Fluxbox is an easy and fast X11 window manager based on BlackBox.

Initial setup

Start by booting Alpine (see these instructions on how to do that)

Enable Community Repository

We need the Community Repository available for access to the packages. Instructions are available on the Repositories page.

Install packages

Install fluxbox, xterm, and terminus font.

# apk add openbox xterm font-terminus

xterm is needed so you have a way to access the terminal in X. There are alternatives but this is the classic. Terminus is needed because without any fonts, you will not be able to see any text in OpenBox.

Configure xorg-server

On most systems, xorg should be able to autodetect all devices. However, you can still configure xorg-server manually by launching:

# setup-xorg-base

acpid

If you installed your Alpine Linux as a VirtualBox or VMWare guest, you might find it handy to be able execute an ACPI shutdown.

# rc-update add acpid

Set fluxbox as the default WM

$ echo 'exec startfluxbox' >> ~/.xinitrc

Start your X!

$ startx

Note: The default menu (right click on desktop) will have a lot of options that won't work because we didnt install anything else! Luckily XTerm will work if you added the package in the first step, and you can use that to add additional packages.

Edit fluxbox settings

You can now edit the flux settings for your user by editing the files located in

~/.fluxbox/

This directory is created after your first run of fluxbox. The Fluxbox configuration details can he studied on the Fluxbox Help Page.

The default configuration is minimal and most menu options won't work unless you customize and/or install additional packages. More information is available on the Fluxbox Help Page.