source: gnome/gnome-intro.xml@ 01bf7b38

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   "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.4/docbookx.dtd" [
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<partintro>

  <title>Introduction to GNOME</title>

  <para>This chapter presents the instructions to install a complete
  <application>GNOME</application>-&gnome-version;&gnome-minor-version;
  desktop environment and a limited <application>GNOME</application> 1.4
  library environment that is sufficient to run
  <application>GNOME</application> 1.4 applications included in this book.
  The order of the pages follow the build order defined by the
  <application>GNOME</application> development team as published in previous
  versions of the <ulink
  url="http://www.gnome.org/start/&gnome-version;/notes/en">
  release notes</ulink>. Note that the development team did not publish a
  build order for the &gnome-version;&gnome-minor-version; release.</para>

  <para>The installation of
  <application>GNOME</application>-&gnome-version;&gnome-minor-version;
  is a large undertaking and one we would like to see you complete with the
  least amount of stress. One of the first goals in this installation is to
  protect your previously installed software, especially if you are testing
  <application>GNOME</application> on your machine.
  <application>GNOME</application>-&gnome-version; packages utilize the
  <option>--prefix=option</option> passed to <command>configure</command>,
  so you will use that and an environment variable (<envar>GNOME_PREFIX</envar>)
  to add flexibility to the installation.</para>

  <para>To install <application>GNOME</application> as your desktop of choice,
  it is recommended that you install using
  <option>--prefix=/usr</option>. If you are not sure that you are going
  to keep the <application>GNOME</application> installation, or you think you
  will update to the newest releases as they become available, you should
  install with <option>--prefix=/opt/gnome-&gnome-version;</option>.
  Setting the environment variable and the additional edits required by the
  second option are covered on the pre-installation page.</para>

  <para>If you choose the second option, removal of
  <application>GNOME</application>-&gnome-version;&gnome-minor-version; is as
  easy as removing the edits from the pre-installation page and issuing the
  following command:</para>

<screen role="root"><userinput>rm -rf /opt/gnome-&gnome-version;</userinput></screen>

  <para>If your system was completely built per LFS and BLFS instructions,
  you have a very good chance of using
  <application>GNOME</application>-&gnome-version;&gnome-minor-version; after
  your first installation. If you are a typical LFS user, you have made
  modifications to the instructions along the way knowing that you have to
  take those modifications into account on future installations. You should
  have no problems integrating
  <application>GNOME</application>-&gnome-version;&gnome-minor-version; into
  your unique setup, but you will have to install almost 50 packages before
  you can run <application>GNOME</application> through any testing (assuming
  your window manager is preinstalled and tested). You should anticipate that
  you will be rebuilding <application>GNOME</application> at least once to
  make adjustments for your setup.</para>

  <para>If you are building a <application>GNOME</application> 1.4 desktop
  environment, you would install only those libraries in the
  <application>GNOME</application> 1.4 chapter <emphasis>and</emphasis> any
  dependencies listed on those pages, whether labeled or not.
  <application>GNOME</application> packages without pages are simply
  installed with:</para>

<screen><userinput>./configure --prefix=/opt/gnome-1.4 &amp;&amp;
make</userinput></screen>

  <para>Now, as the <systemitem class='username'>root</systemitem> user:</para>

<screen role='root'><userinput>make install</userinput></screen>

  <para>These instructions are simplistic to facilitate removal of
  <application>GNOME</application> 1.4 from BLFS systems when it is no longer
  necessary. These instructions may be refined later to comply with BLFS
  standards for file locations, specifically
  <filename class='directory'>/opt/gnome/etc</filename> to
  <filename class='directory'>/etc</filename> and
  <filename class='directory'>/opt/gnome/var</filename> to
  <filename class='directory'>/var</filename>. You should consider using
  the <application>GNOME</application> 1.4 hint located at
  <ulink url="&hints-root;"/> if you have no interest in
  <application>GNOME</application>-&gnome-version;&gnome-minor-version;.</para>

</partintro>