# Openbox

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/openbox/

13 people recommended Openbox in Hacker News comments, 2 had mixed feelings and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 12 months, in 14 threads. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Light, quick window manager with text-based config that people run for years because it stays out of the way and does what they need.

Summary written by Claude from 21 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 19 of those comments still count.

## Why people recommend it

- Used reliably for many years (3 comments in the sample): "I’ve run Openbox/Blackbox on Linux for ~15 years and never had these issues." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46578830)) "Always used flux/openbox whenever I could on my own workstations" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47288655)) "I'll stick to xorg and openbox for many years to come." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46486567))
- Light and quick on minimal desktops (3 comments in the sample): "a light window manager such as Fluxbox/Openbox could make run machine run well" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47058043)) "how quick and well put together Openbox and text based config files are" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46703879)) "a respected piece of software, commonly used on minimal Linux desktops" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46873448))
- Does everything needed without limits (2 comments in the sample): "It doesn't get in the way, and I don't need more." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48002202)) "Openbox isn't limiting me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46703778))
- Good looks and themes out of box (2 comments in the sample): "XFWM from XFCE, Fluxbox/OpenBox have nearly every titlebar theme in existence" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46598306)) "Openbox/labwc looks great out the box without this flailing about." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48260375))

## Other window managers people recommend

- [Rectangle for macOS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/rectangle/): 60 recommend, 7 mixed, 3 criticize
- [Hyprland](https://hackerapproved.com/p/hyprland/): 51 recommend, 24 mixed, 32 criticize
- [Enlightenment window manager](https://hackerapproved.com/p/enlightenment/): 35 recommend, 11 mixed, 11 criticize
- [AwesomeWM](https://hackerapproved.com/p/awesomewm/): 23 recommend, 2 mixed, 2 criticize

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Openbox", https://hackerapproved.com/p/openbox/ (13 recommend, 2 mixed, 1 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.