screenshot: debian, openbox, roxterm, conky

window manager: openbox ... again

I've been using Ion3 as my WM for about a year, now, but I've been thinking...The guy who built this awesome WM has defected to the dark side, and is no longer working on Ion3. He's basically been alone in its development, in fact, likes it that way, so, nobody else, as far as I am aware, is continuing development thereof.

That kind of makes me sad, because Ion3 is an awesome WM, and meets all of my needs. It's light and quick, tabbed and tiling, and easily controlled from the keyboard.I just think it rocks.

Now, prior to using Ion3, I had been using Openbox for a while, and before that fluxbox.I had moved to openbox, because development had, I was told, slowed to a screeching halt on fluxbox, and openbox was becoming popular with those who preferred a lightweight wm. Openbox remains popular, especially in concert with various desktop managers, such as LXDE, but, of course, those setups include all kinds of useless, hand-holding/hindering nonsense.But, I, eschewing the use of extraneous desktop components, need no DE.

I just need a WM.

So, with Openbox remaining popular, and actively developed, it seems viable. So, at this juncture, I've moved back to openbox, just for fun.Openbox is light/quick, and, easily configured via editing it's rc.xml file.One can configure as many keyboard bindings as one wishes, and, thus, can render openbox easily controllable via the keyboard. Openbox is not, however, tabbed nor tiling, but, with the use of tile, one CAN, indeed, tile windows.If you use a panel (pypanel, lxpanel, etc.), however, tile leaves a window space open for an additional window, I suppose counting for the panel. Without a panel, tile works as it should. Who needs a panel, anyway?

I've been using Ion3, which has no panel, for a year now. I don't need no stinking panel...

So, I am currently using openbox, with no panel or desktop manager, at least at the moment, while I consider my options. I added conky to have a cpu monitor, network monitor, and clock, and about nothing else.I've tried and enjoyed dwm, tried awm, xmonad, pwm, fvwm, and a whole handfull of other wms.I rather liked dwm, but it had difficulties rendering java swing windows, and one of my most used apps, OmegaT (CAT program for translation), uses java swing windows, so that was out.

Simple openbox screenshot, showing 2 roxterm windows, and conky system monitor:

Now, openbox, with tiled roxterm windows:

(wallpaper is actress Meagan Good)

Video about me...They LOVE me in Sweden!

In Swedish, but with English subtitles.