Introduction to the Bunsenlabs Boron Desktop

r.chaffee53 · 2024-07-30 13:24:07

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The BunsenLabs Boron Desktop

Default Boron background, Conky and Tint2 panel, clock and system tray.

Window Manager Sessions

BunsenLabs provides several options when logging in:
A BunsenLabs session, an Openbox session and a Default session (bunsenlabs-session)

These are set from the Settings icon at the top right of the login screen, and will persist for the next login.

Bunsenlabs Session
This is the default:

BUNSENLABS(1)               General Commands Manual              BUNSENLABS(1)

NAME
       bunsenlabs-session — Starts a BunsenLabs session.

DESCRIPTION
       bunsenlabs-session  runs  a  BunsenLabs  session,  calling  openbox and
       starting the necessary auxiliary applications.  There is no  full  ses‐
       sion  manager,  so you will not be able to save your state from one log
       in to the next.  Although openbox is the default BunsenLabs window man‐
       ager,  users  can  select others while continuing to use the BunsenLabs
       menu, keyboard shortcuts and autostarted applications (see below).

       bunsenlabs-session does not take any command line arguments.

       On log in, bunsenlabs-session will run  the  ~/.config/bunsen/autostart
       script   if  it  exists,  and  will  copy  in  the  default  file  from
       /usr/share/bunsen/skel/.config/bunsen/autostart  otherwise.   You   may
       place anything you want to run automatically in this file, for example:

              xset -b off
              clipit &

       Make sure that each command that does not return quickly is followed by
       a "&" or else the script will stop there and further commands will  not
       be  executed. You can use the /usr/share/bunsen/skel/.config/bunsen/au‐
       tostart file as an example for creating your own.

       Window Manager: users can choose another window manager  than  the  de‐
       fault openbox by editing the line:

              window_manager=openbox

       near  the  top  of  ~/.config/bunsen/autostart. In such cases they will
       probably want to adjust the autostarted applications, likely with a new
       "case" clause for the new window manager. (See autostart for examples.)

Other useful information can be found in the Comments in ~/.config/bunsen/autostart

The menu is run with jgmenu,
keybinds for commands are set by xbindkeys, and
Openbox keybinds are set with bl-rc.xml.

Openbox Session

This is provided as a legacy for those users who wish to recreate their old BL setup (specifically, so that users can have a separate Openbox setup). ~/.config/openbox/autostart is a template, and any autostart settings need to be added.

The Openbox menu is set with ~/.config/openbox/menu.xml, and keybinds with ~/.config/openbox/rc.xml.

if a particular user never logs in to bunsenlabs-session - even if it's installed - then they won't get the BL default user config files imported from /usr/share/bunsen/skel. This is so a completely bunsen-free user can co-exist with a standard BL setup.
Many settings changes require Openbox to be reconfigured:
Menu > User Settings > Openbox > Reconfigure, or in a terminal:
```
openbox --reconfigure
```

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Default BunsenLabs user configs

Package bunsen-configs, contains some default user configs, to give the user a functional and aesthetic desktop experience "out of the box".
The config-files are stored in /usr/share/bunsen/skel/* and are copied to user's home on first login.

When any files in /usr/share/bunsen/skel/ are changed (usually by an upgrade of bunsen-configs), the script bl-user-setup will popup a question if you want to import files into your home directory ~/. Even if you answer "yes" you will still be asked for confirmation before changing any files you have edited yourself. Files still in their default state will be silently overwritten.
If you have made significant changes to your config files, you can decline the popup's invitation and run 'bl-user-setup' in a terminal to make decisions for each file separately.
Or, you can allow all imports, open file ~/.cache/bunsen/bl-setup/log, to get the list of overwritten config files and use a diff program like meld to examine the differences and possibly copy back some settings.
Delete old backups to facilitate maintenance.

More info with command 'bl-user-setup --help'

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Main Menu

(The following section assumes the default bunsenlabs-session is running.)

BL Boron uses jgmenu as a replacement for the Openbox menu. It auto-updates, has a search facility, and is very configurable.

