Xfce Forum

MrEen

Member

Registered: 2019-04-19

Posts: 295

Questions about building Xfce from source

Trying to get my head around the idea before trying this.

Looking at the instructions here, exo requires perl-uri, but Ubuntu repos don't list that as available. I found libtypes-uri-perl which might be what is needed, but I'm not sure as there are other similar things listed such as libany-uri-escape-perl

The reason for plural in the title is I assume I'll run into more of these down the list.

Well, maybe one more of a different variety. I'll have 4.14 already installed when building 4.16. I don't know what to expect when done, especially if Mint used a different ${PREFIX} than what I choose. Will I have 2 desktops I can log into? Can I make sure 4.16 overwrites the installed 4.14, or will that happen automatically regardless of ${PREFIX}?

This will be done on a spare partition, so screwups aren't a worry. I've only ever built one small package before (conky-manager2) where the instructions were drop dead simple. The Xfce instructions are a little more mind bending when you're not used to this stuff.

Regarding the initial question, I just realized perl-uri will probably be supplied by one of the packages above it, but I'd still like confirmation on that.

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 11,000

Re: Questions about building Xfce from source

Trying to get my head around the idea before trying this.

Looking at the instructions here, exo requires perl-uri, but Ubuntu repos don't list that as available. I found libtypes-uri-perl which might be what is needed, but I'm not sure as there are other similar things listed such as libany-uri-escape-perl

Looks like its liburi-perl. Looking up the build dependencies of the normal ubuntu packages can help to identify what you need.

Well, maybe one more of a different variety. I'll have 4.14 already installed when building 4.16. I don't know what to expect when done

4.16 has some newer dependency versions - you'll need to make sure that they exist in the repositories or you'll have to build them as well

especially if Mint used a different ${PREFIX} than what I choose. Will I have 2 desktops I can log into? Can I make sure 4.16 overwrites the installed 4.14, or will that happen automatically regardless of ${PREFIX}?

The issue will be the libraries. Some will still have the same names but newer code and functions. I believe you'll need to specify different LIBDIRs and adjust your library search paths accordingly.

The other thing to keep in mind with debian-based distros is that they've split the locations of their 32 and 64 libraries so you'll need to specify that as well.

This will be done on a spare partition, so screwups aren't a worry. I've only ever built one small package before (conky-manager2) where the instructions were drop dead simple. The Xfce instructions are a little more mind bending when you're not used to this stuff.

Strongly recommend you try it first in a VM to at least get 4.16 built from source as a first step. I've tried before with trying to get two versions working simultaneously and wasn't successful.

Another good resource is the existing build logs on launchpad. It shows the commands and dependencies and build parameters. For example: https://launchpadlibrarian.net/47479056 … ING.txt.gz. (search for "Merged Build-Depends" and "| Build " and "./configure").

Good luck, its quite an undertaking.

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MrEen

Member

Registered: 2019-04-19

Posts: 295

Re: Questions about building Xfce from source

Good luck, its quite an undertaking.

Ack!

Thanks as always. For some reason I thought this was going to be a bit simpler.

I get it with checking the build dependencies of the normal packages beforehand. That'll straighten me out on some of this. Or scare me off completely!

And thanks for mentioning the libdirs as I hadn't thought about that at all. There's no mention of that on the building page, but I see in the ./configure search of the page you linked to how to do that.

I think I have my head mostly wrapped around this and just need to wait until I get myself switched over to the new system that's been waiting for me for a few months now.

I will try in a VM first as you suggest, but VM's tend to not run too well for me. And I've never opened a browser in one nor done anything intensive with them. Originally tried VirtualBox, then VMWare Player and found the same with both. Maybe if I up the RAM from 2 to 3-4 GB it might improve.