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Miscellaneous Notes

Disclaimer: Some of the notes on this page assume that you have some prior experience installing and using GNU/Linux. If you're not comfortable using fdisk or running Linux as root, then don't! These notes are provided in the hope that they will be useful, but I take no responsibility for any data loss or hardware damage. Use these notes at your own risk!

Distro-Specific Notes

Ark Linux 1.0, compiling C source code
Debian 3.1, migration from Mandrake 9.1
iloog 7.10, compiling C source code
KANOTIX / KNOPPIX, harddisk installation
Mandrake 8.0 PowerPack, compiling the older g* programs
Mandrake 8.2 PowerPack, compiling C source code
Mandriva 2006 PowerPack+ (SOHO), compiling the g* programs
Mandriva Free 2009.1, compiling C source code
Peanut Linux 9.5 and 9.6, compiling C source code
RedHat 6.0 and 6.1, compiling GTK1 g* programs
Ubuntu 5.10, 6.06, and 6.10, compiling C source code
VectorLinux 2.0, location of some configuration files

Program-Specific Notes

gFnRename 0.4.1, Pathbox quirk on GTK+ 2.4.x systems
gTextCvt, missing dictionary entries

Other Miscellaneous Notes

Desktop Crash Recovery, general notes
Development Tools and Libraries, for compiling the programs on this website
Distro Names, names that have changed
Duplicate Files, finding duplicates using the command line
Grand Prix 2 On A Windows VM, running GP2 in a QEMU session
Multi-Boot Machines, general notes
Serial Null Modem, pin configuration
Source Packages, compiling and installing
Testing Distros, for distros not listed on the Compatibility page

Ark Linux 1.0

To be able to compile C source code on an Ark Linux 1.0 system, you'll need to have the Ark Development Suite installed.

Debian 3.1, Migration From Mandrake 9.1

The notes below were collected while migrating from Mandrake 9.1 to Debian 3.1. The services are listed in the order of importance (to me, anyway).

General Notes

Use Synaptic to install any missing packages. Two packages which aren't installed by default are configure-debian and sysvconfig.
If the video settings aren't correct after a fresh install, you can open a root terminal and run configure-debian > x11 > xserver-xfree86 to reconfigure. For the changes to take effect, you'll need to save any unsaved work and then press Ctrl+Alt+Backspace to kill and restart the X server.
If you don't need the services that netatalk provides, you can use sysvconfig to keep netatalk from starting up on the next system boot.
You can turn off CD automount with: configure-debian > admin > discover1.
If you've installed Debian on a multi-boot machine, see the user/group notes in the Multi-Boot section below.

DNS (bind9)

Copy config files from Mdk's /var/named to Debian's /etc/bind.
Copy&Paste the zones from Mdk's /etc/named.conf to Debian's /etc/bind/named.conf.local.
Add the full path (/etc/bind/) to the file names.
Restart the name server: /etc/init.d/bind9 restart

HTTP (apache2)

The file to edit is /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/000-default.
Change the /var/www references to wherever your HTML files are (e.g., /pub/www/html/ on my system).
Comment out the "RedirectMatch ^/$ /apache2-default/" line.
Restart the http server: /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

FTP (proftpd)

If necessary, install proftpd.
The file to edit is /etc/proftpd.conf.
Uncomment the Anonymous section and change '~ftp' to wherever your FTP files are (e.g., /pub/ftp/pub on my system).
Restart the ftp server: /etc/init.d/proftpd restart

NFS

The file to edit is /etc/exports.
Add entries like "/data *.local.net(ro,sync)".
Restart the nfs server: /etc/init.d/nfs-common restart
To mount NFS shares, a client machine needs something like the following in /etc/fstab: "sys1:/pub /mnt/sys1/pub nfs rw,rsize=1024,noauto 0 0".

dictd

The file to edit is /etc/dictd/dictd.conf.
Add a 'site "your.local.net"' line to the Site section.
Add "*.local.net" and "deny *" to the Access section.
Add database entries from Mdk's /etc/dictd.conf to the User section at the end.
Restart the dictd server: killall dictd; /usr/sbin/dictd
Do a "ps aux" to check if the server is running. If it's not, it means that one or more dictionaries are invalid (sometimes you'll need to have certain locales installed). To find out which files are invalid, you'll need to do some trial and error by commenting and uncommenting questionable files.

