Am still working on a desktop switcher for Tint2 my first attempt worked and thought job done. However I had not taken into account that a user can rename desktops as words or icons or numbers. So it is back to the drawing board. Xdotool is your friend when it comes to interacting with Openbox. In i3 it is far easier as ipc is built in via i3-msg. Will include xdotool for new release so you can mess around with it too.
Also found that switching desktops via keybinds currently is a bit of a stretch so have changed binds to Super + [1-4]. Also a way of moving an application to a given desktop could be handy, for example to move an open focused window to desktop 3 you would use Super + Shift + 3.
Another annoying thing that I have never noticed until using Openbox, is mouse does not focus on an open window when you move to it. Easy fix for new iso image release 😉
Got inspired by this guide:
https://thomashunter.name/posts/2019-01-27-treating-openbox-like-a-tiling-windowmanager
Although I have never had a problem using Openbox in the past and it was my go to window manager for many years. It is clear that Openbox has not had any major development for many years now, Tint2 has had its code frozen for quite some time now too. Tint2 has had quite a few patches lately to keep it running.
Been running Openbox on my desktop this week and I have found it painful to use ;-). It has highlighted the fact that I find i3 so much easier and quicker to use, does what I need it to do.
Even went searching for other Openbox based distros in the hope that they worked better than ArchBang but again found the same issues.
It is getting near time to either switch to using Wayland or use anther window manager. I know that I have tried to change ArchBang in the past and it did not go down that well. Wayland will be the norm for most of the modern distros now so it is just a matter or time.
Still unsure as to what to run in place and Openbox. JWM would have been my own choice but it is now in AUR so would not be that easy to maintain. Xfce4 not one of my personal favourites but it has everything I need out of the box. The other boxes fluxbox and blackbox are more likely getting old now too.
Fresh iso will be uploaded tomorrow, which includes latest kernel…
Stay safe….
