Installing Xwindows

Here's a nice break after all your hard work. Let's get Xwindows running. Actually, getting Xwindows running was simpler than I thought it would be.

The most difficult thing in this chapter will be the downloading of 3 packages. I say difficult because they're like 12 Megabytes each and it will take a while for you to download them.

Next, unpack the three X src files in the directory of your choice. They will explode into a directory called xc.

Go into this /xc directory and type make World

Next, leave the room and go get yourself a nice cup of coffee. As a matter of fact, pick up the newspaper and catch up on current events because it's going to be over an hour for all this to compile (I'm using a Celeron 500MHz with 96Mb RAM and it took 1hr and 20min).

This should compile without any errors and give you a nice message at the end that it's completed sucessfully. Next let's install it by typing the following:
make
make install

One nice thing, if you ever want to remove xwindows, everything resides in the /usr/X11R6 directory. Simply deleting that directory with the symlinks we are going to make next removes everything.

Next, create the following symlink (and watch your upper and lower cases):
ln -s /usr/X11R6 /usr/X11

Next, we need to create a path to /usr/X11/bin by typing the following:
vi /etc/profile

Add the following in there:
PATH="$PATH:/usr/X11/bin"
export PATH

Go ahead and save that. Now in order for this new path to take effect, logout and then log back in.

Next, create a file with vi called /etc/ld.so.conf

Type /usr/X11R6/lib in there. Save the file and do a ldconfig -v to update everything.

Next, type mkdir /var/log - this directory will be needed.
Now type xf86config (xf86cfg may work for a more graphical configuration) at the prompt to setup your keyboard, mouse and video.

If you are using a ps/2 mouse and you just can't seem to get it to work, try another ps/2 mouse. For some reason, some ps/2 mice need special drivers or parameters setup (I have no idea which) in order to use them. I had trouble with a compaq mouse that just would not work in linux.

After the setup exits, at the prompt type startx

If all went well your looking at a GUI right now with 3 windows open. I could type commands into the terminal as well. The only other thing to do now is a ctrl-alt-backspace to exit the GUI.

Lastly, let's install procps. The reason I included it in this chapter is because it requires Xwindows to install. This program is optional. It includes useful utilities such as top, ps and uptime which can tell you what processes are running, how long the computer has been up and a few other things.

Unpack the archive and type:
make
make install
ldconfig