Gnome 2 on FreeBSD 4.6

[tarballed]

Evening everyone. Just have a quick question on Gnome 2.0 for FreeBSD 4.6.

Basically, I downloaded Gnome 1.4, installed it and set it up. I got it up and running no problem. I figured i'd like to try out Gnome 2.0. I followed the instructions on how to install gnome 2.0. Everything went fine and dandy.

My question is that when I try and startx, I get an error that says:

"cannot find "/usr/X11R6/bin/gnome-session"

Now, before I upgraded to 2.0, I had put the following into my .xinitrc file: /usr/X11R6/bin/gnome-session. When I would run startx, gnome would work out fine.

Now, since i've upgraded, i've noticed a few changes in some files.

My question: Is there a different setup for gnome2 to get it to start correctly? Should I see /usr/X11R6/bin/gnome-session (Currently, it is not there)

Any other recommendations?


Finally, lets say I need to completely start from scratch to install gnome. Would way would you recommend to deinstall all of the packages that were installed for gnome1.4?

Recommendations?

Thank you everyone.

Tarballed

[elmore]

Perhaps it has moved locations, did you look in

/usr/local/bin
/usr/local/sbin

what about a find -gnome-session I checked the docs for gnome 2.2 it's still there.

[tarballed]

what about a find -gnome-session I checked the docs for gnome 2.2 it's still there

I was wondering the same thing. I'm wondering if maybe the upgrade did not go very smoothly. I thought about maybe starting all over with the install of gnome2. That would mean I would need to deinstall everything, correct?

I'll look when I get home, but im thinking it did not install correctly.

I'll keep you posted.

Real quickly, if I did decide to start all over, what way would you recommend to remove all of the packages installed by gnome?

Tarballed

[elmore]

Best things to do is to reinstall the entire FBSD box without a window manager and install clean. Sure you could do it another way, but that'll be the cleanest way. Plus you'll get to learn more. I can't tell you how many times I've rebuilt boxes just because I screwed something up. In the beginning it seemed like I was rebuilding everyday. Hang in there, you'll get it. :D

[elmore]

Have you seen this set of instructions?

http://www.freebsd.org/gnome/docs/faq2.html#q1

I'm installing GNOME 2.0.2 right now, I'll let you know how it goes.

[frisco]

Best things to do is to reinstall the entire FBSD box without a window manager and install clean.

there's always backups!

but yeah, backups arent practical all the time and i've reinstalled so many times that now i wipe and install just for fun.
let's spend friday night reinstalling an OS !!

geez. sometime i forget whether or not im being serious.

anyways, though i dont use gnome (i'm stuck on fvwm2), had i encountered tarballed's error i would have either run 'locate gnome-session' or 'find /usr -name gnome-session' or looked for a sample xinitrc with the gnome2 package.

[elmore]

That's what I'm doing tonight. ;)

I think it's a pretty good way to spend an evening, of course I'm fairly reclusive, and in general, don't have much of a life outside say computers or guitar.

[tarballed]

Hey guys...looks like I may reinstall as I did a find for gnome-session and it was no where to be found...hehe

anyone going to be hanging around in IRC tonight? I'll be stopping by to see if anyone is there while I reinstall.


See you soon!!

Before I forget, any thoughts or recommendations for window managers? THought i'd start with gnome just to get familiar with everything, then move to something more advanced...

Tarballed

[frisco]

Before I forget, any thoughts or recommendations for window managers? THought i'd start with gnome just to get familiar with everything, then move to something more advanced...

which window manager to use is really a personal choice (kind of like "what operating system should i use" or "what file system partitions should i make"). try a few and see what fits best with you.

i use fvwm2 and pwm. i'm not sure why i use fvwm2, i think it's b/c i started using it a few years ago and once i got everything set up the way i like it kinda stuck. i use pwm b/c it looks clean (that is SO subjective) and i love its tabbed windows (like tabs in mozilla, but for any window).

but i think i use window managers differently than most. i find no use in icons (why bother? virtual desktops and tabbed windows eliminate the need to iconify) and no use for menu bars (command line and click-to-get menus so i only see it when i need it). i like a window manager that enables me to use all of my desktop real estate the way i want to, nothing there that isn't giving me feedback or constant utility, and nothing there that i didnt put there. oh, and low overhead counts too.

there are a bunch of different window managers out there, so a bunch for you to try. just make sure you have some criteria in mind when you evaluate. can you really work better in one than another? does one suit your mind, your style better? is it configurable the way you want it to be configurable? is it stable??

good luck,

[elmore]

I like fluxbox a lot. Nice clean and simple. I'd agree with friscos philosophy.

[elmore]

I got gnome 2 up and running last night with no problems. Your best bet tarballed is to run /stand/sysinstall and then select gnome 2 from the precompiled packages. you could also build 2.0.4 out of an updated ports tree. You'll need some time to compile. Check out this port, since I know you wanna learn CVS.

/usr/ports/net/cvsupit

Just make and then make install track the current source if you want, but I find this most useful to track the ports collection. Once you've updated then just cd to /usr/ports/x11/gnome2 and make all install clean. Drop the command:

[code:1:c04edaf192]
/usr/local/bin/cvsup -g -L 2 /etc/cvsupfile
[/code:1:c04edaf192]

into root's crontab and set it to run a couple of times a week, and you'll always have the most updated source from which to compile.

This'll get the latest version of gnome on your computer. 2.0.4, it looks nice but a little bloated for me nowadays. I used to run gnome and kde exclusively. At your skill level these might be the best Window Managers for you to learn on. Just a thought. Good Luck d00d.

[Pete]

With respect to Window managers (which one)? Its all a matter of preference. Here is a good link and review of about 20-30 window managers.

http://www.plig.org/xwinman/

Enjoy,
Pete

[elmore]

nice link Pete, thanks for sharing, I've been using fluxbox for a while now but I might check out a couple here on this page.

[soup4you2]

i didnt see waimea on that list.. i really am starting to get bored w/ my current WM though.. i think it's time to try something new and diffrent..

[elmore]

waimea is on there in the others section