Revise openbox & labwc config directory paths?

johnraff · 2025-08-22 06:59:34

johnraff wrote:

PackRat wrote:
...the current version of xfce4 creates a ~/.config/xfce4/labwc folder for the labwc configuration and autostart files. It's nice, the files are separated from ~/.config/labwc so users can still log into labwc only.
Maybe we should do the same. Right now our openbox files are prefixed bl- but they're still in the same ~/.config/openbox directory along with the vanilla openbox files. We could put ours in ~/.config/bunsen/openbox and ~.config/bunsen/labwc

OK right now the directories are like this:
~/.config/bunsen/autostart
environment
(some lesser flag files)

~/.config/openbox/autostart (this file not used by BL)
bl-rc.xml (this file sets the menu.xml file path)
bl-menu.xml
( we don't ship them, but vanilla openbox files could go here too)

And this makes sense for openbox because it is launched with:

openbox --config-file ~/.config/openbox/bl-rc.xml --startup /usr/lib/bunsen/configs/bunsen-autostart

And bunsen-autostart calls ~/.config/bunsen/autostart

By the current scheme, the Wayland files would be:
~/.config/bunsen/autostart-wayland
environment-wayland
~/.config/labwc/autostart
environment
(other?)

----------------------
Under the suggested new scheme it would look like this:
~/.config/bunsen/autostart
environment
autostart-wayland
environment-wayland

~/.config/bunsen/openbox/autostart ( this file is not used by BL and stays in ~/.config/openbox )
rc.xml
menu.xml (in the BL X11 session we use jgmenu so this file is pretty much ignored)
~/.config/bunsen/labwc/autostart (this file should be empty)
environment
menu.xml

( bunsen-autostart calls ~/.config/bunsen/autostart or ~/.config/bunsen/autostart-wayland depending on the environment variable exported by /usr/bin/bunsenlabs-session. )

So the autostart files in ~/.config/bunsen don't move, but the openbox and labwc files that we use would go in directories under ~/.config/bunsen/

Openbox can be launched with --config-file ~/.config/bunsen/openbox/rc.xml --startup /usr/lib/bunsen/configs/bunsen-autostart no problem.
Labwc would similarly be launched with --config-dir ~/.config/bunsen/labwc --startup /usr/lib/bunsen/configs/bunsen-autostart
Labwc runs both the autostart file found in its config-dir and the file set with --startup, so just to avoid confusion and minimize changes let's keep labwc's autostart empty and use only ~/.config/bunsen/autostart-wayland.

Our autostart files do in principle let users set other window managers than openbox and other wayland compositors than labwc, but I don't know if anyone has actually used a BL setup with a different WM? Any reports?

Last edited by johnraff (2025-09-07 09:44:40)

johnraff · 2025-08-27 05:18:27

upgrading

Something we need to be aware of if we go ahead with this change - users who upgrade from Boron to Carbon will get the default openbox BunsenLabs rc.xml (just as they now get bl-rc.xml). Any personal modifications they might have made to rc.xml will disappear! Luckily, their original ~/.config/openbox/bl-rc.xml will still exist, so they can either just open that and ~/.config/bunsen/openbox/rc.xml side by side and copy across any changes they want to keep, or use a GUI diff app to compare them. (I like meld.)

Anyway, we'll have to put something about it in the release notes, and be ready to answer queries from users who didn't read them.

johnraff · 2025-08-30 01:36:41

XFCE developers discussing a similar arrangement:
https://gitlab.xfce.org/xfce/xfce4-sess … ote_104576

johnraff · 2025-09-08 07:02:22

Nobody protested, and bunsen-configs 13.3-1 has been uploaded, applying those changes (among others).

micko01 · 2025-09-08 10:50:57

I meant to affirm your choice but never got around to post! Good that you did this IMHO.

PackRat · 2025-09-08 12:06:16

micko01 wrote:

I meant to affirm your choice but never got around to post! Good that you did this IMHO.

+1

johnraff · 2025-09-09 03:02:47

@micko01 I was thinking I'd need to contact you if you didn't catch this, because it affects the location of the labwc config files in BL.

If the Wayland session is invoked, bunsenlabs-session now launches labwc with this:

usr_confdir="${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}"
bl_autostart='/usr/lib/bunsen/configs/bunsen-autostart' # checks exported envvar BUNSEN_SESSION_TYPE
exec /usr/bin/labwc --config-dir "$usr_confdir/bunsen/labwc" --startup "$bl_autostart"

So the labwc config files for BL can all go in $usr_confdir/bunsen/labwc, except for autostart which should be left empty so as not to complicate /usr/lib/bunsen/configs/bunsen-autostart, which just calls user file $usr_confdir/bunsen/autostart-wayland

micko01 · 2025-09-09 08:30:17

^Yes of course.

I've already been in contact with @malm linking to this thread and he is working on it in labwc-tweaks and other peripheral stuff this affects.

Of course I'll have my own tidy up to do, but that won't be too difficult.

johnraff · 2025-09-10 01:54:21

It's a small issue which we can easily work around by leaving $usr_confdir/bunsen/labwc/autostart empty, but it would make things simpler if labwc ignored autostart in its config dir in the case that some other file is explicitly called with the command line --startup option.

I haven't checked recently but I think at the moment labwc will run both files.

#1 2025-08-22 06:59:34

Revise openbox & labwc config directory paths?

#2 2025-08-27 05:18:27

Re: Revise openbox & labwc config directory paths?

#3 2025-08-30 01:36:41

Re: Revise openbox & labwc config directory paths?

#4 2025-09-08 07:02:22

Re: Revise openbox & labwc config directory paths?

#5 2025-09-08 10:50:57

Re: Revise openbox & labwc config directory paths?

#6 2025-09-08 12:06:16

Re: Revise openbox & labwc config directory paths?

#7 2025-09-09 03:02:47

Re: Revise openbox & labwc config directory paths?

#8 2025-09-09 08:30:17

Re: Revise openbox & labwc config directory paths?

#9 2025-09-10 01:54:21

Re: Revise openbox & labwc config directory paths?

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