xwindows - help me start

[piti]

i have a linux box (mandrake 8.1) running only in console mode, i think i have nothing installed that has to do with xwindows ;-)
now i want some gui
what do i need to install to experience the power of xwindows?
i found out that i need some xserver (is the xfree86 the only one) and a window manager (fvwm, windowmaker, afterstep)
do i need anything else or that's it? what about the kde, gnome thing?

any help, hints, links to some resources are appreciated
thanx

 

[ifincham]

Hi,

You might be better trying to re-run the installer as a custom upgrade and select X. Doing it by hand can be a bit complex.

Basically you need the XFree86 base rpms plus at least one server rpm - e.g. svga - and the font server (xfs) etc.

Then you need at least one window manager and possibly a 'desktop' as well. The ones you mentioned are effectively both WM & desktop but the recent trend with KDE & Gnome is to have both a window manager and the desktop. For example, redhat ship with sawmill (

http://sawmill.sourceforge.net/)

as the window manager for the gnome desktop.

Mandrake provide lots of rpms for all the above - see the following where they are grouped by type :

http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/mandrake/8.1/i586/Mandrake/RPMS/Groups.html

See the 'Graphical Desktop' and 'System/XFree86' groups in particular.

Hope this helps

 

[piti]

thanx

what should i start reading when i would like to do it the "a bit complex" way in the future?

 

[rycamor]

Start with

http://linux.com/howto/XFree86-HOWTO/index.html

Then see the other GUI-related HOWTOs at

http://linux.com/howto/HOWTO-INDEX/apps.html#GUI