There are 3 ways to Activate the menu:

by right-clicking on an empty area of the desktop
using the "Super key"
using "Super key + spacebar"

The menu options are:

tQb2E1n

You are encouraged to explore the menu, especially the Help options - many questions can be resolved there. What isn't answered there, please search the Forums, and if it is still unanswered, ask your question in an appropriate area on the forum.

Editing the Menu:

For basic help with editing the jgmenu and openbox menus, see:
Menu > Help & Resources > Bunsen Help Files > How to edit menu

Menu > User Settings > jgmenu gives access to help and configuration options:

menu content is set with ~/.config/jgmenu/prepend.csv
menu settings are set with ~/.config/jgmenu/jgmenurc

Comprehensive help is provided by the commands 'man jgmenu' and 'man jgmenututorial', also accessible from the menu.

Guide to jgmenu:

Basic Introduction to jgmenu on BL Boron.

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Screen settings

BunsenLabs has a Screen layout editor:

The command "arandr"
or
Menu > User Settings > Display > ARandR Screen Layout Editor

ARandr is a visual front end for xrandr.
You can configure multiple monitors, set size, resolution and orientation.
If you want configured settings to load at start, you can save the settings as a script, to be loaded by autostart:

On menu "Layout", choose "Save As", save as screen.sh in the default folder: ~./screenlayout/.
Open file ~/.config/bunsen/autostart in your editor (or Menu > User Settings > BunsenLabs Session > Edit autostart).
After text "### SETTINGS START", add:

$HOME/.screenlayout/screen.sh

Tint2 Panel

Tint2 is a simple but highly configurable panel. BL default configuration includes a task list, a clock and a system tray (systray or notification area) with an audio mixer, a clipboard, power manager and network-manager.

Hovering the mouse over Tint2 icons gives a "tooltip", with some status information. Left and right mouseclick can give additional alternatives.

Alternative Tint2 configs are shipped with BunsenLabs, and you can add your own to ~/.config/tint2/.

Menu > User Settings > Tint2 > Tint2 Manager offers the choice of about twenty themes.

Edit a tint2 file with:
Menu > Preferences > Tint2 > Edit Tint2s to load choosen tint2 configuration files in geany texteditor.

Clock

Tooltip gives weekday and date. Right mouse click, for setting alarms. Left mouse click gives mini calendar for a month

Tint2 Systray

Mixer - Right click: Menu to settings, reload sound and launch the mixer. Left click: set the volume/mute and launch the mixer

Clipboard - Gives opportunity to reuse previous content from the clipboard.

Power Management - Right click: generell settings and "Presentation Mode" - temporarily disable power savings.

NetworkManager (nm-applet) - Right click: List of available and connected networks. Left click: temporarily disable network and notifications. Information about current connection and edit connections.

NOTE: Icons in the system tray are set by installed applications.

Menu > Help & Resources > Tint2 provides links to various sources of help.

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Conky

A huge subject, with almost infinite possibilities.
The BunsenLabs forum is probably the best Conky resource on the web, where the experts hang out:
Show us your Conky

You can add your own conky files to ~/.config/conky/, and multiple conkys can be run together and saved as a conky session, which is started at login.

Everything Conky can be found at: Menu > User Settings > Conky:
Conky Manager to choose a set of conkys to run when you startup.
Move a Conky to shift a running conky and see the effect immediately.
etc, etc.

Menu > Help & Resources > Conky provides links for configuration.

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Themes, Fonts and Icons

GTK themes, fonts and icons can be set with lxappearance:

Menu > User Settings > Appearance

Change theme

To change theme in BunsenLabs you must use two programs:
lxappearance: Menu -> User Settings -> Appearance
obconf: Menu -> User Settings -> Openbox -> obconf - GUI Config Tool
For the best-looking result you should usually set the same theme in both programs.

Obconf (ie Openbox) sets the window title bar, borders, decorations etc, while the GTK theme set by lxappearance deals with the theming of content inside the window. . See https://wiki.debian.org/Openbox, for info of the difference between a window manager and a desktop environment.

Changing the GTK font via lxappearance means it will also have to be adjusted in obconf, text editors etc, in order to have consistency. Changing the default fonts in ~/.config/fontconfig/fonts.conf is a way to keep everything in synch, by editing a single file:

Menu > User Settings > Font Configuration

There is a forum HowTo here: Setting monospace, serif & sans-serif default fonts

If the openbox theme has been changed, then don't forget to synchronize jgmenu by running:

Menu > jgmenu > Sync Theme w. Openbox.

