antiX-forum

Hello. I decided to a break from the various projects I've been working and give fluxbox another go. This time, things are looking up. I installed fbpanel and customized it so it looks a bit like wbar. I just took out the system tray, clock, monitors, and app list. I also rearranged things a little bit to make it look nicer. I also decided to keep the desktop pager since I never could get fbpager working properly. And as a bonus, I was able to include a button for absvolume. Since fbpanel is very light, I'm not using much additional resources.

I'm also thinking about going with some sort of auto-generating script for the icewm and fb menus. I found some py scripts at box-look and I'm testing them out. Like fbpanel, the menu is generated from .desktop files. This gives an updated menu with newly installed apps any time. (And you won't have to hunt around the confusing debian menu or edit the fb menu by hand). Just run the py script and you've the latest entries. Of course if your app doesn't have a .desktop file, either create one by hand or use my script in the development subforum.

Anyway, here's my fluxbox with the generated menu and fbpanel. If you're interested, I'll post my fbpanel config file.


john

John:
That looks great! Is that the Debian theme for the menu? Please do post the fbpanel.config.

Thanks for the great effort.

Pedro

John,

That is awesome, yes I would also be interested int the fbpanel.config. I don't know how you manage to find the time for all the projects!!!!

But we really do appreciate your contributions.

cheers,
oldhoghead

I think it looks really nice too.
You've done a great job on all the desktop projects you work on, john.

Thanks, everyone.

I teach high school math. Since I work ~60 hours a week during the school year, vacations are about the only time I have to do some serious tinkering. But I do think I do a decent job of balancing work, family, and free time throughout the year.

For the menus, this is something I've been thinking about for some time. (You may remember when mint fluxbox announced auto menu updates some time ago - that's when I started thinking about this feature. And then vector light found a way to do it in icewm. So it's been in my head awhile.) So it's been a little here and there. Luckily, I found some nice scripts poking around at sourceforge and box-look.

For antix projects, it's really just a matter of editing the control center script. So it takes very little time. The only exception was the mouse config app, which was much more difficult. However, I reused those scripts to write an icewm config app. You get the idea. However, my skills are very limited so sometimes I look for better solutions than what I can come up with.

And for fbpanel, well I've been trying different panels and environments in fb and ice for years now. So it's just being a pack rat and waiting for the right inspiration to come around. Don't remember where this inspiration came from, but I have a headache and I'll use that as an excuse.

For everything else though, it's time management. In fact, I need to go upstairs and repair some water damage in the kitchen near the windows. I'll get as far as cleaning, caulking, and patching today. And tomorrow I'll tackle the painting (with enamel-based paint, which seems to perform better in kitchens and baths).

Here's the config. I think you have to install and run fbpanel in order for it to set itself up. Then you can replace the config file with mine. (~/.fbpanel/default). You can add fbpanel to your startup file using "fbpanel &" (no quotes). Finally, I added a button for the control center. But it's from the gnome icon set. So if you don't have it installed, edit the file and choose a different one.


john

Note: You'll need to install fbpanel. Then create the folder ~/.fbpanel. Finally, unzip the package "default.zip" to the .fbpanel folder.

If you're interested, here's a link to the menu generator. It's a simple python script that has instructions at the top of the script itself. As it says you may need to edit the resulting menu a bit (and I might even tweak the script when I get the chance), but just run the script at any time and you have an updated menu! (There's also one for icewm at the same sight - just browse the "tools" section.)

http://www.box-look.org/content/show.php/gnome2fluxmenu?content=84857

To unpack the file, open a terminal and enter

Code: Select all

bunzip2 name_of_file.bz2

john

Great stuff, John! I think it has been your research into what works in various other implementations that has allowed you to develop so much with so little spare time, and I also think it is your sense of responsibility and balance that have led to healthy implementations, not only of software, but hopefully with your family and with all of your endeavors! Thanks for including us in the discussions and explanations of your experiments! I think it is people like you and efforts like yours that have led to such a healthy and vibrant community here!

Good luck with the home repairs. Looking forward to seeing more of your stuff once the plumbing and repairs are in order! Enjoy the summer! ---Brian

@masinick - very perceptive. obi-wan has taught you well.

The cleaning, patching, and caulking are complete. Tomorrow I "sand" the joint compound, prime, and paint.

I really like the fbpanel + fluxbox thing. Much better than desktop icons. I think I'm going to take a second shot at an xfce + fluxbox distro and use the fbpanel config you see here.

Thanks.

john

Very nice! I'm not currently using Fluxbox that much but that is a very nice config!

Thanks. It's nice to have at least until I get used to the whole keyboard thing. I'll miss a feature or two of icewm (tiling, start button, mouse-driven), but I like the fact that fluxbox is so different. It helps you think more about getting work done than the desktop you're running.

john