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The X Window System

Updated for X.Org's X11 server by Ken Tom and Marc Fonvieille. Updated for DragonFly by Victor Balada Diaz.

  1. index
  2. The X Window System
    1. Synopsis
    2. Understanding X
      1. The Window Manager
    3. Installing X
    4. Configuring X
      1. Before Starting
      2. Configuring X11
      3. Advanced Configuration Topics
    5. Using Fonts in X11
      1. Type1 Fonts
      2. TrueType® Fonts
      3. Anti-Aliased Fonts
    6. The X Display Manager
      1. Overview
      2. Using XDM
      3. Configuring XDM
      4. Running a Network Display Server
      5. Replacements for XDM
    7. Desktop Environments
      1. GNOME
      2. KDE
      3. XFce

Synopsis

DragonFly uses X11 to provide users with a powerful graphical user interface. X11 is an open-source implementation of the X Window System that includes both X.org and XFree86™ . DragonFly default official flavor is X.org , the X11 server developed by the X.Org Foundation. This chapter will cover the installation and configuration of X11 with emphasis on X.org . For more information on the video hardware that X11 supports, check either the X.org or XFree86 web sites.

After reading this chapter, you will know:

Before reading this chapter, you should:

Note: This chapter covers the installation and the configuration of both X.org and XFree86 X11 servers. For the most part, configuration files, commands and syntaxes are identical. In the case where there are differences, both X.org and XFree86 syntaxes will be shown.

Understanding X

The Window Manager

The X design philosophy is much like the UNIX design philosophy, tools, not policy. This means that X does not try to dictate how a task is to be accomplished. Instead, tools are provided to the user, and it is the user's responsibility to decide how to use those tools. This philosophy extends to X not dictating what windows should look like on screen, how to move them around with the mouse, what keystrokes should be used to move between windows (i.e., Alt + Tab , in the case of Microsoft Windows), what the title bars on each window should look like, whether or not they have close buttons on them, and so on.

Instead, X delegates this responsibility to an application called a Window Manager. There are dozens of window managers available for X: 'AfterStep*', Blackbox , ctwm , Enlightenment , fvwm , Sawfish , twm , Window Maker , and more. Each of these window managers provides a different look and feel; some of them support virtual desktops; some of them allow customized keystrokes to manage the desktop; some have a Start button or similar device; some are themeable, allowing a complete change of look-and-feel by applying a new theme. These window managers, and many more, are available in the x11-wm category of the Ports Collection.

In addition, the KDE and GNOME desktop environments both have their own window managers which integrate with the desktop. Each window manager also has a different configuration mechanism; some expect configuration file written by hand, others feature GUI tools for most of the configuration tasks; at least one ( Sawfish ) has a configuration file written in a dialect of the Lisp language.

Installing X

X.org or XFree86™ may be installed on DragonFly. DragonFly doesn't force a default implementation, but recommends X.org . X.org is the X server of the open source X Window System implementation released by the X.Org Foundation and is based on the code of XFree86 4.4RC2 and !X11R6.6. X.org is currently available in the DragonFly pkgsrc framework.

To build and install X.org from the pkgsrc framework: # echo "X11_TYPE=modular" >> /etc/mk.conf

Now 5 different packages need to be built and installed:

# cd /usr/pkgsrc/x11/modular-xorg-server
# bmake install clean
# cd /usr/pkgsrc/meta-pkgs/modular-xorg-drivers
# bmake install clean
# cd /usr/pkgsrc/meta-pkgs/modular-xorg-fonts
# bmake install clean
# cd /usr/pkgsrc/meta-pkgs/modular-xorg-libs
# bmake install clean
# cd /usr/pkgsrc/meta-pkgs/modular-xorg-apps
# bmake install clean

Alternatively, X11 can be installed directly from packages. Binary packages to use with pkg_radd(1) tool are also available for X11.So to fetch and install the package of X.org, type:

# pkg_radd modular-xorg-server
# pkg_radd modular-xorg-drivers
# pkg_radd modular-xorg-libs
# pkg_radd modular-xorg-apps
# pkg_radd modular-xorg-fonts

Note: The examples above will install the complete X11 distribution including the server, drivers, fonts etc. Separate packages and ports of X11 are also available.

