Openbox vs XFCE? (Page 6 of 7)

or the other way around

Maybe the .desktop files would be overwritten every time those apps are upgraded, though...

Not really counting but it's pleasing to see so many people pleasantly surprised by the Xfce version

I have been an Xfce fanatic, almost since first using Linux.

Later, I came to #!Crunchabang which made me fall in love with Openbox.

Since Staler fist appeared ... I downloaded and installed only 2 OS on my PC, deleted 'all others'
Now, I have ... both #!Statler x64 ...with Xfce and Openbox

I like the simplicity and ease of customization of Openbox.  I think #!Openbox is a little quicker to respond than #!Xfce.  But, not by much.
I also, love the Openbox 'right-click' Menu .... again, easy to configre and highly customizable.

I love what corenominal has done with Xfce ... fast and light-weight, as Xfce was meant to be.  With NO extra bloat.
Also, did a fine job on configuring the 'right-click' Xfce Menu.  It would be nice if the Xfce Menu was just as easy to configure as the Openbox Menu is.

I have had no problems what-so-ever with either #!distro.  I even changed both to have a mixed testing/unstable sources.list

My only problem now is . . . I don't know which one I like better?    Xfce or Openbox.    Of course, who says that I have to decide?

Last edited by vrkalak (2010-05-25 03:45:02)

I tried both versions and much prefer the XFCE one which is basically the same as the Openbox but automatically configures without having to add 'pipe-menus' and suchlike, which confuse a Linux newbie like me. Any newcomers to Linux will love the XFCE version but if they try the Openbox first it will put them off and they will go somewhere else.

Last edited by Nickynak (2010-06-06 22:46:42)

From another perspective (I started out with dos, Unix cli and window managers like the TWM family) Windows just seemed *weird* and confusing at first, as did Gnome and CDE/KDE . I didn't understand why it would take several clicks to do the same thing I could do by just quicky editing and saving a configuration file and some things I just couldn't seem to do at all. But I figured it out.

But then later I got into the habit of assuming that a window manager like Openbox might be much of a jump for Linux newcomers also, with them having been used to Windows and Mac gui interfaces- but I've since learned otherwise (especially from what I've seen on this forum), and it's really just which one works best for your needs and that you can get comfy with. There's a lot of support too for those switching over from a desktop environment to using a window manager and this is a good place to ask and learn since we're a pretty friendly bunch here. 

***

I tried xfce for a few days a little while back (and I liked the Statler implementation a whole bunch) but ended up back with Openbox for just that extra tiny bit of snappiness.

Last edited by chillicampari (2010-06-07 00:28:34)

I will never not use Openbox. I am just a stubborn person and to me fluxbox and openbox are as good as it gets. But I am very glad for the xfce Statler existing.

Previously I would install xfce Mint for friends and family, and now I can do it with xfce Statler instead (openbox confuses people for some reason).

Also, my mum is now a right-click menu convert. She came to visit recently and bought her work laptop which runs windows. Every time she wanted to do something she'd right-click and then complain about not having a menu.

i really like openbox better

I like the option to do both. But i'm starting to sway more and more towards openbox. the XFCE menu is pretty static, not much you can do to change it (easily). The openbox menu is whatever you make of it. If you use the 'gui menu editor' feature, its pretty simple to figure out how to add what you want. But i can organize it however I like, and leave out the options I don't need. For example, I've got a 'dev' menu which holds geany, inkscape, gimp, amaya, blender and glade. In an XFCE menu, these programs would be mostly in separate categories. But because I'm in openbox, i can set it up how i like. Also for those who use a dock, sometimes a menu entry is pointless if you have it on the dock as well, so with openbox you can get rid of it.

Yep thats true as well. Because of windows 7, im kinda used to having a dock-like panel at the bottom of my screen. I also find it faster to (currently) just swing my mouse to the left of my screen and click, rather then opening the menu, opening a sub menu, and clicking. Though at the same time, the shortcuts are much faster than even that... and i'm getting back into using them lol.

I kinda got used to the dock big-time... really only had firefox, songbird and msn on it... but just those 3 apps that I always used... it just felt normal to just click.
Thats why i installed adeskbar on statler this time around. I figured it could replace the windows version. And it kinda does. I'm actually about to experiment, try and get my dock sitting right beside tint2 and have tint2 only take up a percentage of the screen, not stretch across if I can.

But now that I've gotten back into crunchbang... I'm starting to use the shortcuts even more. At which point, neither a dock nor menu is really all that necessary.

Whats so special about having a dock and panel side by side?