Desktop Crash Recovery

Although GNU/Linux distros are generally very stable, it is possible to crash your desktop environment under certain conditions. On those rare occasions when the mouse locks up and your desktop/window manager becomes unresponsive, the following notes may help.

If it's a desktop/window manager crash (as opposed to a system crash), then you should be able to:

Press Ctrl+Alt+F1 (or Ctrl+Alt+F2 ... Ctrl+Alt+F6) to enter text mode,
Log in as root,
Run ps aux to find the Process ID of the offending program (it should be somewhere near the bottom of the list, right above bash and ps),
Run kill -KILL [PID] (replace [PID] with the program's process ID),
Press Ctrl+Alt+F7 to return to your desktop environment.

If all went well, your desktop environment should be responding as usual now. If not, you can try the above steps again on a process that may have been spawned by the offending program. If that still doesn't help, you can try pressing Ctrl+Alt+Backspace to kill and restart the X server (note that any unsaved work will be lost).

If none of the above helps, then it's probably a system crash. In that case, your first option is to try a soft reset by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete, which should initiate a normal reboot sequence. If that fails, your only other option (as far as I know) is a hard reset.

Development Tools and Libraries

To be able to compile the C source code found on this website, you'll need to have the following development tools installed on your system:

autoconf
automake
gcc
libtool
make

Additionally, depending on the distro and the type of program you want to compile, you may also need to install one or more of the following development libraries:

Library:	Required For:
`libncurses5-dev`	c* programs
`libgnome-dev`	GNOME1/GTK1 g* programs
`libgtk1.2-dev`	GTK1 g* programs
`libgtk2.0-dev`	GTK2 g* programs

The names above are from Debian 4.0, but should be fairly similar on other distros.

Distro Names

These are a few of the distros that have merged or changed their name over the years:

Old Name(s)	New Name
Auditor + WHAX	BackTrack
BackTrack	Kali Linux
ClarkConnect Server and Gateway	ClearOS
Corel Linux	Xandros Desktop OS
Eeebuntu	Aurora OS
e-smith	SME Server
GoblinX	ImagineOS
Mandrake + Conectiva + Lycoris Desktop/LX	Mandriva
MiniSlack	Zenwalk
ParallelKnoppix	PelicanHPC
Peanut Linux	aLinux
Pocketlinux	easys GNU/Linux
Red Hat Linux	Fedora Project
RR4	Sabayon
Sidux	Aptosid
STX Linux	SaxenOS
TEENpup Linux	Legacy OS
Xenoppix	VMKnoppix

'+' indicates a merge

Duplicate Files, Finding

Before writing gDelDups, I did some searching on the Debian 4.0 DVDs and found a command line utility called FDupes that can be used to find duplicate files within given directories. FDupes can check multiple directories and subdirectories (using the "-r" option), and the results can be redirected to a file for easier viewing:

1. Redirect the results to a file:	`fdupes dirpaths > tempfile.tmp`
2. Open the results in a text editor:	`mcedit tempfile.tmp`

If your distro doesn't include FDupes, the alternative below should work on most systems. To check multiple directories, you can either specify all of them on the md5sum line (in place of "/dirpath/*"), or you can repeat Step 1 using the append form of redirection (i.e., ">>" instead of ">") for all of the desired directories.

1. Redirect the md5 checksums to a file:	`md5sum /dirpath/* > tempfile1.tmp`
2. Sort the lines and redirect to another file:	`sort -df tempfile1.tmp > tempfile2.tmp`
3. Check tempfile2 for duplicate checksums:	`mcedit tempfile2.tmp`

gFnRename 0.4.1

On GTK+ 2.4.x systems, the text in the Pathbox that shows the current directory may be invisible. To work around this quirk, you can edit AppUpdatePathbox() in main.c and uncomment the line near the end of the function before compiling the program. Note, however, that the extra call to gtk_combo_box_prepend_text() will cause the current directory to be listed twice, so this should only be done if absolutely necessary (i.e., on pre-GTK+2.6 systems only).

