Blackbox

In Unix computing, Blackbox is a free and open-source stacking window manager for the X Window System.[5][6]

This article is about the computer software. For other uses, see Blackbox (disambiguation).
Blackbox
Screenshot of Blackbox
Developer(s)Bradley T. Hughes[1] up to version 0.70.1_SL7,[2] onwards forked by Brian Bidulock
Stable release
0.77[3]  / 12 May 2021
Repository
Written inC++
PlatformUnix-like
TypeX window manager
LicenseMIT[4]
WebsiteBradley T. Hughes' repository
Repository of Brian Bidulock's fork

Blackbox has specific design goals, and some functionality is provided only through other applications. One example is the bbkeys hotkey application.

Blackbox is written in C++[4][7] and contains completely original code.[8] It was created by Bradley T. Hughes[9] and is available under the MIT License. Blackbox has compliance with the Extended Window Manager Hints specification.[10]

The original author seems to have ceased updating the repository with the exception of a minor fix of compilation problems in 2015,[11] leaving the last original version at 0.70.1. However an actively maintained fork by Brian Bidulock has been picked up by several Linux distributions in its place,[12][13][14] and it is featured in pkgsrc.[15] Despite that, some other Linux distributions still use the original source code,[16][17] as does FreeBSD.[18]

Features

Features of the Blackbox window manager include:

  • A stacking window manager
  • Written in C++
  • Freely available under the MIT license
  • Compliance with the Extended Window Manager Hints Specification
  • Title bars have minimize, maximize, and close buttons
  • Support for simple themes
  • Support for color changes
  • No support for desktop shortcuts
  • Compatibility with both KDE and GNOME[19]

There are a number of other window manager forks of Blackbox:[20]

Windows shell replacements

Although they do not share the same codebase, these projects are also inspired by Blackbox.[20][21]

  • BB4Win[22] (the first and most prominent clone/port of Blackbox on Windows)
  • bbLean
  • xoblite (has releases from 2021)
  • bbZero (a branch of bbLean)[23]

See also

References
  1. "ManPages/blackbox - Blackbox". September 9, 2015. Archived from the original on September 9, 2015. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  2. "Blackbox - Browse /Blackboxwm/Blackbox 0.70.1_SL7 at SourceForge.net".
  3. "Release 0.77". May 12, 2021. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  4. "Blackbox - Window manager written in C++". FSF.org.
  5. Wrightson, Katherine; Merlino, Joseph (2006). Mastering UNIX. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 107–108. ISBN 9780782153033. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  6. Davies, Justin; Whittaker, Roger; Hagen, William von (2005). SUSE Linux 9 Bible. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 186, 276–280. ISBN 9780764588761.
  7. "Hacking Guide - Blackbox". February 14, 2018. Archived from the original on February 14, 2018. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  8. "About Blackbox". Sourceforge.net. Archived from the original on December 6, 2006.
  9. "ManPages/blackbox - Blackbox". September 9, 2015. Archived from the original on September 9, 2015. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  10. "ICCCM & EWMH Compliance". GitHub. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
  11. "Compile with clang and libc++ · bradleythughes/Blackbox@107b761". GitHub.
  12. "The Slackware Linux Project: Packages".
  13. https://apps.fedoraproject.org/packages/blackbox/sources/spec/
  14. "Arch Linux - blackbox 0.77-1 (X86_64)".
  15. "PKGSRC.se | the NetBSD package collection".
  16. "Ubuntu – Error".
  17. "Debian -- Details of package blackbox in sid".
  18. "[ports] Index of /Head/X11-wm/Blackbox".
  19. "Window Managers for X: Blackbox". www.xwinman.org. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  20. "Related Projects - Blackbox". October 26, 2017. Archived from the original on October 26, 2017. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  21. "BlackBox for Windows". Sourceforge.net.
  22. "Customizing Your PC's Desktop - ExtremeTech". www.extremetech.com. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  23. "GitHub - xzero450/bbclean-xzero450". GitHub. February 6, 2016. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
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