[nmglug] Re: Installing X and KDE with Debian (still woody)

[Tim Emerick]

Thanks for that VERY informative post.  I was just getting ready to write the
whole thing off.  :-D

Couple of questions:

1. What was I missing with the _apt-get install x-windows-system kde_?  Did I
also need to install the xserver-xfree86 package?  Is there something I could
do to have debconf reconfigure my entire xfree86 installation?

2. I liked wmaker but I had a hard time figuring out the simple things...like
after I minimized a process/program, how do I get it back?  wmaker is fine
for me but not for my kids.  They like the KDE interface.  Not sure how they
would like Gnome.  I haven't used it since Redhat.

3. I've been interested in using Sarge but I wasn't sure how to do that. 
Thanks for the tip.  I've been using sid/unstable.  Do I just change unstable
to testing in my /etc/apt/sources.list file and do an apt-get update &&
apt-get dist-upgrade??

Thanks again for the response.

--- micha <michael.wordehoff at gmx.de> wrote:
> A reply to Tim (sorry i lost the posting).
> 
> You need several packages to install X.
> Assuming you are still not too familiar with gnulinux, or debian, you
> should
> start with checking 'xserver-xfree86'
>   (+assumed you've got a common i386 based machine).
> Before that, make sure all checkboxes in the aptitude menu 'options' ->
> 'dependency handling' (or whatsoever) are checked (x).
> You may like to change some later again, but for this task, leave it all
> checked.
> 
> To start your XSession, you either (1) need a 'display manager' like XDM or
> KDM (the native KDE one),
> or (2) you type in 'startx &'  after a textconsole login.
> Considering you want to install incrementally step by step (which is a good
> exercise too) ,
>   recommend first to get X running from the text-login.
> You need to ensure there's a windowmaker installed, too. 'twm' should be
> default, but it's one of the most simple ones.
> KDE ships anative one within it's session, it will be autimatically
> included.
> My favourite is WindowMaker, i use it without any KDE or GNOME session (but
> still can launch all their applications).
> Enlightenment also is very nice, standalone. Those last three usually are
> kind
> of unfamiliar to most new users.
> Note that you need not to waste time to learn about them.  Just use one to
> see
> if X works well, and find out how to exit.
> If you can't,  press 'ctl'+'meta'+'F1' to go back to the text-console. On
> my
> german keyboard, meta is called 'alt'.
> But it should not be necessary, usually you get a 'root-contextmenu' by
> right
> clicking on the background, and there's a 'quit' or 'exit'.
> At any time you can press 'ctrl'+'meta'+'del' to shut down. Another
> possibility is to log in as root and type 'halt'.
> 
> Go on installing KDE only after X is running well. There's a metapackage
> 'kde'
> which installs most KDE stuff at once.
> Note that in woody, there'S still only KDE 2.2.2. In testing (sarge) it's
> 3.1.2. For woody, backports of KDE 3.x.
> Have a look at apt-get.org. I don't recommend backports, though.
> Consider switching to Sarge right now since it's near to release (become
> the
> new stable).
> If you like to be more up-to-date anyway, point your /etc/apt/sources.list
> to
> 'testing', not 'sarge'.
> You can do that by just replace any 'woody' with 'testing', and do an 'u'
> update from aptitude, then check all upgradable packages.
> This way, you still can manually modify (resize) the order. If you are
> prepared to download it alltogether, you might try 'apt-get upgrade',
> or enter the related menu entry in aptitude.
> 
> Watch out. gnu-linux is a fascinating adventure....
> 
> Have fun !
> 
> 



	
		
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