Grand Prix 2 On A Windows VM

As is evident from my other website, I'm a bit of a nut when it comes to car/motorcycle racing sims. The notes below describe how to set up a Windows98 virtual machine to play GP2 on a GNU/Linux host machine using QEMU and Qemu Launcher. (If you're not familiar with virtualization terminology, host refers to the real or physical machine while guest or virtual machine refers to emulated hardware.)

Here's what you'll need:

A GNU/Linux host with at least 512M physical RAM
QEMU and Qemu Launcher
Microsoft Windows98 installation CD
Microprose Grand Prix 2 CD
About 6G free hard disk space

The setup procedure is as follows:

Install QEMU and Qemu Launcher (if not already installed).
Use your preferred method to create ISO image files from the Win98 and GP2 CDs. I usually use K3b, but more experienced users may prefer to use cat or dd.
Create an empty raw image of 4000M that will serve as the virtual hard disk that Win98 will be installed on. You can do this in Qemu Launcher by pressing the "New" button for the Hard disk 0 option, or you can open a terminal and then run: qemu-img create /path/win98se.img 4G
Install Win98 on the newly-created virtual hard disk. See Table 1 below for the Qemu Launcher settings.
Create a new data directory (call it vfatwin or whatever you want) for transferring data (gamesaves or whatever) between the host machine and the virtual machine. This will be the D: drive while running the Windows VM. See the warning below.
Start the Win98 VM and install GP2. See Table 2 below for an example of typical Qemu Launcher settings for this case.

Qemu Launcher Settings

In the tables below, the settings marked with an asterisk (*) are paths/filenames for my particular setup and should be changed as necessary, depending on how your files are named and where they're located. Table 1 is a once-only setup for installing Windows98. The settings to save should be something similar to the ones in Table 2.

Table 1: For Installing Win98

Disks And Memory Options	Setting
Use CD-ROM (checkbox)	checked
Boot disk (dropdown)	CD-ROM
CD-ROM (entry)	/pub/windows/win98se.iso *
Hard disk 0 (entry)	/pub/hdimage/win98se.img *
RAM (MB) (spinbox)	256
Hardware Options	Setting
Enable audio (checkbox)	checked
Video card (radiobutton)	Cirrus Logic GD 5446 PCI VGA
Sound card (radiobutton)	Creative Sound Blaster 16

Table 2: For Running Win98 And GP2

General Options	Setting
Configuration name (entry)	windows98
Configuration notes (entry)	Windows 98 with GP2 disc
Disks And Memory Options	Setting
Use CD-ROM (checkbox)	checked
Boot disk (dropdown)	Hard disk 0
CD-ROM (entry)	/pub/windows/grandprix2.iso *
Hard disk 0 (entry)	/pub/hdimage/win98se.img *
Hard disk 3 (entry)	fat:rw:/home/paul/vfatwin *
RAM (MB) (spinbox)	256
Hardware Options	Setting
System Type (dropdown)	PC, 32-bit (x86)
Set clock to local time (checkbox)	checked
Enable audio (checkbox)	checked
Number of CPUs (spinbox)	1
Video card (radiobutton)	Cirrus Logic GD 5446 PCI VGA
Sound card (radiobutton)	Creative Sound Blaster 16
Emulator Options	Setting
Process priority (spinbox)	0
Acceleration (radiobutton)	Enable

Warning: The directory that serves as the D: drive ("/home/paul/vfatwin" in the Hard disk 3 example above) should not be altered by the host while the VM is running. If you need to copy files to that directory from the host, be sure to shut down the VM before doing so. Also, the contents of that directory should comply with Windows file naming convention; otherwise, QEMU may refuse to start.

gTextCvt

When creating dictionaries, if you encounter missing entries (ones that you know are in the dictionary, but aren't being found by the dict client), the most likely cause is an incorrectly sorted index file.