Configuring X

      ***Contributed by Christopher Shumway. ***

Before Starting

Before configuration of X11 the following information about the target system is needed:

The specifications for the monitor are used by X11 to determine the resolution and refresh rate to run at. These specifications can usually be obtained from the documentation that came with the monitor or from the manufacturer's website. There are two ranges of numbers that are needed, the horizontal scan rate and the vertical synchronization rate.

The video adapter's chipset defines what driver module X11 uses to talk to the graphics hardware. With most chipsets, this can be automatically determined, but it is still useful to know in case the automatic detection does not work correctly.

Video memory on the graphic adapter determines the resolution and color depth which the system can run at. This is important to know so the user knows the limitations of the system.

Configuring X11

As of version 7.3, Xorg can often work without any configuration file by simply typing at prompt:

% startx

If this does not work, or if the default configuration is not acceptable, then X11 must be configured manually. Configuration of X11 is a multi-step process. The first step is to build an initial configuration file. As the super user, simply run:

# Xorg -configure

This will generate an X11 configuration skeleton file in the /root directory called xorg.conf.new (whether you su(1) or do a direct login affects the inherited supervisor $HOME directory variable). The X11 program will attempt to probe the graphics hardware on the system and write a configuration file to load the proper drivers for the detected hardware on the target system.

The next step is to test the existing configuration to verify that X.org can work with the graphics hardware on the target system. To perform this task, type:

# Xorg -config xorg.conf.new

If a black and grey grid and an X mouse cursor appear, the configuration was successful. To exit the test, just press Ctrl + Alt + Backspace simultaneously.

Note: If the mouse does not work, you will need to first configure it before proceeding. This can usually be achieved by just using /dev/sysmouse as the input device in the config file and enabling moused:

# rcenable moused

Next, tune the xorg.conf.new configuration file to taste. Open the file in a text editor such as vi(1) or ee(1). First, add the frequencies for the target system's monitor. These are usually expressed as a horizontal and vertical synchronization rate. These values are added to the xorg.conf.new file under the "Monitor" section:

Section "Monitor"
        Identifier   "Monitor0"
        VendorName   "Monitor Vendor"
        ModelName    "Monitor Model"
        HorizSync    30-107
        VertRefresh  48-120
EndSection

The HorizSync and VertRefresh keywords may be missing in the configuration file. If they are, they need to be added, with the correct horizontal synchronization rate placed after the HorizSync keyword and the vertical synchronization rate after the VertRefresh keyword. In the example above the target monitor's rates were entered.

X allows DPMS (Energy Star) features to be used with capable monitors. The xset(1) program controls the time-outs and can force standby, suspend, or off modes. If you wish to enable DPMS features for your monitor, you must add the following line to the monitor section:

        Option       "DPMS"

While the xorg.conf.new configuration file is still open in an editor, select the default resolution and color depth desired. This is defined in the "Screen" section:

Section "Screen"
        Identifier "Screen0"
        Device     "Card0"
        Monitor    "Monitor0"
        DefaultDepth 24
        SubSection "Display"
                Viewport  0 0
                Depth     24
                Modes     "1024x768"
        EndSubSection
EndSection

The DefaultDepth keyword describes the color depth to run at by default. This can be overridden with the -depth command line switch to Xorg(1). The Modes keyword describes the resolution to run at for the given color depth. Note that only VESA standard modes are supported as defined by the target system's graphics hardware. In the example above, the default color depth is twenty-four bits per pixel. At this color depth, the accepted resolution is 1024 by 768 pixels.

Finally, write the configuration file and test it using the test mode given above.

Note: One of the tools available to assist you during troubleshooting process are the X11 log files, which contain information on each device that the X11 server attaches to. X.org log file names are in the format of /var/log/Xorg.0.log. The exact name of the log can vary from Xorg.0.log to Xorg.8.log and so forth.

