluxbox package contains a window manager.

Package Information

Fluxbox Dependencies

Required

X Window System

Optional

Imlib2-1.4.0 Image display library

User Notes: http://wiki.linuxfromscratch.org/blfs/wiki/fluxbox

Installation of Fluxbox

Install Fluxbox by running the following commands:

./configure --prefix=/usr &&
make

To test the results, issue: make check.

Now, as the root user:

make install

Command Explanations

--enable-imlib2: Use this option if you wish to use other image formats in addition to xpm.

Configuring Fluxbox

Config Files

~/.fluxbox/init, ~/.fluxbox/keys, and ~/.fluxbox/menu

Configuration Information

If Fluxbox is the only Window Manager you want to use, you can start it with an .xinitrc file in your home folder. Be sure to backup your current .xinitrc before proceeding.

echo startfluxbox > ~/.xinitrc

Or alternatively, if you use a login manager like GDM-2.18.3 or kdm and would like to be able to choose Fluxbox at the login prompt, create a fluxbox.desktop file like this.

As root:

cat > /usr/share/xsessions/fluxbox.desktop << "EOF"
[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=Fluxbox
Comment=This session logs you into Fluxbox
Exec=startfluxbox
Type=Application
EOF

If you didn't install GDM-2.18.3 or kdm in /usr, then change that command to fit the prefix you chose.

Now create the Fluxbox configuration files:

mkdir -v ~/.fluxbox &&
cp -v /usr/share/fluxbox/init ~/.fluxbox/init &&
cp -v /usr/share/fluxbox/keys ~/.fluxbox/keys

Now if you have which-2.19 installed:

cd ~/.fluxbox &&
fluxbox-generate_menu

otherwise:

cp -v /usr/share/fluxbox/menu ~/.fluxbox/menu

Menu items are added by editing ~/.fluxbox/menu. The syntax is explained on the fluxbox man page.

If you want to use an image as your desktop background, copy the theme you like into ~/.fluxbox. Then add a line to make it use the correct image. In the following command, change <theme> for the name of the theme you want and change </path/to/nice/image.xpm> to point to the actual image you want to use.

cp /usr/share/fluxbox/styles/<theme> ~/.fluxbox/theme &&
sed -i 's,\(session.styleFile:\).*,\1 ~/.fluxbox/theme,' \
 ~/.fluxbox/init &&
echo "background.pixmap: </path/to/nice/image.xpm>" >> ~/.fluxbox/theme

In some locales the font specified in the theme may not contain the needed characters. This results in menus with blank items. You can fix this by editing ~/.fluxbox/theme with a text editor and altering it so that it names a suitable font.

Contents

Installed Programs: fluxbox, fbsetbg, fbsetroot, fluxbox-generate_menu, startfluxbox, and fbrun
Installed Libraries: None
Installed Directory: /usr/share/fluxbox and ~/.fluxbox

Short Descriptions

fluxbox

is a window manager for X11 based on Blackbox 0.61.0.

fbsetbg

is a utility that sets the background image. It requires which to find one of: display, Esetroot, wmsetbg, xv, qiv or xsri.

fbsetroot

is a utility to change root window appearance based on the Blackbox application bsetroot.

fluxbox-generate_menu

is a utility that generates a menu by scanning your PATH. It requires which to function properly.

startfluxbox

is a session startup script that allows for command executions prior to fluxbox starting.

fbrun

displays a run dialog window.

Last updated on 2007-04-04 14:42:53 -0500