Openbox

What Does Openbox Mean?

Openbox is a window manager, a type of graphical user interface (GUI) for the X Window System. This stacking window manager is free under a GNU General Public License. Part of the appeal of Openbox relative to other window managers is its speed, simplicity, and compliance with the Inter-Client Communication Conventions Manual (ICCCM) and Extended Window Manager Hints (EWMH).

Techopedia Explains Openbox

Unlike similar window managers such as Blackbox, an original product on which Openbox is based, Openbox does not rely on proprietary code but is written completely in the C programming language. Like Blackbox, Openbox includes useful hotkey features. A set of dynamic menus called pipe menus also add to the versatility of the Openbox GUI.

Openbox is considered a "lightweight" GUI, and its unique build can make its functionality on operating systems – including Linux – more agile. The speed and design of Openbox allow it to run on older or obsolete equipment with slower processors.

Related Reading

A Guide to Window Managers and Desktops for Unix and Linux

Margaret Rouse

Technology Specialist

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.

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