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README for Openbox:

The source tree for Openbox is comprised of five subdirectories:

        data/           - this holds the default data files that Openbox
                          requires for proper operation.

        doc/            - this holds the documentation files that explain
                          the various aspects of Openbox.

        nls/            - this holds the message files used to generate
                          message catalogs for different languages.

        src/            - this holds the actual C++ source code for the window
                          manager.

        util/           - this holds source code for small utility programs
                          that help Openbox do what it does best.

Quick Start:

The quickest and easiest way to get Openbox up and running is to run the following commands:

% cd openbox-x.x.x
% ./configure
% make
% su -c 'make install'

This will configure, compile and install Openbox the quickest. For those who like to spend the extra 15 seconds reading ./configure --help, some compile time options can be turned on and off before the build.

For general information on GNU's ./configure, see the file INSTALL.

Configuring Openbox:

The next thing most users want to do after installing Openbox is to configure the colors, fonts, menus, etc. to their liking. This is covered by the files data/README, data/README.menu and data/README.style. These files give detailed information on how to customize your new window manager.

Included utilities:

Currently, the only included utilities are a program named bsetroot and a script called bsetbg. bsetroot is a replacement for xsetroot, minus a few options. The difference between xsetroot and bsetroot is that bsetroot has been coded for multiple screens (e.g. multi-headed displays), where as the stock xsetroot is not. The bsetbg script acts as a wrapper for most of the popular programs used to set background pixmaps, making it possible for styles to provide a machine-independent rootCommand.

Third-party utilities:

Openbox does not handle any keyboard shortcuts; instead it supports a communication protocol which allows other programs to handle these and related tasks. If you'd like to be able to use keyboard shortcuts with Openbox, bbkeys (available at http://bbkeys.sourceforge.net) can provide you with this functionality.
If you're looking for a GUI with which to configure your Openbox menu and/or styles, check out http://bbconf.sourceforge.net. bbconf is a QT program that does just that, as well as providing a GUI for editing your keybindings for the above mentioned bbkeys.

Supported Platforms:

ix86-Linux 2.0.x (libc5 and glibc2)
ix86-Linux 2.1.x (libc5 and glibc2)
ix86-Linux 2.2.x (libc5 and glibc2)
ix86-Linux 2.3.x (glibc2.1)
ix86-Linux 2.4.x (glibc2.2)
ix86-FreeBSD 4.0-current
ix86-FreeBSD 3.3-{stable,release}
ix86-FreeBSD 3.2-{stable,release}
ix86-FreeBSD 3.1-{stable,release}
ix86-FreeBSD 2.2.x-stable
ix86-NetBSD 1.3.3
ix86-NetBSD 1.4.1
ix86-OpenBSD 2.6
ix86-BSDi 4.0
PPC-mkLinux (version?)
ix86-Solaris 2.6
Sparc-Solaris 2.6 (2.5 anyone?)
Sparc-Solaris 2.7
ix86-Solaris 7 (== 2.7?)
Alpha-Digital UNIX 4.0D
Alpha-Linux 2.2.x
rs6k-AIX 4.1.3
rs6k-AIX 4.3.2
MIPS-IRIX 6.5 (requires gcc, MIPSpro didn't like some of the template-fu) ix86-OS/2 (version? recent successes?)
hp9000/715-HP/UX 10.20 (with egcs 1.1.1)

Please email ben@orodu.net for other success reports.