I run OpenBox on Debian Squeeze. I have my reasons. If you're so inclined you can have the same setup I run on my laptop (HP Pavilion 6871). It's pretty good ;) One handy aspect of GNU/Linux is its supreme configurability and portablity. You can make what you want and take it with you, too. So I present my desktop just because people like to dick around with their setups. And why not, right?

OpenBox is a window manager and includes nothing. I have tweaked it to run as I like and that is what's contained herein. It doesn't hurt to set it up on a new user profile. Try it out there without installing the same programs I have installed. Or else you can mimic my install on your own new install. I set Debian up via net install and on this machine I only installed the standard system utilities plus the laptop selection. Later I added what I wanted with my saved install command.

Included is everything you need to get the same setup. A sources.list file, the command to install the desktop, a simple xorg.conf file, supporting ~/.config files, and supporting .bashrc, .conkyrc and .xinitrc files. Wurd.

You're on your own. It's not rocket science to mimic my install with the provided files, or even pick them apart, but you must know what to do with them. Therefore it's advised that you have a basic level of proficiency with GNU/Linux. It's really no sweat and the small readme provided will make it simple.

MD5 for setups.tar.bz2: 8dfdc09f0520f20ac3b12944279ba498
Download the archive setups.tar.bz2.
Extract it and have at it.

EDIT: If you like, I made an iso of the .deb files. Download it from my laptop here. Accept the generic cert.
MD5 hash for the iso: 600d267968609050beb7a2d4ed6e0c06

'Nother EDIT: I wanted to make a Ray Charles compilation so I installed rhythmbox-plugin-cdrecorder and brasero. Handy.

Check out a pic here.

EDIT 21jun2011: I just re-kajigg'd my ~/.bashrc file into a neater, more logical collection of crazy mad-handiness for your enjoyment. Do it. check it out, use it, enjoy.

Get it -----> ~/.bashrc

Handy way to make sure that the programs you install are optimized for your box.

In Debian we get the source, install the build deps, build the program and then install it. It's a snap. Make sure you have devscripts installed. Also, make sure to have the source repositories listed in your /etc/apt/sources.list file. Like this:

deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ squeeze main non-free contrib
deb-src http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ squeeze main non-free contrib
deb http://security.debian.org/ squeeze/updates main contrib non-free
deb-src http://security.debian.org/ squeeze/updates main contrib non-free

'Course, we do all this from our terminal-fu. Go ahead and fire it up. Very good, now...Make a container directory. For example, I just built a deb for Homebank. I made a directory in my Downloads/office directory called homebank and I cd'd to it. From there I grabbed the source: $ apt-get source homebank/squeeze. Now, since we must build from within the extracted source directory, cd into it. Do an ls first to see what you've got now. Go ahead into the source directory.

Become root, or use sudo if you are so privileged and you can install the build dependencies. Like this: # apt-get build-dep homebank. You'll install a whole slew of development packages needed to build your program. You can remove them later if you like. When this is done you can build the program.

You'll build the program like this: $ debuild -us -uc. It doesn't take too long, maybe 2 or 3 minutes. I had enough time to go grab a drink and when I returned it was all built. All you have to do after your package is built is to install it. You'll have built a deb file so you use dpkg to install it.

cd up a directory, become root or use sudo, and install your newly built package. # dpkg -i package.deb

And there ya go. On my laptop, in my Openbox3 setup, I immediately update Openbox:
$ openbox --reconfigure

After I do that there is a menu item for the newly installed package. Cool. Handy stuff, right? I like interacting this way with my box. And, as an added bonus, the packages you build will be really snappy. More so than the generic binaries you regularly install with - pick your package manager.

What would be your super power? It's a topic that frequently pops up at our dinner table and we love to go with it. In the past I would always want to have power over metal, like Magneto. How badass is that? But lately I'm of a different mind. Just a moment ago, in my mind, I was running away with a new story I had read. There was this congressional hearing on blah blah blah and I just rolled with it.

In my scenario I had to do a thing and not get punished for it. Sparing you the too-cool-for-you details I had to avenge a thing and while I didn't let the lack of a super power stop the initial fantasy sequence, successive ones required a bit more finesse.

During my testimony I saw a man I had to punish, and it was righteous so save it. With the power to erase I could have dissolved the bastard from my chair and erased 3 seconds of memory of everybody in the room. An awesome super power, no doubt. One that would scare me no end to possess but handy in those tricky spots.

I wonder...

Say you're poking around a cdrom backup you just popped into your computer. 3 deep in your documents directory you find a list of software you had on your box, say, 8 months ago. If you're anything like me the very first thing you think about when you see this file is to compare it to current. OK, so let's do that.

Remember when that gig was funny? To be fair, I haven't watched SNL or seen any of its popular characters since long before my kids were born. Not for any particular reason. I'm just, you know, not interested. But - funny is funny. Passion, depth, talent, charasma, timing...these can be used to devastating results. However, boredom, apathy, silliness, laziness, et al; these things can destroy the gig and/or any good intentions.

I caught a clip of Church Lady this morning and instantly I forgot what she (he) was talking about and, instead, was turned off to what I was watching. Mr. Carvey, the gig is tired. You're tired. What it was was unfunny. It was actually lame. In fact, I was a little perturbed with the gig for its lack of energy, passion, depth, cleverness and funny.

Of course I understand that not every performance of a thing is stellar. And that sometimes you and or your writers can have bad days and maybe there just isn't anything funny in the world to take from; or, ugly enough to be made funny. But this wasn't the case with what I saw. Sure, the dialog was crap, but the character was crap, too. Maybe it got funny, or you did, or you showed signs of life, I dunno. I had to stop watching it.

Anyway, that's all. I just wanted to comment on how much what I saw of a recent Church Lady skit sucked. Carvey looked tired, old...slower, uninterested. carry on.