Xfce Forum

rjl6789

Member

Registered: 2019-08-15

Posts: 5

Whisker Menu - local installation

Hi,

I'm playing with a manually compiled local installation i.e.

PREFIX=/not/the/usual

All is fine and I have a working XFCE - however trying to compile whisker-menu-plugin I use:

cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="${PREFIX}" -DCMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR="${PREFIX}"/lib -DCMAKE_INSTALL_BINDIR="${PREFIX}"/bin -DCMAKE_INSTALL_DATADIR="${PREFIX}"/share ..

then

make && make install

compilation goes ok without any errors - however I cannot add the panel item as it complains about multiple missing libraries e.g.

libgarcon-1.so.0

I've got around this by symlinking all the libraries it wants i.e.

for f in $(ls -d "${PREFIX}"/lib/*.so); do ln -s $f /lib; done
for f in $(ls -d "${PREFIX}"/lib/*.so.0); do ln -s $f /lib; done

However, I was wondering if there was some compile option I'm missing? I don't see it in the readme's ? Other panel items I've compiled e.g. statusnotifier and cpugraph went without a hitch (they use the autogen/configure compilation method). 

Thanks for any hints and tips

Regards

Last edited by rjl6789 (2019-08-15 20:11:57)

Aravisian

Member

Registered: 2019-08-17

Posts: 410

Re: Whisker Menu - local installation

I am probably unlikely to say anything smart, at this point... But I figure some help is better than no help.

What Distro are you installing on?
Is there a reason you are manually installing rather than installing from ppa , gdebi or Synaptic?
I ask this question because if another method of installation would work better- it may be helpful for you to explore that. Whereas if you are doing it to practice, learn and seize full control of your system, you will want more detailed answers on the method you have chosen.

rjl6789

Member

Registered: 2019-08-15

Posts: 5

Re: Whisker Menu - local installation

Hi, thanks for the response.

It's the latter.  But I'm on debian stable (buster), so 4.14 isn't available as far as I'm aware? (2019.08.20)  I thought I'd have a play as I was curious about the HiDPI and GTK3 integration.

Anyway, I'd consider it a low priority question - as mentioned there's a simple work around.  I was just curious about getting an install based on a non-standard prefix - which is possible for the xfce4.14 core packages and the panel items i'd compiled - just not the whisker menu.  It's nice seeing what actually goes into making up xfce4.14 (in isolation, e.g. dbus services, polkit actions, configs etc) and all the hardwork and effort and how neat the system really is.

Whilst not solved, I'm going to guess there aren't that many people trying to do what I have, so no worries.

Cheers

Aravisian

Member

Registered: 2019-08-17

Posts: 410

Re: Whisker Menu - local installation

It's the latter.

I believe that is an excellent reason. If a person is going to operate a chainsaw or a motor vehicle, they should learn all about it, as well. Much better than accepting the machine with blind faith and then frustration when it doesn't work as you wanted it to.

I moved over to Linux this past January and to XFCE from Gnome only a couple months ago (or a bit less.) I am enjoying XCFE much more than Gnome, I admit. At least, more than what Gnome3 is turning into...  But I get to start learning it over again. One thing I have noticed in searching the web for answers is- it can take some time to get answers. I have seen threads on Ubuntu Forums started in 2013 that get an answer posted in 2016.
I will use VM and try to re-create your steps in the next few days and see what I find- for the same reason as you. IF I find anything and your thread has not yet been answered, I will post my results.
But today, I am going to go ask a really dumb question of my own that I cannot find the answer to... And don't say there is not such thing as a dumb question. I've heard (and asked) tons of them.

I've heard some dumb answers, too

Last edited by Aravisian (2019-08-20 14:18:34)

Aravisian

Member

Registered: 2019-08-17

Posts: 410

Re: Whisker Menu - local installation

rj,
Yes, 4.14 is not available for Buster and will not be for a very long time from what I read.
I downloaded WhiskerMenu.deb and extracted the files, read "Control" and pulled the dependencies:

libc6 (>= 2.14), libcairo2 (>= 1.2.4), libexo-2-0 (>= 0.11.0), libgarcon-1-0 (>= 0.6.0), libgcc1 (>= 1:3.0), libgdk-pixbuf2.0-0 (>= 2.22.0), libglib2.0-0 (>= 2.35.9), libgtk-3-0 (>= 3.21.5), libstdc++6 (>= 5.2), libxfce4panel-2.0-4 (>= 4.11.0), libxfce4ui-2-0 (>= 4.11.0), libxfce4util7 (>= 4.9.0)

So, I do not think you are missing anything; I think that WhiskerMenu is not set up for what you are trying to do. Nor is XFCE 4.14 set up for it, either. (EDIT: For clarity, "it" refers to WhiskerMenu)
Developer assumption being that you are using the software within the reasonable timeframe of its applicability in relation to other software.
WhiskerMenu may need developer support to get it updated and patched for 4.14 which is... Very New and not commonly found on most systems at this time, I think.
This analogy is flawed but...
It's like if you bought the 2020 Tesla and then pulled a 1994 Ford Mustang alternator and tried to install it in the Tesla. It should work in theory, but you have to patch all the connections and adjust the Rectifier pretty heavily on your own to get it to work.

The only near to Latest and Greatest O.S. copy I have handy is Zorin 15, so I played around with it on VM with that.
I am by no means an expert, just an enthusiast that is curious and wanting to learn things. I speak out of experiment, trial and error and speculation. So take it with a grain of salt.

Last edited by Aravisian (2019-08-21 11:26:47)

rjl6789

Member

Registered: 2019-08-15

Posts: 5

Re: Whisker Menu - local installation

Thanks for giving it a shot. No worries.  Linux: pretty much infinite ways to tinker, rabbit holes to go down and trouble to get into. Keeps the ol grey matter ticking!

Thanks again, appreciated. I built up an Arch VM and just installed as the arch repos have the latest and greatest. It is all very good!

Cheers

Rob

Last edited by rjl6789 (2019-08-22 09:52:57)