Editing or Installing themes: It is suggested that before editing any installed themes in /usr/share/themes/ they are first copied to ~/.local/share/themes/. This is where downloaded themes should also be placed, unless there are multiple users. That way you won't need to edit the files as root, and your changes will not be overwritten by package upgrades.

The same can be done for fonts (~/.local/share/fonts) and icons (~/.local/share/icons).
The font cache needs to be refreshed if a new font is installed, either on the commandline, or by logging in again.

sudo fc-cache -fr

Link to Theme sites: http://openbox.org/download-themes.php

Off-topic Note: If you want to edit any BunsenLabs scripts in /user/bin/bl-*, first copy them to ~/bin where you can edit them without root powers, and as with themes, fonts and icons, they will not be overwritten by package upgrades.

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Desktop Background

Set with nitrogen, accessed with:

Menu > User Settings > Wallpaper

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BLOB Themes Manager

To use the BunsenLabs OpenBox theme management script:
Menu > User Settings > BLOB Themes Manager

Each saved collection of settings ("blob") is stored in ~/.config/blob/, and backups of important config files are also saved. A screenshot is stored with each blob, so you can remember what it looks like

When you have set up the looks of your desktop and windows how you like them, all the settings can be saved as a single collection for future restoration.

The following settings can be saved together, and restored individually or collectively:

Openbox theme
GTK and icon theme
Wallpaper
Conky session
Tint2 panel
dmenu
lightdm login screen
Certain X files
Terminal configuration
Compositor configuration
jgmenu theming

Several BLOBs are shipped with BunsenLabs, if you want to try out that retro look

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Installing Software

BunsenLabs has the gui Synaptic Package Manager:

Menu > System > Synaptic Package Manager, but using apt, apt-get or aptitude on the commandline is worth learning.

Package details - source, versions etc - can be found with:

Menu > Help & Resources > Debian > Package Search.

DontBreakDebian. You get to keep the pieces if you do!

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Run applications

The Run box is gmrun, started with "Alt-F2".
Commands can be entered here, and as in the terminal you can use tab for auto-complete.

Configuration:

Menu > User Settings > gmrun

The Alt Menu is dmenu, started with "Alt-F3".
The default dmenu opens along the top of the screen, and blocks other actions until you use "Enter" or "Esc".
Any executables in your $PATH will appear here. Start typing to show matching commands in the list, then highlight (Arrow keys) the command and use "Enter" to start it.

Configuration: Menu > User Settings > dmenu

Obviously, applications can also be started on the commandline, and this is a good way of looking for any error messages if you have problems.

gksudo is now deprecated by Debian, so to start gui applications with root privileges requires pkexec and policykit configuration, or some familiarity with the inner workings of permissions or root commands.

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Autostart applications

Applications can be autostarted when you login to your session by adding them to file ~/.config/bunsen/autostart, or
Menu > User Settings > BunsenLabs Session > Edit autostart

Add “&” after the command, so the application can be started in the background and the script continue to the end. Example:

thunar &
x-terminal-emulator &

Some programs, such as 'nm-applet' are run via XDG autostart, from .desktop files in /etc/xdg/autostart and ~/.config/autostart. Copy .desktop files to ~/.config/autostart to edit them (eg enable or inhibit launch).

The command

bl-xdg-autostart --list

will list all autostarted programs, where they are autostarted from, and why they are not executed if not.

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Touchpad Configuration

Extended touchpad functions can be enabled with a quick edit of bl-autostart.

Menu > User Settings > BunsenLabs Session > Edit autostart

For example, if you switch to the "alternative" config line in bl-autostart (comment our line #66 and uncomment #68), on your next login it enables two and three finger tap-to-click on (most?) touchpads.

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This introduction is an updated version of the excellent work by @damo - here.
We all stand on the shoulders of others.

Comments can be made here.

Last edited by r.chaffee53 (2024-10-10 15:14:41)

#1 2024-07-30 13:24:07