Xfce Forum

The_Human

Member

From: In front of a display

Registered: 2018-01-14

Posts: 5

[SOLVED] Installing Xfce 4.13

I want to upgrade to Xfce 4.13 but I'm new to installing scripts from source. That is something I'm really inexperienced at. I tried to read the official installation guide for Xfce 4.13 but my brain can't understand that. I looked at the archive of Xfce, it perplexed me even more.

If someone could explain how to install Xfce 4.13 that would be really appreciated.

P.S. I use Debian 9.3, and I used Debian based distros for a month or so. So I know some basic commands.

Last edited by The_Human (2018-01-16 06:54:24)

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 11,482

Re: [SOLVED] Installing Xfce 4.13

Hello and welcome.

Building Xfce from the git tree is not a simple thing to do. You need to know/figure out the compilation flags, follow bug reports/enhancement requests so you know when to change your builds, and deal with breakage/issues when it happens. This is the basic wiki page on building Xfce. Building from source requires a lot of knowledge and commitment to get a successful result.

As an option, have a look at xfce-test, which is a docker-based test environment for Xfce. It does all the heavy lifting and simplifies the process.

I'm not sure about Debian, but other distros have options as well. Manjaro has an xfce-gtk3 pre-built package, Arch has a number of the Xfce packages built from git in the AUR repository, and other distros probably have options as well that I am unaware of that simplify the process.

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The_Human

Member

From: In front of a display

Registered: 2018-01-14

Posts: 5

Re: [SOLVED] Installing Xfce 4.13

I read the installation guide again. I think I can compile Xfce 4.13 myself but I have a couple of doubts though.

1. Do I need to compile only the core components? Or will I need to compile other Xfce scripts? By other Xfce scripts, I mean scripts like thunar-desktop-plugin.
2. What exactly is GNU toolchain? I don't quite understand that. Do I need to install any additional GNU toolchain or does it refer to the Linux terminal?

Jerry3904

Member

Registered: 2013-11-09

Posts: 863

Re: [SOLVED] Installing Xfce 4.13

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_toolchain

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MX-23 (based on Debian Stable) with our flagship Xfce 4.18.

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 11,482

Re: [SOLVED] Installing Xfce 4.13

1. Do I need to compile only the core components? Or will I need to compile other Xfce scripts? By other Xfce scripts, I mean scripts like thunar-desktop-plugin.

Xfce is very modular, but to make it functional, you should at least build the core components. The rest is dependent on whether you want to use them or not.

2. What exactly is GNU toolchain? I don't quite understand that. Do I need to install any additional GNU toolchain or does it refer to the Linux terminal?

What Jerry said. I believe on debian its in a package called "build-essential".

Be careful if you already have Xfce installed in your build environment - you may run into issues. Best to build it on an a clean environment first (consider using a VM with only the base X components installed).

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