BlackBox - How's it work?

[KooLaiD]

I finally got around to trying the different window managers besides KDE and Gnome. I kinda like BlackBox, but I don't know how to use or configure it. I figured out that by right-clicking I get the menu and by left+right-clicking I get workspace and running app options. Beyond that, I'm clueless. I'd like to change that hideous background most of all. And I'm hoping it's possible to change some of the default behaviors like focus.
I'm also interested in sound events. Does it support them?

[FORTRAN gy]

I kinda like BlackBox, but I don't know how to use or configure it. I figured out that by right-clicking I get the menu and by left+right-clicking I get workspace and running app options. Beyond that, I'm clueless. I'd like to change that hideous background most of all. And I'm hoping it's possible to change some of the default behaviors like focus.
I'm also interested in sound events. Does it support them?

Blackbox is very flexible. First, get a theme to improve the eye candy situtation. The sample menu file should be in /usr/local/blackbox or thereabouts. Edit it to include your favorite apps, and they'll always be two clicks away without cluttering up your screen with icons. Many focusing options are available. Read about it here:
blackbox manual (http://bb.themes.org/php/docs.phtml)
Don't know about sound effects. In conclusion, :cool: blackbox :cool:

[forrest]

negative to the sound... see also: bloat.

[forrest]

useful blackbox links though...

blackbox sites:
(first is the original, second is jeff raven's site for it, the current maintainer) http://blackbox.alug.org/ http://www.math.psu.edu/raven/blackbox.html

bbtools:
(where you can get bbkeys, and bbpager, and some other less common apps) http://bbtools.thelinuxcommunity.org/

themes:
(make blackbox pretty :) http://bb.themes.org

faq:
(probably will answer most of your questions here) http://www.reedmedia.net/misc/blackbox/faq.html

[cga]

>negative to the sound... see also: bloat.

Amen. What is the deal with sound effects in window managers? I have never understood why some folks like to have all those silly boings and twangs. That'd drive me nuts.

But, what ever floats your boat, I guess.

[sandy0]

Here's another good link for Black box that will help configure it with KDE so you can add desktop items..........a complete "how to tutorial" :
http://www.draknor.net/kbb/

[bdg1983]

Certainly agree with cga. A waste of cpu cycles.

[KooLaiD]

Thanks folks. I'll check out the links you've provided and let ya know how it turns out.
About the sound: I don't like for EVERYTHING to make noise, just a couple things. Really all I would want is a startup sound and maybe a couple others; mostly because whether or not the sound works is a good indication of overall stability on my system. My combo of hardware doesn't like to play nice.

[forrest]

i suppose you could add mpg123 and a short file to your .xinitrc file, that might play it on entering the window manager.

or do you use (x,k,g)dm?

[Tyr-7BE]

I'm not used to sound...I installed XFCE (http://www.xfce.org/ ...very lightweight :)), and it played sounds...first priority was turning them off without killing someone.

[Magnus_Lei]

Ok guys i must be real stupid but i don't understand what you do after you have blackbox installed....I used DrakeConf to add blackbox. Now i can get into Blackbox but i can't figure out how to install the new tar ball that was downloaded from Themes.org. Can you help me?

[Neurotica]

add to your xinit script

play yourstartsoundhere.wav

Heh, there you go, instant "startup sound". Not that I see a point in it, but fairly simple to do.
:p

[FORTRAN gy]

Originally posted by Magnus_Lei:
... i can't figure out how to install the new tar ball that was downloaded from Themes.org. Can you help me?

"tar xvf tarball.tar" will unpack the tarball, the docs will help after that. You will need to add the style to your bb menu. bsetroot will define the image for your background (root window.) It should be one of the last lines in the style file. Make sure it points to the right location of the jpg, like ~/.blackbox/background/foo.jpg

[Tyr-7BE]

If you're used to a desktop environment, you probably used a GUI for tar.gz files. You can still do that. Find out what program opens tar.gz files and type that command in an X-Term (you might need to be root). Then you should be able to go as normal.