-- README for Blackbox 0.61.x  - an X11 Window manager

This is the README for Blackbox 0.61.x release.

The source tree for Blackbox is comprised of five subdirectories:

	data/		- this holds the default data files that Blackbox
                          requires for proper operation

	doc/		- this holds the documentation files that explain
	                  the various aspects of Blackbox

	nls/		- this holds the message files used to generate
			  message catalogs for different languages

	src/		- this holds the actual C++ source code for the window
			  manager.

	util/		- this holds source code for small utility programs
			  that help Blackbox doing what it does best.


Quick Start:
------------
The quickest and easiest way to get Blackbox up and running is to run the
following commands:

# cd blackbox-0.61.x
# ./configure
# make
# su -c 'make install'

This will configure, compile and install Blackbox the quickest.  For those
who like to spend the extra 15 seconds reading ./configure --help, some
compile time options can be turned on and off before the build.

For general information on GNU's ./configure, see the file INSTALL.


Configuring Blackbox:
---------------------
The next thing most users want to do after installing Blackbox is to configure
the colors, fonts, menus, etc. to their liking.  This is covered by the files
data/README, data/README.menu and data/README.style.  These files give
detailed information on how to customize your new window manager.


Included utilities:
-------------------
Currently, the only included utilities are a program named bsetroot and a
script called bsetbg. bsetroot is a replacement for xsetroot, minus a few
options.  The difference between xsetroot and bsetroot is that bsetroot has
been coded for multiple screens (e.g. multi-headed displays), where as the
stock xsetroot is not. The bsetbg script acts as a wrapper for most of the
popular programs used to set background pixmaps, making it possible
for styles to provide a machine-independent rootCommand.


Third-party utilities:
----------------------
With the start of the 0.60.x series Blackbox no longer handles any
keyboard shortcuts; instead it supports a communication protocol which
allows other programs to handle these and related tasks. If you'd like
to be able to use keyboard shortcuts with Blackbox, bbkeys (available at
http://movingparts.windsofstorm.net/bbkeys.shtml) can provide you with
all the previous functionality and more.


Supported Platforms:
--------------------
ix86-Linux 2.0.x (libc5 and glibc2)
ix86-Linux 2.1.x (libc5 and glibc2)
ix86-Linux 2.2.x (libc5 and glibc2)
ix86-Linux 2.3.x (glibc2.1)
ix86-FreeBSD 4.0-current (development platform)
ix86-FreeBSD 3.3-{stable,release}
ix86-FreeBSD 3.2-{stable,release}
ix86-FreeBSD 3.1-{stable,release}
ix86-FreeBSD 2.2.x-stable
ix86-NetBSD 1.3.3
ix86-NetBSD 1.4.1
ix86-OpenBSD 2.6
ix86-BSDi 4.0
PPC-mkLinux (version?)
ix86-Solaris 2.6
Sparc-Solaris 2.6 (2.5 anyone?)
Sparc-Solaris 2.7
ix86-Solaris 7 (== 2.7?)
Alpha-Digital UNIX 4.0D
Alpha-Linux 2.2.x
rs6k-AIX 4.1.3
rs6k-AIX 4.3.2
MIPS-IRIX 6.5 (requires gcc, MIPSpro didn't like some of the template-fu)
ix86-OS/2 (version? recent successes?)
hp9000/715-HP/UX 10.20 (with egcs 1.1.1)

NOTE: OS/2 support was included sometime in the 0.40.x series, but I have lost
      touch with the person that contributed the patches.  The code is still in
      place, but I don't know if 0.51.x still runs on this platform.

UPDATE: A report has been confirmed that 0.51.x doesn't run on OS/2 with out
        some work.  This has to do with lack of a getitimer(3) function.
        Currently, getitimer(3) is used for auto raising, and is due for 
        replacement sometime soon.

UPDATE: Blackbox now makes use of its own internal timer, which doesn't use
        getitimer(3).  I don't know if this is all that it takes to make
        Blackbox work on OS/2, but I would like to hear success/fail reports.

Please email bhughes@tcac.net for other success reports.

