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openbox for Artix

Hey

I have no idea what's the best forum for this and what title for this topic should be.
Few months ago my laptop has experienced Manjaro Openbox Community Edition for first time. It liked it however it didn't make it's life easier...
I have done a bit of research about that on internet and i even posted on manjaro.org forums about how much i like it and guy who develops it stated it was inspired by ArchLabs Openbox https://archlabslinux.com/ that states they got the ideas for it from Debian-based BunsenLabs Linux (https://www.bunsenlabs.org/).

Since they're all systemd distributions, i don't really mind systemd that much like other people. I have just downloaded bunsenlabs and put it into usb stick. Usually what i do when i boot into systemd distros is go to /etc/systemd/resolved.conf and see their DNS addresses and typical: 8.8.8.8 Google. Since i don't wanna googlify my computing experience and be dependant on them, i decided i am not installing it. I know i can change it but i don't like this fact that there's google DNS set by default  ::)

So basically this Manjaro Openbox Community Edition consists of polybar, tint2, conky it's all i know of.
Since Manjaro is very trouble making for me (problems with grub, sometimes won't boot into system, and what the hell is going on here??????) and i wanna have manjaro openbox on my laptop, the only thing i can do now is do it by myself using Artix Linux.
Since i can install systemd distro on my laptop not to use it though... but to learn from it. I think making openbox and configuring it with these addons can't be that hard i think it just needs get .conf files configured properly and scripts?? I don't know yet.
But i am just thinking that maybe in few weeks or couple of months i will be able to get hold of some knowledge about how to configure openbox etc. etc. and make something that looks similar but on artix.

When i install openbox on Artix, there's right click menu... It doesn't have anything configured properly but i wanna learn how to configure it for myself, you know the menu, i think normally there is just web browser and terminal emulator, obconf and something else and that's it.
But for example i am gonna make nice openbox with these tint2, conky etc. or just something else but something like this and for example i am gonna decide to create an iso (is dd the only option) of it and share it on forums, but then for example if somebody would like to try install it then i don't know how to put calamares for example, you know... I am just thinking about creating this openbox like it is in manjaro openbox but created by community not artix devs. (Like Artix with stuff set up and .conf files for packages installed with latest openrc iso)
I have got lots of free time and i am bored too... and even better learning and configuring this doesn't require internet connection so i can do it everywhere i want and be flexible.  The only non-systemd distro i tried that has nicely configured openbox is obarun linux. I haven't heard about any others. It doesn't have polybar, but has tint2 and conky too...
Thanks

By the way i have made some screenshots and posted. I wonder if you like the way it looks or it's just me??? :)

Re: openbox for Artix

Reply #1 –
Quote from: cynicfm – on
The only non-systemd distro i tried that has nicely configured openbox is obarun linux.

To be fair obarun doesn't have a thing to do with openbox, although it started with openbox nearly 4years ago (OpenBoxArchRUNit --> OBARUN  it is now JWMArchS666 but it is very hard to pronounce as a word).  It is basically as openbox comes from arch, and just like artix.  kicksaw which is offered for JWM can be used on openbox and there is an obshutdown pkg that is compatible with s6.  There is also a mouse pointer theme in obarun-install-theme that can be used in openbox.  That is it.  Nothing else.

You have a nice setup on Manjaro with openbox, just add the artix repositories on top of Manjaro and do a -Suy, choose openrc or runit and replace the CRAP with healthier stuff.  Openbox shouldn't be affected at all, as far as openbox will go.  Manjaro guis that utilize systemd functionality may be affected but minimally.  Openbox is not a DM, or a DE, it is a window manager WM for X.   If you start X and get an xterm you type openbox-session and off you go.

You want to see funky Openbox stuff try ArchLabs, again place the artix repos on top of the other ones and go!
@nous (on his git space) has made a script that does the conversion from arch to artix relatively automatically, it works on other arch-based distros.  You download the script, run it in a root shell, and the disease is gone.  You can modify it to retain your manjaro archlabs ... repositories below artix.  Artix devs will not support such hybrids if you come crying that your manjaro gui failed, but you can figure it out with some reading, patience, and experimentation.