If all is well, the configuration file needs to be installed in a common location where Xorg(1) can find it. This is typically /etc/X11/xorg.conf or /usr/pkg/xorg/lib/X11/xorg.conf.

# cp xorg.conf.new /etc/X11/xorg.conf

The X11 configuration process is now complete. You can start X.org with startx(1). The X11 server may also be started with the use of xdm(1).

Note: There is also a graphical configuration tool, xorgcfg(1), that comes with the X11 distribution. It allows you to interactively define your configuration by choosing the appropriate drivers and settings. This program can be invoked from the console, by typing the command xorgcfg -textmode. For more details, refer to the xorgcfg(1) manual page.

Alternatively, there is also a tool called xorgconfig(1), this program is a console utility that is less user friendly, but it may work in situations where the other tools do not.

Advanced Configuration Topics

Configuration with Intel® i810 Graphics Chipsets

Configuration with Intel® i810 integrated chipsets requires the agpgart AGP programming interface for X11 to drive the card. See the agp(4) driver manual page for more information.

This will allow configuration of the hardware as any other graphics board. Note on systems without the agp(4) driver compiled in the kernel, trying to load the module with kldload(8) will not work. This driver has to be in the kernel at boot time through being compiled in or using /boot/loader.conf.

Note: If you are using XFree86 4.1.0 (or later) and messages about unresolved symbols like fbPictureInit appear, try adding the following line after Driver "i810" in the X11 configuration file:

          Option "NoDDC"

Using Fonts in X11

*Contributed by Murray Stokely. *

Type1 Fonts

The default fonts that ship with X11 are less than ideal for typical desktop publishing applications. Large presentation fonts show up jagged and unprofessional looking, and small fonts in Netscape® are almost completely unintelligible. However, there are several free, high quality Type1 (Post*Script®) fonts available which can be readily used with X11. For instance, the Freefonts collection ('fonts/freefonts') includes a lot of fonts, but most of them are intended for use in graphics software such as the Gimp , and are not complete enough to serve as screen fonts. In addition, X11 can be configured to use True*Type® fonts with a minimum of effort. For more details on this, see the X(7) manual page or the section on TrueType fonts.

To install the Freefonts font collection from the pkgsrc framework, run the following commands:

# cd /usr/pkgsrc/fonts/freefonts

# bmake install clean

And likewise with the other collections. To have the X server detect these fonts, add an appropriate line to the X server configuration file in /etc/X11/xorg.conf, which reads:

FontPath "/usr/pkg/lib/X11/fonts/freefont/"

Alternatively, at the command line in the X session run:

% xset fp+ /usr/pkg/lib/X11/fonts/freefont/

% xset fp rehash

This will work but will be lost when the X session is closed, unless it is added to the startup file (~/.xinitrc for a normal startx session, or ~/.xsession when logging in through a graphical login manager like XDM ). A third way is to use the new /usr/pkg/xorg/etc/fonts/local.conf file: see the section on anti-aliasing.

TrueType® Fonts

X.org has built in support for rendering True***Type fonts. There are two different modules that can enable this functionality. The freetype module is used in this example because it is more consistent with the other font rendering back-ends. To enable the freetype module just add the following line to the "Module" section of the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file.

Load  "freetype"

Now make a directory for the True*Type fonts (for example, /usr/pkg/xorg/lib/X11/fonts/TrueType) and copy all of the True*Type fonts into this directory. Keep in mind that True*Type fonts cannot be directly taken from a Macintosh®; they must be in UNIX®/MS-DOS®/Windows® format for use by X11. Once the files have been copied into this directory, use **ttmkfdir to create a fonts.dir file, so that the X font renderer knows that these new files have been installed. 'ttmkfdir' is available from the pkgsrc framework as fonts/ttmkfdir2.

# cd /usr/pkg/xorg/lib/X11/fonts/TrueType

# ttmkfdir -o fonts.dir

Now add the True***Type directory to the font path. This is just the same as described above for Type1 fonts, that is, use

% xset fp+ /usr/pkg/xorg/lib/X11/fonts/TrueType

% xset fp rehash

or add a FontPath line to the xorg.conf file.

