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My computer is very old so in my Ubuntu 14.04 LTS I am running 'openbox', which is minimalist (therefore it makes my computer to run smoother).

But I have some doubts/issues about openbox

1) How do I put desktop icons on openbox?

2) How do I set a wallpaper on openbox?

3) How do I set to autostart 'xfce4-panel' (which gives me a more friendly visual to my openbox)? I already have xfce4-panel installed on the computer.

4) When I try to install an app using Ubuntu Software Center it is said that I do not have privileges do install it (but there is only 1 account in Ubuntu, which obviously is the administrator one)

Could anybody help me with these?

Thank you all.

Jorge Bill
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  • PCManFM is a file manager that can controll the desktop for you. It will render any icons (.desktop files really) you put into ~/Desktop (or you can set other directory as root, in my case, the home folder), it will also allow you to set a background. Tint2 is indeed a great taskbar. – Samuel Feb 21 '17 at 09:03

1 Answers1

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Openbox is not necessarily better or faster then Xubuntu, kubuntu, or lubuntu.

Lubuntu uses openbox and adds a number of tools to do most of what you ask (lxappearance, lxpanel, etc).

Xubuntu and kubuntu do not use that much more in terms of resources and I find heavy apps such as firefox or libreoffice do not start or perform faster in openbox.

gnome (gnome-shell and unity) are the exception as they are more demanding of your video card.

See http://blog.bodhizazen.com/linux/desktop-environments-ram-use/

There is more then a window manager at play when you switch to openbox or fluxbox as most of the DE run services in the background that make things easier, so it is a trade off.

If you stay with openbox, you may wish to look at light weight alternates.

My suggestion for a panel is tint2.

enter image description here

Suggestions for additional apps include nitrogen (to set bg image). Other tools you might wish to use include lxappearacne (to set themes and icons) and obconf .

Light weight apps whenever possible - I find chromium is faster then firefox for example. You might try midori ;)

Panther
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