[Linux] bronkish:
In Windows you get Explorer. Not so fast in Linux, where you can go a little crazy. The whole desktop paradigm is pointing and clicking a pretty interface instead of typing into the blackness.

Cool. I like pretty, too.

Because the Linux ecosystem is wide open a lot of people have different ideas about how you get the pretty all tied together to give you push button functionality and folders and whatnot. Not only do you have KDE, which is a desktop environment, giving you everything you need in a cohesive package, but you have Unity, and a bunch of others. Desktop environments are akin to Explorer, and they include the look, function, commands, utilities - all the configuration stuff, their own programs, everything you need for a pretty and functional desktop.

A window manager is different. You don't get all the cohesiveness, the utilities, apps, blah blah blah. You only get a manager for your windows, a bit of desktop function (autostart, but, you don't need to get autostart on linux from a desktop environment or window manager), logoff command, a bit of 'desktop' configuration. You get a menu. What you don't get is a status bar. RIght away that precludes use for a bunch of people. With a window manager you get more than enough, though. I mean, Xorg is already giving you the pretty...there are a few handy status bar apps that you can use with any window manager, so, it's not that big a deal. Tint2 is popular. I use lxpanel.

Openbox gives me what I need with so little overhead. Sure, it's not for everybody, I have to create/config some stuff to get the most out of it, and I did that years ago, just the one time, but, it's exceedingly easy and handy. OPenbox gives me a menu, keybindings, limited theming, autostart, and manages my windows. Debian, bash, and xorg give me everything else. In the ~/.config/openbox directory you get the 3 files: rc.xml, menu.xml, and autostart.xml - you open them and do your thing. Fast, rock solid, error free - for always.

if you want to try openbox you should know that it's pretty barren by default. In fact, when you log into your desktop for the first time using openbox, all you will see is nothing. If you right-click, though, there you go. Here is a bit of syntax and a couple entries in my 3 files:

rc.xml

<keybind key="W-m">

<action name="Execute">

<execute>claws-mail</execute>

</action>

</keybind>

menu.xml

<menu id="root-menu" label="Openbox 3">

<menu id="desktop-app-menu" label="LXDE Menu" execute="/usr/bin/openbox-menu lxde-applications.menu" icon="/usr/share/icons/Tango/scalable/apps/help-browser.svg"/> ......

the above line shows that you may incorporate a different 'system' menu. I use a couple lxde apps so it puts a menu on my system for me to use, as well. This is not necessary at all.

<!--local menu-->

<menu id="mine" label="Local" icon="/usr/share/icons/Tango/scalable/places/distributor-logo.svg">

<item label="ObConf">

<action name="Execute">

<execute>obconf</execute>

</action>

</item>

<item label="UG Chrome">

<action name="Execute">

<execute>~/Downloads/ungoogled-chromium_91.0.4472.77-1.1_linux/chrome-wrapper</execute>

</action>

</item>

<item label="Nextcloud Desktop">

<action name="Execute">

<execute>~/Downloads/Nextcloud-3.3.4-x86_64.AppImage</execute>

</action>

</item>

<item label="Vcode">

<action name="Execute">

<execute>/usr/share/code/code --unity-launch</execute>

</action>

</item>

<item label="MySQLDumps">

<action name="Execute">

<execute>sh ~/.config/scripts/sql-dumps2.sh</execute>

</action>

</item>

<!--<item label="email to Kirsi">

<action name="Execute">

<execute>exo-open mailto:kirsimontalvo2@yahoo.com</execute>

</action

</item>-->

<item label="websiteauditor">

<action name="Execute">

<execute>sh /opt/link-assistantcom/websiteauditor/bin/websiteauditor.sh</execute>

</action>

</item>

<item label="ScreamingFrog SEOSPider">

<action name="Execute">

<execute>/usr/bin/screamingfrogseospider</execute>

</action>

</item>

<item label="freemind">

<action name="Execute">

<execute>sh ~/Downloads/freemind-bin-max-1.1.0_Beta_2/freemind.sh</execute>

</action>

</item>

<item label="bleachbit">

<action name="Execute">

<execute>bleachbit</execute>

</action>

</item>

<item label="sublime">

<action name="Execute">

<execute>subl</execute>

</action>

</item>

<!-- <item label="Eclipse">

<action name="Execute">

<execute>~/eclipse/java-2019-03/eclipse/eclipse</execute>

</action>

</item> -->

<!--<item label="Android Studio">

<action name="Execute">

<execute>sh ~/Projects/tools/development/android-studio/bin/studio.sh</execute>

</action>

</item>-->

<item label="Bootstrap Studio">

<action name="Execute">

<execute>

/opt/bootstrapstudio/Bootstrap\ Studio

</execute>

</action>

</item>

<item label="zotero">

<action name="Execute">

<execute>sh ~/Downloads/Zotero_linux-x86_64/zotero</execute>

</action>

</item>

<item label="rasterizer">

<action name="Execute">

<execute>

java -jar ~/Downloads/rasterizergui/rasterizergui.jar

</execute>

</action>

</item>

<item label="KeePassXC">

<action name="Execute">

<execute>~/Downloads/KeePassXC-2.6.2-x86_64.AppImage

</execute>

</action>

</item>

</menu>

<!-- end local menu-->

autostart.xml

thunar --daemon &

lxpanel &

numlockx &

#------------------------------------------////

# Delayed Startup Handiness:

#------------------------------------------////

(sleep 1s && sh ~/.fehbg) &

(sleep 4s && compton -bcC) &

(sleep 9s && unclutter) &

There are a couple apps out there that give you a pretty GUI to manage openbox, obconf is a handy one that will be installed by default. I know there are a couple for the menu. It's just as easy to open the file directly. Remember, in Linux, everything is a file - even devices. That's cool.