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  <span style="font-size:12px;font-weight:500;color:#516271;">Independent comparison on Should I Use It</span>
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<a href="https://shouldiuse.io/vs/openbox/i3wm">Openbox vs i3 on Should I Use It</a>

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Openbox versus i3
Compare	Openbox	i3
Verdict	Depends	Depends
Best for	Minimalist Linux desktops	Linux power users
Who it's not for	Non-technical users wanting plug-and-play	Windows and macOS users
Privacy	No CVEs found for the window manager itself; Fedora advisories cover obconf, its config tool.^⁸	No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.
Support quality	Community forums only, no vendor	Community forums only, no vendor support
Public sentiment	Users praise Openbox's lightness and theming but note setup effort, community-only support, and a divisive reputation.^¹	Users love the tiling workflow and documentation but report frequent setup and configuration problems.
Biggest gotcha	Development appears discontinued per AlternativeTo; bug fixes may stall^⁴	Major updates have ignored previous config files, forcing rewrites.^⁷

Pick Openbox when

Minimalist Linux desktops
Old or low-spec machines
Raspberry Pi and Termux setups
Tinkerers who enjoy hand-editing config

When Openbox is not a fit

Non-technical users wanting plug-and-play
Anyone on Windows or macOS
Businesses evaluating SaaS tools
People who expect polished defaults

Pick i3 when

Linux power users
Keyboard-driven workflows
Developers who edit config files

When i3 is not a fit

Windows and macOS users
Anyone wanting point-and-click defaults
Beginners without command-line comfort
Teams needing vendor support or SLAs

Sources

Anyone here still running Openbox?reddit.com
review
Minimal Openbox desktop on Termuxreddit.com
review
Why is openbox kinda hated?reddit.com
review
Openbox Alternatives: Top 12 Window Managersalternativeto.net
review
7 Minimalist Linux Distributions Featuring Openboxitsfoss.com
news
openbox (aarch64) packagearchlinuxarm.org
official
Moving to Openbox . Arch Linux forumsbbs.archlinux.org
review
Fedora 45 obconf Update Addresses Critical CVElinuxsecurity.com
security
Fedora 45 lxappearance-obconf Resolves CVElinuxsecurity.com
security
Openbox 3.3.1 review and downloadnixbit.com
review
[Openbox] Actually love dark themereddit.com
review
i3: improved tiling X11 window manageri3wm.org
official
i3 User's Guidei3wm.org
official
i3 downloadsi3wm.org
official
i3 Reference Cardi3wm.org
official
i3 GitHub Discussionsgithub.com
official