12. Installing X Window System

12.1 Installing X

• Unpack the X archive and install it by running:

make World
make install; make install.man

During the compilation process you will encounter a few errors about the "makedepend" script not being able to find the stddef.h stdarg.h and float.h header files. The script just isn't as smart as the compiler is apparently, since the compilation itself does work fine without compilation errors. Though, creating a few temporary symlinks won't solve the problem; they only will cause more problems.

So you just ignore the many makedepend errors you most likely will be getting. Also errors similar to "pointer targets in passing arg x of somefunction differ in signedness". You can rewrite those files if you feel like it. I won't do it.

12.2 Creating /etc/ld.so.conf

Create a new file /etc/ld.so.conf containing the following:

# Begin /etc/ld.so.conf
 
/lib
/usr/lib
/usr/X11R6/lib
 
# End /etc/ld.so.conf

• Update the dynamic loader cache by running ldconfig

12.3 Creating the /usr/include/X11 symlink

• In order for the pre-processor to find the X11/*.h files (which you encounter in #include statements in source code) create the following symlink: ln -s /usr/X11R6/include/X11 /usr/include/X11

12.4 Creating the /usr/X11 symlink

Often software copies files to /usr/X11 so it doesn't have to know which release of X you are using. This symlink hasn't been created by the X installation, so we have to create it by ourselves.

• Create the /usr/X11 symlink by running ln -s /usr/X11R6 /usr/X11

12.5 Adding /usr/X11/bin to the $PATH environment variable

There are a few ways to add the /usr/X11/bin path to the $PATH environment variable. One way of doing so is the following:

• Create a new file /root/.bashrc with it's contents as follows: export PATH=$PATH:/usr/X11/bin

You need to login again for this change to become effective. Or you can update the path by running export PATH=$PATH:/usr/X11/bin manually

12.6 Configuring X

• Configure the X server by running xf86config

If the XF86Config file created by xf86config doesn't suffice, then you better copy the already existing XF86Config from your normal Linux system to /etc. Cases wherein you need to make special changes to the file which aren't supported by the xf86config program force you to do this. You can always modify the created XF86Config file by hand. This can be very time consuming, especially if you don't quite remember what needs to be changed.

12.7 Testing X

Now that X is properly configured it's time for our first test run.

• Start the X server by running startx

The X server should start and display 3 xterm's on your screen. If this is true in your case, X is running fine.

12.8 Installing Window Maker

I choose to install Window Maker as the Window Manager. This is because I've used WindowMaker for quite a while now and I'm very satisfied with it. As usual, you don't have to do what I'm doing; install whatever you want. As you might know, you can install several Window Managers simultaneously and choose which one to start by specifying it in the $HOME/.xinitrc (or $HOME/.xsession in case you decide to use xdm) file.

12.9 Preparing the system for the Window Maker installation

Installing libPropList

• Unpack the libPropList archive and install it by running:

./configure
make; make install

Installing libXpm

• Unpack the libXpm archive and install it by running:

xmkmf; make Makefiles; make includes; make depend
cd lib; make; make install
cd ..; make; make install

This slightly different installation is necessary due to a bug in one of the Makefiles. It depends on files in the lib directory which aren't installed yet and it's not searching for them in the lib directory, so we have to install those files first before compiling the actual package.

Installing libpng

• Unpack the libpng archive and install it by running:

make -f scripts/makefile.lnx; make -f scripts/makefile.lnx install

Installing libtiff

• Unpack the libtiff archive and install it by running:

./configure
make; make instal

Installing libjpeg

• Unpack the libjpeg archive and install it by running:

./configure --enable-shared --enable-static
make libjpb.a; make install

Installing libungif

• Unpack the libungif archive and install it by running:

./configure
make; make install

Installing WindowMaker

• Unpack the WindowMaker archive and install it by running:

./configure
make; make install

12.10 Updating dynamic loader cache

• Update the dynamic loader cache by running: ldconfig

12.11 Configuring WindowMaker

Every user who wishes to use WindowMaker has to run the wmaker.inst script before he or she can use it. This script will copy the necessary files into the user's home directory and modify the $HOME/.xinitrc file (or create it if it's not there yet).

• Setup WindowMaker for yourself by running wmaker.inst

12.12 Testing WindowMaker

• Start the X server and see if the WindowMaker Window Manager starts properly by running startx