[shep]

This grew from a previous SimpleDesktop thread that built a lightweight Desktop Environment (DE) in OpenBSD. The older project relied on manually edited configuration scripts and menus. This iteration produces a fast, lightweight stacking desktop with a resting memory footprint around 320mb. When a user adds an application that has a freedesktop compliant *.desktop entry, it will automatically be added to the menu.

By default this builds a secure, light, responsive but fully functional desktop.

These instructions have been validated for version 7.5. The initial pkg_add installation remains a 2 step process; the first applications are core and cannot be altered without significant reconfiguration. Typically, ncurses apps in OpenBSD are started from the command line but the project has added freedesktop menu entries.

Although ncurses applications may seem regressive, the ones chosen are actively maintained and popular with system administrators. The code has been reviewed and updated for newer protocols. The second "recommended ncurses apps" result in a desktop with all the functionality of a Gnome or Xfce4 installation but significantly lighter and faster.

Users have the option to replace any of the recommended apps with packages listed here. For example; If you prefer claws-mail, replace alpine in the install list. If you remove an ncurses app, you will need to either delete or hide (NoDisplay=true) the ~/.local/share/applications desktop entry.

The project is always looking to improve and will look at any suggestions and scripts. To keep this thread semi-organized, please respond in the BareGUI Development thread.

Changes for 7.5
None so far.

Changes for 7.4
Corrected ~/Scripts/mc_start.sh for UTF-8. Tested in a new full install.
This should also generate BareGUI for OpenBSD 7.3 and Current.

Update: There is an OpenBox bug that results in a crash when an application running in full screen mode exits:
x11/openbox broken with 7.4 upgrade
A patch is in the works:
OpenBox patch
openbox-3.6.1p12 committed to current and backported to 7.4Release.

Changes for 7.3
All applications are updated for gtk3 and Python3

sysutils/tray-app was replaced with a yad script to control audio volume. The port maintainer is caught up in the Ukrainian conflict and was unable to update to gtk3. The x11/yad script is gtk3 based and interfaces with OpenBSD own sndio audio server. multimedia/mpv replaced the old gtk2 gnome-player. x11/jgmenu updated to 4.4.1. Jgmenu no longer relies on menu-cache which was also removed. Changed gtk theme for Arc and provided instructions to install an openbox Arc theme These instructions can be used to install any openbox theme at Box-look.

Sylpeed was removed, as it still relies on gtk2, and replaced with mail/alpine. mail/abook was added and pre-configured to work with alpine. mail/abook can import and export multiple addressbook formats including; vcard, ldif, csv, pine and palmcsv. Alpine itself is a currently maintained evolution of pine which was widely provided to college students. Once setup, archive a copy of the pinerc configuration file and you will be able to run on just about every platform (Mac, Windows, RHEL, Debian etc). Alpines configuration will depend on your email provider and helpful resources are in post #6 in this thread.

Abook and Alpine configuration files were moved from ~/.abook and ~/.pinerc to ~/.config/abook ~/.config/alpine/pinerc respectively. All configuration files are now in ~/.config which should make backup easier.

There are 2 versions of GIMP and the user will have the option to select either the older gtk2/python2 version or the still in testing gtk3/python3 version. I've been using the newer version although there are still some minor issues.

The basic layout is similar to Mac OS/X interface. A bottom, one-click launcher for commonly used applications. A full menu is accessed by right-clicking on a blank area of the desktop or hitting the "Menu" key.

The following "hot" key combinations are setup. C=ctrl, A=alt, Up=up arrow, Down=down arrow

1. C-A-b: starts Firefox-esr
2. C-A-e: starts alpine
3. C-A-t:: starts xterm
4. C-Up: Audio volume up 7%
5. C-Down: Audio volume down 7%
6. C-m: Audio mute toggle
7. Alt-tab To select any window in the Stack

Even though the ability to customize the DE has been simplified, users still need to be familiar with the OpenBSD FAQ, man pages, package management and text editing. A Base OpenBSD install provides vi, mg, ed and xedit.

This project essentially chooses web browsers, email clients and office suites using criteria described later. All chosen apps are tested prior to release. After adding the additional packages, the DE is functionally the same as the older SimpleDesktop project.

To get started, click the link to download. Extract the following tarball and the README should take you the rest of the way.

BareGUI75.tar.gz

If you are working from a new OpenBSD install, without a browser, this base ftp command should download:

ftp -o BareGUI75.tar.gz https://daemonforums.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=1195&d=1712334753

If you find this to be time saving and useful, consider supporting the OpenBSD project.

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