BunsenLabs Carbon: lightweight, customizable Debian desktop

BunsenLabs Carbon is a minimal, elegant Debian-based distribution and the successor to CrunchBang Linux. Built around the OpenBox desktop, it blends elements of Bodhi Linux and Ubuntu: a vertical panel with a desktop menu, a green theme, a Bodhi-style right-click menu and Conky on the desktop.

Customization is central to Carbon. Tools such as nwg-look let you change the appearance, but some tweaks require digging into other settings — for example, a theme chosen in nwg-look may not affect the panel, which needs adjustment in Xfce Panel Preferences, and the desktop menu may require manually syncing its theme with OpenBox.

That creates a learning curve for newcomers, though the default out-of-the-box setup is a simple point-and-click experience if you accept a vertical panel. If you prefer a more conventional layout, the Deskbar can be moved to a horizontal position or given a floating look similar to KDE Plasma.

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