Installing XPDE
 

Dear all,

I visited the site XPDE (XP Desktop Environment) & was impressed by the screenshots. I downloaded the 10.5MB tar.gz file (version 0.4.0-20030730). I unpacked it using Ark in KDE. By the way I use Mandrake 9. I installed it by using the command ./install.sh. This script created a directory called /opt/xpde. But after that my login menu gave no option to run XPDE. How to include the option to run XPDE in login drop-down menu?
I serached the net for some guidance. I did the following based on posts in the XPDE site:

a) Copied the file xinitrcDEFAULT from the source directory home/my name/xpde-X.X.X/xinitrcDEFAULT

b) Renamed it and made it executable:
# mv xinitrcDEFAULT xpde
# chmod +x xpde

c) Made a soft link to this file on my /usr/local/bin
# ln -s /opt/xpde/bin/xpde /usr/local/bin/XPde

d) I created a file which specifies all the data needs the display manager to load XPde.
# vi /etc/X11/wmsession.d/08XPde
Pressed i to start typing and type this:

NAME=XPde
EXEC=/usr/local/bin/XPde
DESC=XPde Desktop Environment
SCRIPT:
exec /usr/local/bin/XPde

I rebooted. But the option was still not there. What went wrong. Currently I want to install XPDE from scratch. I love the XP look.

Thanx.

Hello. I tried installing the xpde myself also. It took alot of trouble shooting on my part to get it working. The file the program points to was in the wrong place I had to use the mv command. There should be a file that refers to the frogram in your wmsession fold is it there chances are not. When you do get it running it is a waste. My harddrive just sat and spun after it opened and the system was really sluggish. The program has tons of dead system links included by default. Yes the program looks pretty but in my opinion it is not worth the time. It took me about a hour to get it working and was a big mistake. Just look at the readme and where programs are supposed to go and move them there and then it should work. But i do believe you won't like it unless you are really new to linux and don't mind some of the advanced features being turned off. I would not use it myself.

Hope I was a help!

Thanx anti!

I am new to linux and double boot with XP Pro. I will take your advice and try to customize KDE with some nice themes. IceWM is nice too, but configuring it is not that easy.

Thanx again.