If the index file is fairly small, you can edit it manually since you'll probably only need to move a few lines in the correct order. The example below should give you a general idea of how the lines should be sorted:

Incorrect
Lintel GHWI Dv
lint GG/0 JW
lintian GHJK M+
Linux4Geeks GLur GM
LinuxAlpha.org GL03 BX
Linux/Coldfire GLMz HH
linuxconf GL2O Pd
linuxcookbook GMFr FD
Linux Cyrillic Edition GLT6 Cr
linuxdoc GMKu uu
Linux/Epia GLZj Gg
Linux ESware GLgD C3
linuxfacile GM5c Gr
Linux for Windows 9X GLi6 DN
Linux GHfQ Dtj
linuxinfo GNFb Cn
Linuxin GNU/Linux GNAH FU
LinuxInstall.org Project GNIC K8
linuxlogo GNS+ Go
Linux MLD GLmH C6

Correct
lint GG/0 JW
Lintel GHWI Dv
lintian GHJK M+
Linux GHfQ Dtj
Linux Cyrillic Edition GLT6 Cr
Linux ESware GLgD C3
Linux for Windows 9X GLi6 DN
Linux MLD GLmH C6
Linux4Geeks GLur GM
LinuxAlpha.org GL03 BX
Linux/Coldfire GLMz HH
linuxconf GL2O Pd
linuxcookbook GMFr FD
linuxdoc GMKu uu
Linux/Epia GLZj Gg
linuxfacile GM5c Gr
Linuxin GNU/Linux GNAH FU
linuxinfo GNFb Cn
LinuxInstall.org Project GNIC K8
linuxlogo GNS+ Go

If the index file is fairly large, you can try re-sorting it on a different distro. Note that Debian-based distros are more likely to include a version of sort that works correctly. To sort the index file from the command line:

mv [name].index [name2].index
sort -df [name2].index > [name].index

You can then move the index file back to the machine running the dictd server.

iloog 7.10

To be able to compile and run the programs found on this website, you'll need to open a root terminal to umount the automatically-mounted source partition (the one that contains the source files) and then remount it. In my particular case, the steps are as follows:

umount /mnt/hda3
mkdir /pub
mount -t ext3 /dev/hda3 /pub

You'll need to change "hda3" to wherever your source tarballs are stored, and you'll need to change "ext3" to the appropriate filesystem type. Once the partition is remounted, you should be able to compile and run my programs in the usual way, as described in Source Packages.

KANOTIX / KNOPPIX Installation

To install KNOPPIX or KANOTIX on a hard disk, the first thing you'll need to do is allocate some space for the new installation. If you haven't already done so, run sudo passwd and su to become root. If you don't already have some allocated space, use fdisk or qparted to partition the drive. After you've partitioned the drive and decided which partitions to use, run one of the following:

KANOTIX 2005-02	`kanotix-installer`
KNOPPIX 3.1, 3.2, 3.3	`knx-hdinstall`
KNOPPIX 3.4, 3.6, 3.7, 3.9	`knoppix-installer`

Mandrake 8.0 PowerPack

To be able to compile the older g* programs (dated before 2003.10.01) on a Mandrake 8.0 system, you'll need to install the following:

From Installation CD #2: db1-devel-1.85-4mdk.i586.rpm

Mandrake 8.2 PowerPack

To be able to compile C source code on a Mandrake 8.2 system, you'll need to install the following:

From Installation CD #1: gcc3.0-cpp-3.0.4-2mdk.i586.rpm
From Installation CD #2: gcc3.0-3.0.4-2mdk.i586.rpm

After installing the above packages, you'll also need to do the following:

cd /etc/alternatives
mv gcc gcc-old
ln -s /usr/bin/gcc-3.0.4 gcc

Mandriva 2006 PowerPack+ (SOHO)

To be able to compile the GTK1 and/or GTK2 g* programs on a Mandriva 2006 system, you'll need to install one or both of the following:

For GTK1 g* programs : libgtk+1.2-devel-1.2.10-41mdk
For GTK2 g* programs : libgtk+2.0_0-devel-2.8.3-4mdk

Mandriva Free 2009.1

To be able to compile ncurses and GTK2 programs on a Mandriva Free 2009.1 system, you'll need to use the Software Manager to install the following:

Development > C > task-c-devel
Development > GNOME and GTK+ > glade3

Multi-Boot Machines

Below is a list of some things to keep in mind when installing and setting up a distro on a multi-boot machine.