That's it. Now Netscape , Gimp , 'StarOffice™', and all of the other X applications should now recognize the installed TrueType fonts. Extremely small fonts (as with text in a high resolution display on a web page) and extremely large fonts (within Star`Office ) will look much better now.

Anti-Aliased Fonts

*Updated by Joe Marcus Clarke. *

Anti-aliasing has been available in X11 since XFree86 4.0.2. However, font configuration was cumbersome before the introduction of XFree86 4.3.0. Beginning with XFree86 4.3.0, all fonts in X11 that are found in /usr/pkg/xorg/lib/X11/fonts/ and ~/.fonts/ are automatically made available for anti-aliasing to Xft-aware applications. Not all applications are Xft-aware, but many have received Xft support. Examples of Xft-aware applications include Qt 2.3 and higher (the toolkit for the KDE desktop), GTK+ 2.0 and higher (the toolkit for the GNOME desktop), and Mozilla 1.2 and higher.

In order to control which fonts are anti-aliased, or to configure anti-aliasing properties, create (or edit, if it already exists) the file /usr/pkg/xorg/lib/etc/fonts/local.conf. Several advanced features of the Xft font system can be tuned using this file; this section describes only some simple possibilities. For more details, please see fonts-conf(5).

This file must be in XML format. Pay careful attention to case, and make sure all tags are properly closed. The file begins with the usual XML header followed by a DOCTYPE definition, and then the <fontconfig> tag:

      <?xml version="1.0"?>;

      <!DOCTYPE fontconfig SYSTEM "fonts.dtd">

      <fontconfig>

As previously stated, all fonts in /usr/pkg/xorg/lib/X11/fonts/ as well as ~/.fonts/ are already made available to Xft-aware applications. If you wish to add another directory outside of these two directory trees, add a line similar to the following to /usr/pkg/lib/etc/fonts/local.conf:

<dir>/path/to/my/fonts</dir>;

After adding new fonts, and especially new font directories, you should run the following command to rebuild the font caches:

# fc-cache -f

Anti-aliasing makes borders slightly fuzzy, which makes very small text more readable and removes "staircases" from large text, but can cause eyestrain if applied to normal text. To exclude font sizes smaller than 14 point from anti-aliasing, include these lines:

        <match target="font">

            <test name#"size" compare"less">

                <double>14</double>

            </test>

            <edit name#"antialias" mode"assign">

                <bool>false</bool>

            </edit>

        </match>

        <match target="font">

            <test name#"pixelsize" compare"less" qual="any">

                <double>14</double>

            </test>

            <edit mode#"assign" name"antialias">

                <bool>false</bool>

            </edit>

        </match>

Spacing for some monospaced fonts may also be inappropriate with anti-aliasing. This seems to be an issue with KDE , in particular. One possible fix for this is to force the spacing for such fonts to be 100. Add the following lines:

       <match target#"pattern" name"family">

           <test qual#"any" name"family">

               <string>fixed</string>

           </test>

           <edit name#"family" mode"assign">

               <string>mono</string>

           </edit>

        </match>

        <match target#"pattern" name"family">

            <test qual#"any" name"family">

                <string>console</string>

            </test>

            <edit name#"family" mode"assign">

                <string>mono</string>

            </edit>

        </match>

(this aliases the other common names for fixed fonts as "mono"), and then add:

         <match target#"pattern" name"family">

             <test qual#"any" name"family">

                 <string>mono</string>

             </test>

             <edit name#"spacing" mode"assign">

                 <int>100</int>

             </edit>

         </match>

Certain fonts, such as Helvetica, may have a problem when anti-aliased. Usually this manifests itself as a font that seems cut in half vertically. At worst, it may cause applications such as Mozilla to crash. To avoid this, consider adding the following to local.conf:

         <match target#"pattern" name"family">

             <test qual#"any" name"family">

                 <string>Helvetica</string>

             </test>

             <edit name#"family" mode"assign">

                 <string>sans-serif</string>

             </edit>

         </match>

Once you have finished editing local.conf make sure you end the file with the </fontconfig> tag. Not doing this will cause your changes to be ignored.

