An Openbox desktop on a Debian (Trixie) system that kicks all kinna ass. If you want the whole ISO build to run as a live installable disk to get this same goodness, goto the debolaD repo to grab the ISO release, or, clone that repo and build your own.
This installs a lightweight, fully functional and completely opinionated desktop following a net install of Debian. No doubt you will install more stuff, but, this is a good place to start. Best for a fresh install, but, script can be run any time and with subsequent users.
This setup is great for old(er) machines (say, an HP EliteBook 8440p) or low-spec models and is smokin' on newer hardware (a Lenovo p53s, maybe, which is getting a little old). It has been reliable and functional for (me, others) for a long time. It's out of the way, light, fast, boring, sane - no whiz-bang at all other than handy; no ricing, or, whatever. I am not even sure what that is. It's pretty, though, and X11. Also uses the fastcompmgr compositor.
So boring. It's just there all the time working and doing. All the time. It's like in a relationship where you never argue, at all, not even a little. That's weird, right? Debian, man, it's always right there saying, "Yes, of course!" to your chaos.
And Openbox. Sit DOWN, son. It's already your favorite, you just don't know it, yet. Clone the repo, ./restore.sh, use it a day. Try to be cool.
| Package | Purpose | Other keybinds |
|---|---|---|
| Thunar | File Manager Win+F | Win+Z - menu |
| lxpanel | panel | win+L - locks the desktop |
| Alacritty | terminal Win+T | win+S - screenshot menu |
| Bash | shell | Print - xfce4-screenshooter |
| Firefox | browsah Win+B | Win+I - yad icon browser |
| Claws-Mail | email Win+M | Win+K - KeepassXC |
| Gpicview | image viewer | Win+R - simplescreenrecorder |
| Gimp | art & stuff | Ctrl+Alt+P - random movie |
| MPV | media player | Control Pianobar |
| Audacious | music Win+A | win+alt+Up arrow - switch station |
| Pianobar | mo' music Win+P | win+alt+Home - like the tune |
| LibreOffice | office Win+W | win+alt+Left arrow - history |
| Sublime-Text | editor Win+E | win+alt+Down arrow - pause |
| Geany | all in session | win+alt+Right arrow - next tune |
| Rsync | backin' stuff up | win+alt+Delete - quit pianobar |
Install Debian from the net installer, choose advanced, expert install
- opt to give a password to the root user
- choose only standard system utilities at the software installation part, un-check the rest.
After the reboot log in as root to install sudo, aptitude, and git
apt-get install -y sudo aptitude git
Then run visudo and add user beneath the root user listing like this:
$USER ALL=(ALL:ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL
Following that, log out and log in as your regular user and clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/rabmach/debola
cd into debola:
chmod +x restore.sh
./restore.sh # Run full restoration
./restore.sh --help # Show help
./restore.sh --skip 01 # Skip a specific task (by number)
./restore.sh --only 04 # Run only a specific task
./restore.sh --list # List available tasks
./restore.sh --dry-run # Show what would be done without doing it
There you go; a new Debian and Openbox setup and it's the easiest 13 minutes you will spend today with the biggest return, by miles. Have fun.
| Heads Up 🫵 | Post Install 👇 |
|---|---|
| Defaults to an external monitor, prompted | edit ~/.config/pianobar/config to add your creds and check line 11 |
| install network-manager if you need wifi | edit ~/.config/weather_sh.rc add your_api and your_city_code |
| desktop with startx, or 👇 | edit ~/bin/weather.sh look at lines 5 and 6 |
| uncomment last line in restored ~/.profile | config the lxpanel weather widget |
| Prompted to include printing support | Win+wLO Writer, Win+insert captures screen |
later
