How to change the default window manager on OpenBSD.

I am using OpenBSD, and I do not like the default Window Manager used by the operating system. I installed the Fluxbox Window Manager and I had to tell X11 to load it instead of the default. I did it like this.

Install the Xorg packages during installation, then you will be ready to install the Fluxbox packages. This works very well.

# pkg_add fluxbox

Create a file named .xsession in your home directory and put this in it.

exec /usr/local/bin/startfluxbox

Then logout and log back in with XDM and you should be greeted with a Fluxbox desktop instead of the ugly default desktop Window Manager.

This is the default .xinitrc code for loading the Fvwm desktop for OpenBSD.

# start some nice programs
xclock -geometry 50x50-1+1 &
xconsole -iconic &
xterm -geometry 80x24 &
fvwm || xterm
if [ "$SSH_AGENT_PID" ]; then
        ssh-add -D < /dev/null
        eval `ssh-agent -s -k`
fi

But Fluxbox is easier to use and looks very nice while being very sleek.

Use this command in the terminal to set a nice wallpaper.

xsetroot -background DarkSlateGrey -mod 16 32