The default font set that comes with X11 is not very desirable when it comes to anti-aliasing. A much better set of default fonts can be found in the 'fonts/vera-ttf' port. This port will install a /usr/pkg/lib/etc/fonts/local.conf file if one does not exist already. If the file does exist, the port will create a /usr/pkg/lib/etc/fonts/local.conf-vera file. Merge the contents of this file into /usr/pkg/lib/etc/fonts/local.conf, and the Bitstream fonts will automatically replace the default X11 Serif, Sans Serif, and Monospaced fonts.

Finally, users can add their own settings via their personal .fonts.conf files. To do this, each user should simply create a ~/.fonts.conf. This file must also be in XML format.

One last point: with an LCD screen, sub-pixel sampling may be desired. This basically treats the (horizontally separated) red, green and blue components separately to improve the horizontal resolution; the results can be dramatic. To enable this, add the line somewhere in the local.conf file:

         <match target="font">

             <test qual#"all" name"rgba">

                 <const>unknown</const>

             </test>

             <edit name#"rgba" mode"assign">

                 <const>rgb</const>

             </edit>

         </match>

Note: Depending on the sort of display, rgb may need to be changed to bgr, vrgb or vbgr: experiment and see which works best.

Anti-aliasing should be enabled the next time the X server is started. However, programs must know how to take advantage of it. At present, the Qt toolkit does, so the entire KDE environment can use anti-aliased fonts. GTK+ and GNOME can also be made to use anti-aliasing via the "Font" capplet (see [x11-wm.html#X11-WM-GNOME-ANTIALIAS Section 5.7.1.3] for details). By default, Mozilla 1.2 and greater will automatically use anti-aliasing. To disable this, rebuild Mozilla with the -DWITHOUT_XFT flag.

The X Display Manager

Contributed by Seth Kingsley.

Overview

The X Display Manager ( XDM ) is an optional part of the X Window System that is used for login session management. This is useful for several types of situations, including minimal "X Terminals", desktops, and large network display servers. Since the X Window System is network and protocol independent, there are a wide variety of possible configurations for running X clients and servers on different machines connected by a network. XDM provides a graphical interface for choosing which display server to connect to, and entering authorization information such as a login and password combination.

Think of XDM as providing the same functionality to the user as the getty(8) utility (see Section 17.3.2 for details). That is, it performs system logins to the display being connected to and then runs a session manager on behalf of the user (usually an X window manager). XDM then waits for this program to exit, signaling that the user is done and should be logged out of the display. At this point, XDM can display the login and display chooser screens for the next user to login.

Using XDM

The XDM daemon program is located in /usr/pkg/xorg/bin/xdm. This program can be run at any time as root and it will start managing the X display on the local machine. If XDM is to be run every time the machine boots up, a convenient way to do this is by adding an entry to /etc/ttys. For more information about the format and usage of this file, see Section 17.3.2.1. There is a line in the default /etc/ttys file for running the XDM daemon on a virtual terminal:

ttyv8   "/usr/pkg/xorg/bin/xdm -nodaemon"  xterm   off secure

By default this entry is disabled; in order to enable it change field 5 from off to on and restart init(8) using the directions in Section 17.3.2.2. The first field, the name of the terminal this program will manage, is ttyv8. This means that XDM will start running on the 9th virtual terminal.

Configuring XDM

The XDM configuration directory is located in /var/lib/xdm. The sample configuration files are in /usr/pkg/share/examples/xorg/xdm/, in this directory there are several files used to change the behavior and appearance of XDM . Typically these files will be found:

File Description
Xaccess Client authorization ruleset.
Xresources Default X resource values.
Xservers List of remote and local displays to manage.
Xsession Default session script for logins.
Xsetup_* Script to launch applications before the login interface.
xdm-config Global configuration for all displays running on this machine.
xdm-errors Errors generated by the server program.
xdm-pid The process ID of the currently running XDM.