Disk Partitioning / Formatting Notes:

Avoid using more than 15 partitions per drive. When partitioning a new drive, it's best to keep it down to 15 partitions or less. Fedora 7, for one, will fail to install if it encounters a disk that has 16 partitions or more.
Don't delete partitions that aren't at the end of the partition table. If you're modifying an already-partitioned drive and you delete a partition that isn't the last one and then create a new one, the partition table will be out of order. Therefore, you should never delete a partition unless you plan to also delete all of the partitions after the one you're about to delete.
Use GNU/Linux to create FreeBSD partitions. If you plan to install FreeBSD, DesktopBSD, or PC-BSD but you're not comfortable with their partitioner, you can use a GNU/Linux live CD to prepare the drive. It's basically just a matter of using fdisk to create a new primary partition and then changing its type to a5. Warning: Never try to install a BSD on a logical drive in an extended partition; doing so will wipe out the whole extended partition, including any distros that may have already been installed there.
Use 4K blocks when formatting ext2/ext3 partitions. If a distro's installer asks which block size (4096, 2048, or 1024) to use, choose 4096; otherwise it may take 2-4 times longer to do an fsck. If you're using a live CD to manually format a partition, you can create a dummy directory afterwards to check its size. The mke2fs in RIPLinuX, for one, defaults to 1K blocks, so you'll need to specify 4K on the command line (e.g., mkfs.ext3 -b 4096 /dev/hdb9).

Distro Installation Notes:

Use a recent distro for your Grub setup. If you plan to install distros that were released in early 2008 or later and your main distro's Grub is older (pre-2008), you'll probably need to update your Grub setup to avoid the "Error 2: bad file or directory type" caused by incompatible inode sizes. The easiest way to do this is probably by installing a new distro (one that uses the new 256-byte inode size) and letting its installer install Grub in the MBR. Note that this makes that distro your new main distro (where any future editing of the Grub configuration file will take place), so it's best to choose a distro that you're comfortable with.
Keep a backup of your current Grub setup on a diskette. At the very least, the Grub diskette's /boot/grub/menu.lst file should have an entry to boot your main distro and an entry to install Grub to the MBR; if not, add them. Note: Any Grub diskette should be able to boot any distro, but... if you want to be able to restore Grub in the MBR, you'll need to make sure that the version of Grub on the diskette is compatible with the version on the hard disk.
Avoid distros that use full-automatic installers. For multi-boot machines, these types of distros are a nightmare. If you do accidentally run into one of these and it hoses your MBR, you'll need a Grub diskette to restore your original bootloader. Tip: If you're not sure about a certain distro, you should probably run its installer in a QEMU session before actually installing it to a physical drive.
Install Grub in the first sector of the root partition. If a distro's installer offers a choice of bootloaders and where to install the bootloader, choose Grub and install it in the first sector of the root partition (i.e., the partition where the new distro will be installed). After the installation is completed, you can then:
1. Boot into your main distro (the one that has your current Grub setup),
2. Mount the partition where the new distro has been installed,
3. Copy&paste the pertinent lines from the new distro's /boot/grub/menu.lst to your main distro's /boot/grub/menu.lst,
4. Reboot the machine to go into the new distro.
Or, Don't install a bootloader. If a distro's installer doesn't offer a choice of bootloaders or where to install it, it's best to tell the installer not to install any bootloader at all. To use the newly-installed distro:
For GNU/Linux distros:
1. Boot into your main distro (the one that has your current Grub setup),
2. Mount the partition where the new distro has been installed,
3. Check the new distro's /boot directory to find out which kernel and initrd (if any) it needs,
4. Add the pertinent lines to your main distro's /boot/grub/menu.lst,
5. Reboot the machine to go into the new distro.
For DesktopBSD, FreeBSD, or PC-BSD:
1. Boot into your main distro (the one that has your current Grub setup),
2. Add something like the following to your main distro's /boot/grub/menu.lst:
```
title  FreeBSD 6.3 on hda1
root   (hd0,0,a)
kernel /boot/loader
```
  Change "FreeBSD 6.3 on hda1" to whatever best describes your flavor of BSD. If not installed on hda1, you'll also need to change "(hd0,0,a)" to either "(hd0,1,a)" for hda2, "(hd0,2,a)" for hda3, or "(hd0,3,a)" for hda4. "hd0" should be changed to "hd1" if installed on hdb (the second drive on the first IDE port), or "hd2" if installed on hdc (the first drive on the second IDE port).
3. Reboot the machine to go into the new distro.

