This install guide is designed for Windows users who are new to linux, and want to install XPde on Fedora Core 4. This guide assumes you are running Fedora's default desktop installation with the Gnome interface.
Warning: once you successfully install XPde, you will find that it is not ready for production use. In fact, it's only at the "proof of concept" stage of development. Yes, there is a desktop, yes there are icons and a start menu. But most features do not work out of the box. In the display properties, for example, you can change the wallpaper, but all other features are not yet implemented. The only desktop icon to work natively is the command prompt. The Internet Browser icon crashes the shell. Some users have achieved more success, but only after performing major surgery to the installation.
Before you begin
If you have tried the other solutions which involved editing code, do your best to undo your work. If you run into trouble after performing the following installation steps, you probably need to do a fresh install of Fedora, and then start here.
Don't worry about finding or creating .xinitrc files or discovering that you don't have a Sessions folder. These other instructions are bogus and do not apply.
If you are upgrading from a previous version, you should remove the old version before installing 0.5.1. Delete the /usr/share/xpde folder, and the .xpde folder in your Home folder. (Hint: just open the Home icon from the desktop, and choose "Show Hidden Files" from the view menu to see the .xpde folder.)
Suggestion: enable the File Browser. It's much friendlier and Explorer-like than the default Gnome mac-classic-like browser. Go to the Fedora menu, choose Desktop, Preferences, File Management. Go to the Behavior tab and enable "Always open in browser windows." This will force the Computer and Home desktop icons to open to the full-featured File Browser.
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Installation
1. Download the 0.5.1 release package
Using Firefox, download the 0.5.1 package, and open it with the default package viewer. Extract the package to the /usr/share folder. (Hint: when using the folder browser to select the destination folder, hightlight but do not enter the share folder. The selected folder is assumed to be the destination folder in Gnome.)
2. Create a desktop xsession file
This file tells the system that there is another shell available. Open a text editor (usually by going to the Fedora menu, Accessories, Text Editor) and paste the following text:
Code:
Code:
[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Type=XSession
Exec=/usr/share/xpde/bin/startxpde
Name=XPde
Comment=The XPde Desktop Environment
Save the file as /usr/share/xsessions/XPde.desktop. (Hint: linux is case sensitive. "XP" is uppercase, "de.desktop" is lowercase.) Leave the text editor open.
3. Set executable permissions on the desktop xsession file
Next, open the Computer icon on the desktop, or the File Browser (Fedora menu, system tools, File Browser) and navigate to /usr/share/xsessions. Right-click on the XPde file, and choose Properties. In the properties window, go to the Permissions tab and enable execute permissions for all groups.
4. Disable SElinux
SElinux is a security add-on that often interferes with shared library execution, and is usually the cause of the "your session lasted less than 10 seconds" error. Fedora installation enables SElinux by default, so you probably need to turn it off. Go back to the text editor and open /etc/selinux/config. Change the entry for "SELINUX=enforcing" to "SELINUX=disabled". Save and close the config file.
5. Reboot and select the XPde session
In the Fedora menu, select log out, and choose Restart the Computer. When Fedora restarts to the login screen, go to the Sessions menu at the bottom-left of the screen. Click and choose "XPde" from the pop-up window. Then login with your usual credentials.
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