Also in this directory are a few scripts and programs used to set up the desktop when XDM is running. The purpose of each of these files will be briefly described. The exact syntax and usage of all of these files is described in xdm(1).

The default configuration is a simple rectangular login window with the hostname of the machine displayed at the top in a large font and "Login:" and "Password:" prompts below. This is a good starting point for changing the look and feel of XDM screens.

Xaccess

The protocol for connecting to XDM controlled displays is called the X Display Manager Connection Protocol (XDMCP). This file is a ruleset for controlling XDMCP connections from remote machines. It is ignored unless the xdm-config is changed to listen for remote connections. By default, it does not allow any clients to connect.

Xresources

This is an application-defaults file for the display chooser and the login screens. This is where the appearance of the login program can be modified. The format is identical to the app-defaults file described in the X11 documentation.

Xservers

This is a list of the remote displays the chooser should provide as choices.

Xsession

This is the default session script for XDM to run after a user has logged in. Normally each user will have a customized session script in ~/.xsession that overrides this script.

Xsetup_*

These will be run automatically before displaying the chooser or login interfaces. There is a script for each display being used, named Xsetup_ followed by the local display number (for instance Xsetup_0). Typically these scripts will run one or two programs in the background such as xconsole.

xdm-config

This contains settings in the form of app-defaults that are applicable to every display that this installation manages.

xdm-errors

This contains the output of the X servers that XDM is trying to run. If a display that XDM is trying to start hangs for some reason, this is a good place to look for error messages. These messages are also written to the user's ~/.xsession-errors file on a per-session basis.

Running a Network Display Server

In order for other clients to connect to the display server, edit the access control rules, and enable the connection listener. By default these are set to conservative values. To make XDM listen for connections, first comment out a line in the xdm-config file:

! SECURITY: do not listen for XDMCP or Chooser requests

! Comment out this line if you want to manage X terminals with xdm

DisplayManager.requestPort:     0

and then restart XDM . Remember that comments in app-defaults files begin with a "!" character, not the usual "#". More strict access controls may be desired. Look at the example entries in Xaccess, and refer to the xdm(1) manual page for further information.

Replacements for XDM

Several replacements for the default XDM program exist. One of them, kdm (bundled with KDE ) is described later in this chapter. The kdm display manager offers many visual improvements and cosmetic frills, as well as the functionality to allow users to choose their window manager of choice at login time.

Desktop Environments

*Contributed by Valentino Vaschetto. *

This section describes the different desktop environments available for X on FreeBSD. A desktop environment can mean anything ranging from a simple window manager to a complete suite of desktop applications, such as KDE or GNOME .

GNOME

About GNOME

GNOME is a user-friendly desktop environment that enables users to easily use and configure their computers. GNOME includes a panel (for starting applications and displaying status), a desktop (where data and applications can be placed), a set of standard desktop tools and applications, and a set of conventions that make it easy for applications to cooperate and be consistent with each other. Users of other operating systems or environments should feel right at home using the powerful graphics-driven environment that GNOME provides.

Installing GNOME

GNOME can be easily installed from a package or from the pkgsrc framework:

To install the GNOME package from the network, simply type:

# pkg_radd gnome

To build GNOME from source, use the ports tree:

# cd /usr/pkgsrc/meta-pkgs/gnome

# bmake install clean

Once GNOME is installed, the X server must be told to start GNOME instead of a default window manager.

The easiest way to start GNOME is with GDM , the GNOME Display Manager. GDM , which is installed as a part of the GNOME desktop (but is disabled by default), can be enabled by adding gdm_enable="YES" to /etc/rc.conf. Once you have rebooted, GNOME will start automatically once you log in -- no further configuration is necessary.

GNOME may also be started from the command-line by properly configuring a file named .xinitrc. If a custom .xinitrc is already in place, simply replace the line that starts the current window manager with one that starts /usr/pkg/bin/gnome-session instead. If nothing special has been done to the configuration file, then it is enough simply to type:

% echo "/usr/pkg/bin/gnome-session" > ~/.xinitrc

Next, type startx, and the GNOME desktop environment will be started.