Removable Hard Disk Trays:

Keep your main distro on the first drive. If you're using removable hard disk trays and you plan to use different combinations of drives, your main distro (the one that has your Grub setup) should be on the first one (hda or sda) so that the Grub configuration file is on the same disk as the MBR/bootloader.
Only use swap space on the same drive. If you're using removable hard disk trays and you plan to use different combinations of drives, it's best to avoid using swap space on any drives other than the one you'll be running from (e.g., if you're installing a new distro on hdb1, then don't use any swap space on hda or hdc). Some installers allow you to select/deselect swap space, but some will automatically use whatever is available. In the latter case, you can de-activate the extra swap after you boot into your new distro:
1. Check /etc/fstab to see which swap partitions are being used,
2. Use swapoff /dev/hdXN to de-activate any that aren't on the same drive as your new distro,
3. Edit /etc/fstab so that the extra swap isn't re-activated on your next boot.
Disable the automatic mounting of some partitions. If you're using removable hard disk trays and you plan to use shared disk space on any drives other than the one your new distro runs from, it's best to mount them manually when needed. This is basically just a matter of editing the pertinent lines in /etc/fstab.
For example: if your new distro is installed on hda and hdb15 is shared space on a removable drive, you can change:
/dev/hdb15 /pub ext3 defaults 0 2
to:
/dev/hdb15 /pub ext3 noauto 0 0

Miscellaneous Notes:

Use the same user/group IDs. If you have any shared disk space that will be used while running different distros, it's probably a good idea to normalize user/group IDs to avoid permission-related problems. If your new distro assigns IDs automatically during installation, you'll need to change them manually after you've booted into your new system:
1. Log in as a different user than the one you want to change the IDs for. In order of preference, you can either: use the root account, use an existing user, or create a new user (adduser).
2. Use a utility to change the user/group IDs of the user you want to change. If you're running in a GUI environment, there should be something usable in the System menu; otherwise, use the standard command-line tool (usermod).
3. If not already done automatically, change the ownership of all files in the home directory of the user you want to change.
4. Delete all files and directories in the /tmp directory that have the name of the user you want to change in it (e.g., gconfd-user, mcop-user, ...).
5. You can then log out of the temporary user's account and log back into your original account.
When choosing a pair of user/group IDs to normalize to, it's probably best to use the ones that your favorite distro defaults to. Or, just stick with the IDs that most of your shared files are stamped with.

Peanut Linux 9.5 and 9.6

To be able to compile C source code on a Peanut Linux 9.5 or 9.6 system, you'll need to install one of the following:

For Peanut Linux 9.5 : peanut-GCC-2.95.3-9.5.i386.rpm
For Peanut Linux 9.6 : GCC-peanut-3.3.3-9.6.tar.bz2

For Peanut Linux 9.6, you'll need to unpack the bz2 file in the root of the filesystem since the directory structure within the tarball is relative (not absolute):

cp -a GCC-peanut-3.3.3-9.6.tar.bz2 /
cd /
tar jxvf GCC-peanut-3.3.3-9.6.tar.bz2

For both Peanut Linux 9.5 and 9.6, if you want to be able to compile the c* programs, you'll also need to copy the form.h header from /usr/include/ncurses to /usr/include:

cp -a /usr/include/ncurses/form.h /usr/include

RedHat 6.0 and 6.1

To be able to compile the GTK1 g* programs on a RedHat 6.0 or 6.1 system, you'll need to install the libtool package from the distribution CD.

