[LXDE] LUbuntu desktop composition enable key shortcuts

The openbox window manager bundled with LUbuntu is powerful enough to provide the same functionality as similar applications, but it's unfortunately delivered with a barebone configuration.

One functionality I'm missing it's the ability to drag, resize and snap windows to desktop sides. Luckily I found code pieces to enable such functionality, albeit not via mouse controls but key combinations; to add it, simply edit ~/.config/openbox/lubuntu-rc.xml and add under the line

 <chainQuitKey>C-g</chainQuitKey>  

this code:

 <keybind key="W-Left">    # HalfLeftScreen  
  <action name="UnmaximizeFull"/>  
  <action name="MoveResizeTo">  
   <x>0</x>  
   <y>0</y>  
   <height>100%</height>  
   <width>50%</width>  
  </action>  
 </keybind>  
 <keybind key="W-Right">    # HalfRightScreen  
  <action name="UnmaximizeFull"/>  
  <action name="MoveResizeTo">  
   <x>-0</x>  
   <y>0</y>  
   <height>100%</height>  
   <width>50%</width>  
  </action>  
 </keybind>  

Then just do an openbox --restart

You can now use the Windows key (Super) and the right or left arrow to snap the currently active window to the right or left side of the screen, at 50% width

Note: apparently openbox is reserving some space for the toolbar on the bottom of the screen, so even declaring 100% height will NOT fill all available space after resizing.

[LXDE] LUbuntu change clock format

Again, out of all the nice to have stuff people left out of LXDE, an easy way to edit the clock date and time format is missing.

Luckily, the tinkering required is minimal. Right click on the clock and select "Digital Clock" Settings, then enter the desired format in the Clock Format section.

For example:

%a %d %b %R

would result in:

[3 letters day name] [day number] [3 letters month name] [hours:minutes in 24 hours format]

eg:

Sat 09 Apr 16:17

[LXDE] LUbuntu change keyboard shortcuts

LXDE is extremely lightweight, maybe a bit too much, in the sense that they left out some user-friendly portions such as an easy graphical way to edit keyboard shortcuts.

You can still do it with a bit of tinkering, by editing the ~//.config/openbox/lxde-rc.xml file.

Remember that this syntax applies:

C = CTRL key
S = SHIFT key
A = ALT key
W = Windows key

[LXDE] LUbuntu auto num lock on boot

If you experience issues with the keyboard num lock not being automatically activated at boot or after lock screen wakeup in LXDE, try this:

- install numlockx:

sudo apt-get install numlockx

- edit /etc/xdg/lubuntu/lxdm/lxdm.conf and find numlock line then remove the comment and enable it:

numlock=1

- edit /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf and add this line:

greeter-setup-script=/usr/bin/numlockx on

[LXDE] Lock screen in LUbuntu via shortcut

LUbuntu users may encounter a bug that prevents them from locking the screen either from command line or keyboard shortcut.

In my case, solving it was quite easy:

First install lxlock and light-locker, you might already have them:

sudo apt-get install lxlock light-locker

Then edit ~//.config/openbox/lubuntu-rc.xml and modify or add the lockscreen section:

  <!-- Lock the screen on W + L-->  
  <keybind key="W-L">  
   <action name="Execute">  
    <command>lxlock</command>  
   </action>  
 </keybind>  

Finally restart openbox:

openbox --restart