Fluxbox
Hacker ApprovedRanked 10 of 30 window managers by recommenders
A lightweight window manager that people choose for low memory use, window tabs, and many themes, often over full desktop environments like KDE or GNOME.
A lightweight window manager that people choose for low memory use, window tabs, and many themes, often over full desktop environments like KDE or GNOME.
13 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 12
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 92%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 12 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 12 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 8 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Low memory and light on resources
“a light window manager such as Fluxbox/Openbox could make run machine run well”
Comment from 18 Feb 2026 in “Meta to retire messenger desktop app and messenger.com in April 2026” “Gnome / KDE on Wayland will use far more memory than FVWM / Fluxbox on X11”
Comment from 5 Apr 2026 in “Ubuntu now requires more RAM than Windows 11” “It was quite a bit lighter than gnome”
Comment from 10 Aug 2026 in “Windows 11's built-in Weather app wastes more than 1 GB of RAM” Long-term favourite on many machines
“Debian/Ubuntu/Arch with IceWM or Fluxbox (or the like) works great”
Comment from 15 Sep 2026 in “Microsoft patches Windows and Excel – breaks audio, remote access, and paste” “Always used flux/openbox whenever I could on my own workstations”
Comment from 7 Mar 2026 in “Plasma Bigscreen – 10-foot interface for KDE plasma” “me too! fluxbox and gkrellm for some kick ass desktop”
Comment from 25 Mar 2026 in “VitruvianOS – Desktop Linux Inspired by the BeOS” Window tabs and stacking
“Fluxbox has tabs and is a stacking window manager.”
Comment from 21 Mar 2026 in “Ghostling” “I still do, I can’t go without window tabs.”
Comment from 25 Mar 2026 in “VitruvianOS – Desktop Linux Inspired by the BeOS” Many themes available
“You have under Fluxbox, from modern Zukitre, Nordic... ones to the ones mimicking Mac OS from early 90's”
Comment from 14 Jan 2026 in “Windows 8 Desktop Environment for Linux” “I am not exaggerating when I say they could be over 1000 themes for Fluxbox/Blackbox.”
Comment from 13 Jan 2026 in “Windows 8 Desktop Environment for Linux”
Other window managers people recommend
The four most recommended other window managers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hyprland | 82 | 33 | 71% | 12 | 1 mo4 owners | Approved |
| Rectangle for macOS | 67 | 3 | 96% | 11 | 1 yr3 owners | Approved |
| Enlightenment window manager | 51 | 19 | 73% | 8 | — | Approved |
| FVWM | 28 | 4 | 88% | 8 | 25 yrs7 owners | Approved |
| FluxboxThis page | 12 | 1 | 92% | 8 | — | Approved |
What people said
14 of the 15 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I just want a user, text, configurable menu system, with no automatic anything.”
“Debian/Ubuntu/Arch with IceWM or Fluxbox (or the like) works great”
“It was quite a bit lighter than gnome”
“always unstable in whichever option, with the ability to take the whole X-Session down”
“I don't want to spend too much time configuring anything and these are faster than KDE at all times.”
“Gnome / KDE on Wayland will use far more memory than FVWM / Fluxbox on X11”
“I still do, I can’t go without window tabs.”
“me too! fluxbox and gkrellm for some kick ass desktop”
“Fluxbox has tabs and is a stacking window manager.”
“Always used flux/openbox whenever I could on my own workstations”
“a light window manager such as Fluxbox/Openbox could make run machine run well”
“You have under Fluxbox, from modern Zukitre, Nordic... ones to the ones mimicking Mac OS from early 90's”
“I am not exaggerating when I say they could be over 1000 themes for Fluxbox/Blackbox.”
“when it supplanted Fluxbox as the dominant *box”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.