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Links:
http://www.xfce.org
http://www.gnome.org
Step 1
COMPILE
Grab the source for the window manager you wish to
compile. Compile it, and install it. Ensure that
wherever the binary lives, that it is in your PATH.
Also
you may if installing to /usr/local (the default) have
to add /usr/local/lib to your /etc/ld.so.conf depending
on the distribution you are running.
You can get the latest xfce source (3.4.0 at time of
this writing)in both tarball or rpm format
from
Step 1a adding xfce without compiling
Download the xfce-3.1.2-1.i386.rpm for your
distribution. rpmfind can be helpful in finding one.
Also SuSe ships with the latest version so if your
using
SuSe you already have it. Alternately generic rpm
packages can be found at from
http://www.xfce.org/download.html
Do
rpm -ivh Xfce.(version).i386.rpm
which should end with the no error messages. If you
do receive an error message it's probably a result of
failed dependencies and you will have upgrade
to
the required libraries.
CONGRATULATIONS ! You've got XFce setup on your computer !
Now execute
xfce_setup
to make XFce your default desktop environment, (even
if you're upgrading from a previous version, this is
also recommended), and restart your X session
to
enjoy XFce Desktop environment.
Note this has to be done by
each user who wishes to use XFce, in addition to adding
the exec xfce line to $HOME/.xinitrc it sets up the
necessary directory
structure in
$HOME
Step 2
Edit your /etc/X11/kdm/Xsession or depending on your
distribution you may have to edit /etc/X11/xdm/Xsession
file. You will see a section that looks like
the following.
if [ -n "$wm" ]; then
case $wm in
kde) [ -z "$KDEDIR" ]
&&
{
KDEDIR=/opt/kde; export KDEDIR
PATH=$KDEDIR/bin:$PATH
}
exec
/etc/X11/xinit/kdeinitrc;;
failsafe)
exec xterm -geometry
80x24-0-0;;
esac
This is the section we want to add the new Window
Manager to. Order does not
matter, but I usually add the new ones after kde) and
before failsafe) So lets do it:
For xfce I use:
xfce)
exec /etc/X11/xinit/xfceinitrc
;;
For gnome I use the following, note the environment
variable GNOMEDIR does not
have to be set but I use it for other things too, so I
set it here.:
gnome)
GNOMEDIR=/opt/gnome; export GNOMEDIR
PATH=$GNOMEDIR/bin:$PATH
exec /etc/X11/xinit/gnome
;;
Step 3
Now you have to make the init scripts for these
session that you have added Basically the easiest way
to do this is to edit the existing xinitrc file and
then do
a save as, but I will provide a full script
next:
Note the location of Xmodmap
and Xresources in the following file, these may be in a
different place on your system. I'm running XF4 so all
configuration
files are now in /etc/X11. If
your running an earlier version these may be in
/usr/X11R6/lib instead.Also these init scripts can go
almost anywhere, just make sure that the session
section in the above points to the proper path. My
preference is putting them in
/etc/X11/xinit
For xfce I use:
#!/bin/bash
# $XConsortium: xinitrc.cpp,v 1.4 91/08/22 11:41:34
rws Exp $
###xfceinitrc
userresources=$HOME/.Xresources
usermodmap=$HOME/.Xmodmap
sysresources=/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xinit/.Xresources
sysmodmap=/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xinit/.Xmodmap
# merge in defaults and keymaps
if [ -f $sysresources ]; then
xrdb -merge $sysresources
fi
if [ -f $sysmodmap ]; then
xmodmap $sysmodmap
fi
if [ -f $userresources ]; then
xrdb -merge $userresources
fi
if [ -f $usermodmap ]; then
xmodmap $usermodmap
fi
exec xfwm
For gnome I use:
#!/bin/bash
# $XConsortium: xinitrc.cpp,v 1.4 91/08/22 11:41:34
rws Exp $
#gnome
userresources=$HOME/.Xresources
usermodmap=$HOME/.Xmodmap
sysresources=/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xinit/.Xresources
sysmodmap=/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xinit/.Xmodmap
# merge in defaults and keymaps
if [ -f $sysresources ]; then
xrdb -merge $sysresources
fi
if [ -f $sysmodmap ]; then
xmodmap $sysmodmap
fi
if [ -f $userresources ]; then
xrdb -merge $userresources
fi
if [ -f $usermodmap ]; then
xmodmap $usermodmap
fi
PATH=/opt/gnome/bin:$PATH
export PATH
exec gnome-session;
Step 4
make the init script world readable and executable:
chmod 755 xfceinitrc
chmod 755 gnome
Step 5
Log into KDE as root, and open the Control-Centre->Applications->Login Manager
You will see a tab at the top labeled sessions. Add
the session you created in
the Xsession file to this. In the case of the example
above that would be:
xfce
gnome
choose apply. Now when you log out you will be able
to choose your window
manager from the pulldown menu.
Setting Up KDE1 and KDE2 Concurrently
Now the part everyone has been waiting for I'm sure, how to use the above and set up kde 1.1.2 and kde 2 to exist concurrently.
NOw that your somewhat familiar with how KDM
controls login sessions through the Xsessions file, you
will easily be able to set both versions of KDE
up
so that they not only exist concurrently but allow you
to run apps from one under the other and vice
versa.
