
These instructions cover how to setup the profile required to ensure your
computer can login to your newly-built KDE Plasma™ desktop. kdesrc-build
will normally try to do this automatically (see the section called “Automatically installing a login driver”). This appendix section can be useful for those who
cannot use kdesrc-build's support for login profile setup. However the
instructions may not always be up-to-date, it can also be useful to consult the
kde-env-master.sh
file included with the kdesrc-build
source.
Important
The .bash_profile
is the login settings
file for the popular bash shell used by many Linux®
distributions. If you use a different shell, then you may need to adjust the
samples given in this section for your particular shell.
Open or create the .bash_profile
file in the home directory with your favorite editor,
and add to the end of the file:
If you are building the qt module (you are by default), add instead:
QTDIR=(path to qtdir) # Such as ~/kdesrc/build/qt by default. KDEDIR=(path to kdedir) # Such as ~/kde by default. KDEDIRS=$KDEDIR PATH=$KDEDIR/bin:$QTDIR/bin:$PATH MANPATH=$QTDIR/doc/man:$MANPATH # Act appropriately if LD_LIBRARY_PATH is not already set. if [ -z $LD_LIBRARY_PATH ]; then LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$KDEDIR/lib:$QTDIR/lib else LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$KDEDIR/lib:$QTDIR/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH fi export QTDIR KDEDIRS PATH MANPATH LD_LIBRARY_PATH
or, if you are not building qt (and are using your system Qt™ instead), add this instead:
KDEDIR=(path to kdedir) # Such as ~/kde by default. KDEDIRS=$KDEDIR PATH=$KDEDIR/bin:$QTDIR/bin:$PATH # Act appropriately if LD_LIBRARY_PATH is not already set. if [ -z $LD_LIBRARY_PATH ]; then LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$KDEDIR/lib else LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$KDEDIR/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH fi export KDEDIRS PATH LD_LIBRARY_PATH
If you are not using a dedicated user, set a different $KDEHOME
for your new environment in your .bash_profile
:
export KDEHOME="${HOME}/.kde-svn" # Create it if needed [ ! -e ~/.kde-svn ] && mkdir ~/.kde-svn
Note
If later your K Menu is empty or too crowded with applications from your
distribution, you may have to set the XDG environment
variables in your .bash_profile
:
XDG_CONFIG_DIRS="/etc/xdg" XDG_DATA_DIRS="${KDEDIR}/share:/usr/share" export XDG_CONFIG_DIRS XDG_DATA_DIRS
Now that you have adjusted your environment settings to use the correct KDE, it is important to ensure that the correct startkde script is used as well.
Open the .xinitrc
text file from the home directory, or
create it if necessary. Add the line:
exec ${KDEDIR}/bin/startkde
Important
On some distributions, it may be necessary to perform the same
steps with the .xsession
file, also in the home directory.
This is especially true when using graphical login managers such as
kdm, gdm, or xdm.
Now start your fresh KDE: in BSD and Linux® systems with virtual terminal support, Ctrl+Alt+F1 ... Ctrl+Alt+F12 keystroke combinations are used to switch to Virtual Console 1 through 12. This allows you to run more than one desktop environment at the same time. The fist six are text terminals and the following six are graphical displays.
If when you start your computer you are presented to the graphical display
manager instead, you can use the new KDE environment, even if it is not listed
as an option. Most display managers, including kdm, have an option to use
a “Custom Session” when you login. With this option, your session settings are
loaded from the .xsession
file in your home directory. If
you have already modified this file as described above, this option should load
you into your new KDE installation.
If it does not, there is something else you can try that should normally work: Press Ctrl+Alt+F2, and you will be presented to a text terminal. Log in using the dedicated user and type:
startx--
:1
Tip
You can run the KDE from sources and the old KDE at the same time! Log in using your regular user, start the stable KDE desktop. Press Ctrl+Alt+F2 (or F1, F3, etc..), and you will be presented with a text terminal. Log in using the dedicated KDE Subversion user and type:
startx--
:1
You can go back to the KDE desktop of your regular user by pressing the shortcut key for the already running desktop. This is normally Ctrl+Alt+F7, you may need to use F6 or F8 instead. To return to your kdesrc-build-compiled KDE, you would use the same sequence, except with the next function key. For example, if you needed to enter Ctrl+Alt+F7 to switch to your regular KDE, you would need to enter Ctrl+Alt+F8 to go back to your kdesrc-build KDE.