Install Fluxbox 1.3.0 On Ubuntu 10.10 “Maverick Meerkat”

Fluxbox is a popular and extremely fast window manager for Linux and Unix-like systems. It requires little memory in comparison to KDE or Gnome so is often used for old or low-powered machines.

To install Fluxbox open a Terminal window (Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal) and copy+paste the following lines:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:paultag/fluxbox
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install fluxbox

When installed logout and change session from Ubuntu Desktop Edition to Fluxbox. To do this click on your user name and on Change Session (bottom panel) and then select Fluxbox. When logged in you will not see a menu or a panel. To open your menu click with your right mouse button on your desktop and a menu will appear.

Fluxbox on Ubuntu 10.10 (video from: KARLINUX)

Useful Fluxbox sites:

Fluxbox Homepage – wikihow: configure Fluxbox

Here are some of the new features and bug fixes in this release:

New in 1.3.0:
* Added support for bidirectional text, #2801836.
* Allow to override ‘Focus New Windows’ via .fluxbox/apps
* New actions:
* ActivateTab
* ArrangeWindowsVertical
* New ‘MoveN’ and ‘ClickN’ action support for keys file
* New focus model ‘StrictMouseFocus’. This will affect focus when
closing, moving, lowering windows, changing desktops, etc, whereas the
‘MouseFocus’ model will only change focus when you move the mouse.
* New “background: unset” property for use in overlays.
* Allowing relative paths for background images in style files.
* Allowing matching screen number in ClientPattern.
* Removed rootcommand from init, as fbsetbg is run automatically nowadays.
* Removed line style resources from init file.

Bug fixes:
* Fixed issues with round corners on restart, #2110455.
* Fix for flickering of shaped windows, #2131548 and #2001027.
* Key file parsing error for MacroCmd with unterminated {…} pairs.
* Empty submenus lead to misfunction of the ‘HideMenus’ command
* Fixed so fluxbox-update_configs does not wipe out keys file
* Fixed placement bug of maximized windows when moved out of a xinerama
screen.
* Handle result of DisplayString() correctly, #3136775.
* Prevent SIGFPE when using nxserver, #2813828.