First lets start with what we'll have to add to
/etc/X11/kdm/Xsession (or in some cases depending on
your X install /etc/X11/xdm/Xsession. Note on a
fresh
install of XFree 4 or any version of X from XFree.org
it will be the later file.
The session definition for KDE2 should look as follows
kde2) [ -z "$KDEDIR" ] && {
KDEDIR=/opt/kde2; export KDEDIR
PATH=$KDEDIR/bin:$PATH
}
exec /etc/X11/xinit/kde2initrc
;;
Now we have to set up the kde2initrc that is called
in the session, below you will find the kde2initrc I
use. You will also notice that it's very similar to
the
one for XFce and Gnome, except for the last five
lines. So as you can see this is definately not rocket
science.
#!/bin/sh
userresources=$HOME/.Xresources
if [ x"$XWINHOME" != x ]; then
XINIT_DIR=$XWINHOME/lib/X11/xinit
else
XINIT_DIR=/etc/X11/xinit
fi
sysresources=$XINIT_DIR/.Xresources
userdefaults=$HOME/.Xdefaults
# merge in defaults and keymaps
if [ -x /lib/cpp ]; then
XRDB=xrdb
else
XRDB="xrdb -nocpp"
fi
for res in ${sysresources}* $userresources
$userdefaults ; do
if [ -f $res ]; then
$XRDB -merge $res
fi
done
# check for space on /tmp and $HOME and for write
access
# error exit, if not
space_tmp=`df /tmp | xargs | cut -d" " -f11`
space_home=`df $HOME | xargs | cut -d" "
-f11`
if [ $space_tmp -lt 50 ]; then
echo Not enough free disk space on /tmp
exit 1
fi
if [ $space_home -lt 25 ]; then
echo Not enough free disk space on $HOME
exit 1
fi
testfile=KDE_$$.testfile
if ! echo TEST_TEXT >/tmp/$testfile 2>/dev/null
; then
echo "Have no write permissions for /tmp"
exit 1
fi
rm -f /tmp/$testfile
if ! echo TEST_TEXT >$HOME/$testfile 2>/dev/null
; then
echo "Have no write permissions for $HOME"
exit 1
fi
rm -f $HOME/$testfile
export PATH=/opt/kde2/bin:$PATH
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib/qt2
export KDEDIR=/opt/kde2
export KDEHOME=$HOME/.kde2
exec $KDEDIR/bin/startkde
Note my kde2 is installed to
/opt/kde2 and my qt2 to /usr/lib/qt2, edit these two
variables to point to the proper place in your
directory structure. Also not
that the kde2 home is $HOME/.kde2
this is so that when you start KDE2 it won't overwrite
and of your previous KDE settings. After your finished
the
kde2initrc file you'll have to
make it world readable and executable so chmod 755
it.
Now some of you are saying to yourself well I don't
use KDM, how do I set them up to run concurrently if I
start in runlevel 3 or whatever runlevel the
GUI
login is for your distribution. well that is even
easier cause then you only need to write two small
files, and add the last five lines from the above
kde2initrc
to the beginning of your /opt/kde2/bin/startkde file.
these two files will also allow you to run apps from
version under the other and vice versa. First lets
do
the KDE1 file.
#!/bin/sh
unset KDEDIR
unset QTDIR
export KDEDIR=/opt/kde
export QTDIR=/usr/lib
export PATH=$KDEDIR/bin:$PATH
export
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$KDEDIR/lib:$QTDIR/lib
Now to do the KDE2 file which is basically the same but initiates different environment variables.
#!/bin/sh
unset KDEDIR
unset QTDIR
export KDEDIR=/opt/kde2
export QTDIR=/usr/lib/qt2
export PATH=$KDEDIR/bin:$PATH
export
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$KDEDIR/lib:$QTDIR/lib
Now copy both these files to somewhere where everyone will have read permissions, I put mine in /opt/kde2/bin
Now if you've read this whole document your probably
wondering when it's going to be over and you'll be
done. Well you'll be happy to know that we're
on
the home stretch. All we have left to do is set up a
couple aliases, these can either go in the global
bashrc file so each user doesn't have to set
them
individually, or or you can require that each user
edit their $HOME/.bashrc file for themselves and add
it. My preference was to add it to the global
definitions, to make it a system wide alias. so add
the following where you think it belongs on your
system.
alias dokde1='source /opt/kde2/bin/kde1'
alias dokde2='source /opt/kde2/bin/kde2'
Now if your using KDM as a login manager you will have to add the kde2 choice to it. You do this in the same way you added gnome and xfce above.
Log into KDE as root, and open the Control-Centre->Applications->Login Manager
You will see a tab at the top labeled sessions. Add
the session you created in
the Xsession file to this. In the case of kde2 that
would be:
kde2
choose apply. Now when you log out you will be able
to choose your window
manager from the pulldown menu.
If your not running KDM and typically login in from
a text console edit your $HOME/.xinitrc and add the
line exec startkde if not already there. Now
when
you login all you have to do is execute the proper
alias, and then type startx. For example if you want to
do KDE2 then you would type dokde2 and then startx
To run apps from one version under the other you
will have to open a term window, or konsole or whatever
your favorite terminal application is, and
type
the relevant dokde command, then hit enter, and then
the executable you wish to run. Included here for your
convenience are all the necessary files. But
it's
probably best to set it up for yourself from the start
to hopefully avoid Murphy rearing his ugly
head.
-Jordan