Re: openbox for Artix

Reply #2 –
Yeah, this is manjaro openbox is inspired by stuff from ArchLabs, i have written about it :P .
I may try this thing with repositories, but deleting systemd is going to be too much for me.
I'd be better trying to do the same by myself.

I wouldn't mind systemd so much if their developers didn't put google DNS as default, that is sick and crazy.
edit: okay i am gonna try replace manjaro mirrors with artix ones and see what happens.
edit1: wow thank you fungalnet!! :D I choose runit, just updating the system using artix repositories!@@ awesome :D. Thanks you just make my linux experience better, now i can show off how amazing OS i have got on my laptop!!!! Artix Linux with openbox from Manjaro, awesome!@@@
THANKS :)
btw it deleted systemd before started updating. I am curious what's gonna happen when i reboot. If it's gonna boot to runit artix and there's going to be this openbox it's gonna be awesome
edit2: surpisingly it updated everything well i had to mess some with .gpg keys in /usr/share/pacman/keyrings
now time for reboot
edit3: ok i made it. Followed migration guide for a bit and managed to get into chroot but i still have got manjaro kernel here 4.19. I went to settings manager but there isn't artix one.

Okay well, it took me 4 hours :D

I am very excited now, thanks fungalnet

Re: openbox for Artix

Reply #4 –
Nah, i didn't.
I got rid of manjaro icon but now when i launch nitrogen i have this error:
Quote
Could not open dir ~/.local/share/backgrounds: terminate called after throwing an instance of 'Glib::ConvertError'
zsh: abort      nitrogen
But i have all running cool, so i did it myself, actually i know how to chroot now so it was worth it :)

edit: this is how everything looks like for me at the moment. I like it quite more than standard plain openbox :P, especially the right-click mouse menu. The rest is just configurations like shortcut keys, nitrogen, wallpaper it's not so important as well, well today when i woke up i couldn't even think about something like this happening, transforming Manjaro Openbox Community Edition into Artix OpenRC, awesome... I am well very pleased now.

Re: openbox for Artix

Reply #5 –
You can use arch xdg-menugenarator i use it with JWM its made for open-box i modify for my use, its in the repro,
If you use pcmanfm or spacefm you can get dbus to start them as a daemon and use to set the wallpaper.

Re: openbox for Artix

Reply #6 –
Well i managed to change my wallpaper using feh, i tried picture of snow and mountains or forest and trees but they didn't match the colours of conky fonts and polybar... But this is maybe why there is gimp for, these grey/dark blue colours are the best.
But i don't mind having wallpaper with manjaro on it at the moment. To be fair i am too excited to care now. I don't know what it does to me, perhaps it's this polybar and colours of everything that turns using computer for pleasure to me right now. It's great.

Again thanks fungalnet for idea of changing the repositories, and also i followed wiki of migration from Arch to Artix that helped. It took me whole evening, but it was fun. Writing in chroot was amazing to me to, i wish i had some challenge again, like this one yesterday :P.
Linuxing is great but would be better if i knew things...

Re: openbox for Artix

Reply #7 –
If you are willing to learn Linux is a life time of adventure and discovery. Even at 70 I learn new things better than sitting on the couch and sleeping ;)

Re: openbox for Artix

Reply #8 –
Of course. It's also playing games, Windows 10 consumes lots of computer resources therefore they perform better on linux.
However most of them are only available through Steam, which is proprietary 3rd party software or wine that runs windows games. Everything can run on Linux, it's just a matter of configuration, but one who wants to play games on linux, should learn about it as much as possible, since it is open-source so everybody may do what they want.

Great that there are people out there who decided to not stick to these systemd distros, i think by design they suck lots of RAM and CPU as well as Windows 10 does. Now GNU/Linux lacks people who would like to create free and open-source games, available for everyone, they all think about profits and $$$ but never about doing good things so linuxers can enjoy it despite of money they have got, upgrading rigs all the time. Nowadays every popular windows game is about making money and killing monsters/people/other (like massive multiplayer online role-playing games).

Proper system should just load and done, but nowadays there are processes that are running all the time designed to track you or gather data and all these things... Control over it is mandatory to have the best computing experience on the planet :D
edit: also since linux doesn't consume so much resources like windows 10 does, games for it should be better and more advanced, better graphics   like linux can do more than windows. If more and more people gonna start to believe it then changes will be good, for now it's just a fairytale...