Fluxbox and a transparent xTerm (aterm)

If we are using Fluxbox because we need it to be lightweight it does not mean we can not have some eye candy on our Desktops.

So if you want a cool terminal, a transparent one starting with your log on, it is real possible, we will need aterm

Install it using your Distro package manager, I am using Debian so:

sudo aptitude install aterm

Aterm is real lightweight also, and looks great!

after installing it, we will need to go and edit the $HOME/.fluxbox/startup, and add just this line on it:

aterm -name aterm -sl 3000 -tr +sb -si -sk -sh 60 -fn -misc-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-*-120-*-*-c-*-iso8859-2 -g 130x50-0+0 -bl &

It should go just before the line

exec /usr/bin/fluxbox

These are the explanations for each used option

• -sl: Is the scroll buffer, because there are no scroll bars you can use the mouse wheel
• -tr: Enables transparency
• +sb: Turns off the scrollbar
• -sh: make the terminal a little bit faded. (darkened) so you can read better the contents, depending on your wallpaper you may or may not need this
• -fn: sets the font
• -g: sets the geometry and position, experiment with this value until you have the desired positio
• -bl: Turn off window border, so aterm could integrate in your Desktop

Now enjoy your eye candy Fluxbox, do not forget about conky