Note: If an older display manager, like XDM , is being used, this will not work. Instead, create an executable .xsession file with the same command in it. To do this, edit the file and replace the existing window manager command with /usr/pkg/bin/gnome-session :

% echo "#!/bin/sh" > ~/.xsession

% echo "/usr/pkg/bin/gnome-session" >> ~/.xsession

% chmod +x ~/.xsession

Yet another option is to configure the display manager to allow choosing the window manager at login time; the section on KDE details explains how to do this for kdm , the display manager of KDE .

Anti-aliased Fonts with GNOME

X11 supports anti-aliasing via its RENDER extension. GTK+ 2.0 and greater (the toolkit used by GNOME ) can make use of this functionality. Configuring anti-aliasing is described in Section 5.5.3.

So, with up-to-date software, anti-aliasing is possible within the GNOME desktop. Just go to Applications->Desktop Preferences->Font , and select either Best shapes, Best contrast, or Subpixel smoothing (LCDs). For a GTK+ application that is not part of the GNOME desktop, set the environment variable GDK_USE_XFT to 1 before launching the program.

KDE

About KDE

KDE is an easy to use contemporary desktop environment. Some of the things that KDE brings to the user are:

Installing KDE

Just as with GNOME or any other desktop environment, the easiest way to install KDE is through the pkgsrc framework or from a package:

To install the KDE package from the network, simply type:

# pkg_radd kde3

or if you prefer the newer KDE 4, type:

# pkg_radd kde4

pkg_radd(1) will automatically fetch the latest version of the application.

To build KDE from source, use the pkgsrc framework:

# cd /usr/pkgsrc/meta-pkgs/kde3

# bmake install clean

After KDE has been installed, the X server must be told to launch this application instead of the default window manager. This is accomplished by editing the .xinitrc file:

% echo "exec startkde" > ~/.xinitrc

Now, whenever the X Window System is invoked with startx, KDE will be the desktop.

If a display manager such as XDM is being used, the configuration is slightly different. Edit the .xsession file instead. Instructions for kdm are described later in this chapter.

More Details on KDE

Now that KDE is installed on the system, most things can be discovered through the help pages, or just by pointing and clicking at various menus. Windows® or Mac® users will feel quite at home.

The best reference for KDE is the on-line documentation. KDE comes with its own web browser, Konqueror , dozens of useful applications, and extensive documentation. The remainder of this section discusses the technical items that are difficult to learn by random exploration.

The KDE Display Manager

An administrator of a multi-user system may wish to have a graphical login screen to welcome users. XDM can be used, as described earlier. However, KDE includes an alternative, kdm , which is designed to look more attractive and include more login-time options. In particular, users can easily choose (via a menu) which desktop environment ( KDE , GNOME , or something else) to run after logging on.

To enable kdm , the ttyv8 entry in /etc/ttys has to be adapted. The line should look as follows:

ttyv8 "/usr/pkg/bin/kdm -nodaemon" xterm on secure

XFce

About XFce

XFce is a desktop environment based on the GTK+ toolkit used by GNOME , but is much more lightweight and meant for those who want a simple, efficient desktop which is nevertheless easy to use and configure. Visually, it looks very much like CDE , found on commercial UNIX systems. Some of XFce 's features are:

More information on XFce can be found on the XFce website.

Installing XFce

A binary package for XFce exists. To install, simply type:

# pkg_radd xfce4

Alternatively, to build from source, use the pkgsrc framework:

# cd /usr/pkgsrc/meta-pkgs/xfce4

# bmake install clean

Now, tell the X server to launch XFce the next time X is started. Simply type this:

% echo "/usr/pkg/bin/startxfce4" > ~/.xinitrc

The next time X is started, XFce will be the desktop. As before, if a display manager like XDM is being used, create an .xsession, as described in the section on GNOME, but with the /usr/pkg/bin/startxfce4 command; or, configure the display manager to allow choosing a desktop at login time, as explained in the section on kdm.