Starting KDE?

Question

I know that there has been a million discussion topics on starting KDE or GNOME but I have edited my .xinitrc file in my home directory to:
source /sw/bin/init.sh
/sw/bin/startkde >/tmp/kde.log 2>&1
and it just makes my xdarwin automatically quit. If I try to manualy start kde through the xterm by typing "startkde" it says that there is no such command. I have also tried to edit my .xinitrc file to several other things that people have said to do and nothing works at all. The only way that I can get XDarwin to start and run is by having an .xinitrc file that reads:
#!/bin/sh
# $Xorg: xinitrc.cpp,v 1.3 2000/08/17 19:54:30 cpqbld Exp $
userresources=$HOME/.Xresources
usermodmap=$HOME/.Xmodmap
sysresources=/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xinit/.Xresources
sysmodmap=/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xinit/.Xmodmap
# merge in defaults and keymaps
if [ -f $sysresources ]; then
xrdb -merge $sysresources
fi
if [ -f $sysmodmap ]; then
xmodmap $sysmodmap
fi
if [ -f $userresources ]; then
xrdb -merge $userresources
fi
if [ -f $usermodmap ]; then
xmodmap $usermodmap
fi
# start some nice programs
twm &
xclock -geometry 50x50-1+1 &
xterm -geometry 80x5049451 &
xterm -geometry 80x20+494-0 &
exec xterm -geometry 80x6600 -name login
I have had trouble trying to get kde for some time now. For a while, I was having trouble compiling kde through fink because fink couldn't connect to any mirrors. I was able to get through the compile process today or at least that is what I think because after compiling for a while, I get a message at the bottom of fink commander saying, "done" but it is not saying "current" in the status column. Does anyone know how I could check to see if I have it? I am very confused right now, I am pulling my hair out trying to figure this out. On my desktopp running 10.3 I was able to just install kde through fink, edit my .xinitrc file and I was starting kde without a problem. Now when I try and put it on my ibook, first I have trouble finding it through fink, then I have trouble getting dependencies through fink, then I have trouble with the mirrors and now I'm stuck on the .xinitrc file (thats even if I have installed kde properly at all). I have no hair left to pull out anymore! Can someone please help me?
p.s. Bill Scott, I have followed all of the directions on your site, can you tell me what that was?
--Matt

Answer 1

Hi Thierry,
   I wasn't saying that it doesn't work. I don't use KDE so there are plenty of things I don't know about it. Is it it's own window manager or do you also run a window manager? What do you exec in your ~/.xinitrc?
   If that's what's recommended then definitely include the redirection of output to the log. That's why I said "something like ...". I wasn't trying to dictate the form of the startkde part of the line. I was only suggesting that it be "execed". That way, when you logout of KDE, X11 quits, which is why the writers of X11 substituted the execution of the xinitrc script for the main process. You certainly wouldn't want X11 to quit when you exited an xterm.
   I apologize for not discussing the flexibility of process. Explaining the need for the "exec" command is a fairly lengthy discourse already and I didn't want to write a book. However, it is still necessary to have an "exec" command at the end of the xinitrc and the reasons I gave for what to "exec" are still valid. You could certainly exec a window manager instead of KDE but I would think that you'd want KDE to have control over whether X11 is running.
   Of course the situation is more flexible with Mac OS X because there are other ways of stopping X11, like with the menu. On other flavors of UNIX, when you logout of KDE, you probably want to logout of the computer altogether. The command I provided is essentially what is used on Red Hat Linux if Gnome isn't installed so I didn't just make it up. Anyway, I hope the explanation of how the xinitrc works benefits some.
Gary
~~~~
   Never let your schooling interfere with your education.