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GNOME SlackBuild (GSB)

Getting Support

  • The preferred means of getting support is to join the GSB User Discussion Mailing List and ask questions. (Note: You must be subscribed to the mailing list in order to post messages).
  • You can try for immediate help by dropping by our #gsb IRC channel on irc.freenode.net and ask questions. We may not always be around and available to answer, but we do always respond. (Eventually). :)
  • Another means of reporting bugs is our Development Wiki. If you do not wish to use the mailing lists, you can use our Binary Issues Wiki to register any bugs, errors, or problems.

Before you ask questions, please check the FAQs, and search the user discussion mailing list archives.


FAQs

I've just installed GSB. How do I make it my default desktop environment? And how do I start it?

You should be able to simply select GNOME by running `xwmconfig` (as root). If that doesn't work:

  1. Execute the following command as root:
    cd /etc/X11/xinit ; ln -f  xinitrc.gnome xinitrc
    
  2. Then, using your own user account, execute the following command:
    rm ~/.xinitrc
    
  3. To start GSB/GNOME:
    startx
    

You may also want to consider setting your initab to init 4, to start the graphical environment automatically.

What's the difference between GSB and Dropline GNOME?

Not a whole lot, actually. Dropline GNOME is a similar project, and has been around longer. It's simply another choice/alternative of a GNOME distribution for Slackware. GSB does not "compete" with Dropline. Matter of fact, the Dropline and GSB teams collaborate together periodically. Some folks however, do appreciate that GSB does not add PAM to Slackware, and tries to replace as few standard Slackware packages as possible.

I tried to install GSB '-current' via slapt-get/net-install, and it fails, saying that I have 'unmet dependencies.' Why?

Note that the "-current" branch is under constant development, and may have bugs. Hence, gsb-current isn't officially supported. If you encounter any bugs in gsb-current, it would be appreciated if you reported them using the GSB Development List in the mailing lists section.

How do I uninstall GSB?

Please note that when uninstalling, you will have to reinstall some packages from the "l" disk set on your Slackware CD-ROM. Please refer to "replaced packages" file for more information.

slapt-get method:

$ slapt-get --search 'gsb$'|awk '{print $1}'| \
    xargs -r slapt-get --remove -y

manual method:

$ cd /var/log/packages
$ ls -1| grep gsb$| xargs -n 1 removepkg

This will remove all packages that are provided by GNOME SlackBuild. You'll need to comment out the SOURCE for GNOME SlackBuild in your /etc/slapt-get/slapt-getrc file. Then make sure to rerun slapt-get --update. After you have uninstalled GNOME SlackBuild, you'll need to reinstall a few standard Slackware packages by running:

$ slapt-get --install glib2 libwnck

You may also need to reinstall other packages that may have been replaced, such as mozilla-firefox, libgsf, or compiz.

How can I install GSB using slapt-get?

First, make certain you have the GSB package respository in your /etc/slapt-get/slapt-getrc;

  1. SOURCE=<full-path-to-the-mirror-of-your-choice>/gsb-<version>
    

    See the Download section for a list of avaliable mirrors.

    (don't forget to run `slapt-get --update` after adding new respositories!)

  2. Then run the following command;
    $ slapt-get --install gsb-desktop
    
After installing GSB, my keyboard does not repeat keys any longer. How is that fixed?

From GNOME Menu Bar, choose "Desktop -> Preferences -> Keyboard", then check the "Repeat Keys" box.

My KDE Menus are all messed up after installing GSB. How do I fix them?

The KDE menus might be changed if you install GSB because of the gnome-menus package, The gnome-menus package implements the freedesktop.org desktop menu specification. There is a simple fix for this. Just add the following near the top of the startkde script:

$ export XDG_CONFIG_DIRS=/etc/kde/xdg

If the improper menus persist, run kbuildsycoca from Konsole after you have logged into KDE. Thanks to Jim Philips and Locustfurnace for pointing it out.

My Mime Types/File Associations are all screwed up after I installed GSB. What do I do to fix that?

Run the following commands as root:

$ /usr/bin/update-mime-database \
     /usr/share/mime
$ /usr/bin/update-desktop-database
Does GSB require the Linux 2.6 kernel?

As of Slackware 12.1, yes - it does.

Must I subscribe to post messages to the lists? Do I need a Google or Gmail Account?

Yes - you must subscribe to the lists to post messages. However, you do not need a Google or Gmail account - you only need to subscribe with a valid email address.

Can I send email to the mailing lists, like most other lists?

Yes - when you subscribe to the lists, you'll see instructions on how to post messages to the list, along with the email address to send your messages to. Remember to use Google Help, and do not bug the GSB developers/admins about how to use Google Groups.

Do you support GSB installed on Slackware-current?

No we do not. At this time, we support GSB on Slackware 12.1 only. You can try to install GSB on Slackware-current, but support requests will be ignored.

Does GSB replace any official Slackware packages?

Yes it does - but very few. See the replaced_packages file for a list of packages that GSB replaces/upgrades. Note that GSB does not install PAM, nor does it replace the X11 windowing system.

I installed KDE after GSB was installed, and now some icons are missing or broken? How do I fix it?

Installing the package "kdebase" seems to break the hicolor icon specification for GSB. If you find that you're missing any GNOME icons, your best bet is to reinstall the standard Slackware package "hicolor-icon-theme".

$ slapt-get --install --reinstall hicolor-icon-theme
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