Serial Null Modem Pin Configuration

The table on the left shows the pin configuration when both ends are 25-pin. The table on the right is for a cable that has a 9-pin connector at one end and a 25-pin at the other.

25-Pin Null Modem Cabling

Adapter Lines

Connector 1	Connector 2
1 Red	1 Red
2 Blue	2 White
3 White	3 Blue
4 Green	4 Yellow
5 Yellow	5 Green
6 --- *	6 --- *
7 Black	7 Black
8 Grey *	8 Brown *
20 Brown	20 Grey

9-pin	25-pin
1	8
2	3
3	2
4	20
5	7
6	6
7	4
8	5
9	22

* For the 25-pin connectors, pins 6 and 8 are shorted.

Source Packages, Compiling and Installing

One way to install a downloaded source tarball is to log into a root terminal, copy the tarball to the /usr/local/src/ directory, unpack it, and then change to the newly-created directory:

  cd /usr/local/src
  cp -a [Path]/[PackageName].tar.gz .
  tar zxvf [PackageName].tar.gz
  cd [PackageName]

If you want to minimize the use of the root account, you could unpack and compile the package in your home directory (or wherever the tarball was downloaded to), in which case you'd skip the first two lines above.

The installation then proceeds as follows:

For Ncurses (c*) Programs:

  make
  make install

For GNOME1/GTK1 (g*) Programs:

  ./configure
  make
  make install

For GTK+ 1.2 and GTK+ 2.4 (g*) Programs:

  sh autogen.sh
  make
  make install

For the newer g* programs, the autogen.sh script creates the necessary Makefiles to build the final executable. If autogen.sh fails, it means that your system is missing one or more of the required development tools and/or libraries; in which case, you'll need to install the missing packages and try again.

If autogen.sh succeeds but make fails, you can try changing to the src directory and then run make there.

If make succeeds but make install fails, you have two choices. If you want the program to be available system-wide, you'll need to copy it to somewhere in your path (e.g., cp -a src/[ProgramName] /usr/local/bin). Or, if system-wide availability isn't important, you can just run the program from its location (e.g., [FullPath]/[ProgramName]).

Testing Distros

For distros that aren't listed on the Compatibility page, you can follow the steps below to find out whether or not the c* and/or g* programs will compile and run on your system.

Check if make and gcc are installed: which make gcc
The which command should output the full paths of make and gcc, each on a separate line.
Check if the autotools are installed: which autoconf libtool automake
Check if the development library is installed: ls /usr/include
For the c* programs, check to see if the file ncurses.h is listed. For the g* programs, check to see if the directory gtk-1.2 or gtk-2.0 is listed.

If all of the required tools and libraries are present on your system, you should be able to compile and run the programs listed on the Main page.

Ubuntu 5.10, 6.06, and 6.10

To be able to compile C source code on an Ubuntu 5.10, 6.06, or 6.10 system, you'll need to use Synaptic (or apt-get) to install the following:

autoconf
automake
libgtk1.2-dev (for GTK1 g* programs)
libgtk2.0-dev (for GTK2 g* programs)
libncurses5-dev (for c* programs)
libtool

Additionally, depending on the distro, you may also need to install one or more of the following:

g++
gcc
make

VectorLinux 2.0

The list below shows the locations of the configuration files for various window managers and desktop environments on Vector 2.0:

	Global Settings	User Settings
WM Selector	/etc/XwmMenu.ini
Blackbox	/usr/X11R6/share/blackbox/	~/.blackboxrc
Fluxbox	/usr/local/share/fluxbox/	~/.fluxbox/
IceWM	/usr/local/lib/X11/icewm/	~/.icewm/
XFCe	/usr/local/etc/xfce/	~/.xfce/

For questions, comments, etc... see the README file.

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This page was last updated on: Saturday, July 10, 2010