XFCE in TinyCore 15 32 Bits

[ALF]

Hi comunnity, this is my first POST about Amazing TinyCore Linux..

I have spent a lot of time trying to install XFCE4 with Tiny Core 15, please tell me your experience about how to do it...is possible..?

I understand that the problem is with XFCE4 Windows manager Called XFWM4..don't exist in the repository for TC15..

Thanks!

[Rich]

Hi ALF
Welcome to the forum.

I don't use xfce, but according to this:
https://docs.xfce.org/xfce/getting-started
the command to start it is:

Code: [Select]

startxfce4
startxfce4  is provided by  xfce4-session.tcz.

These are all of the available xfce4 extensions:

Code: [Select]

libxfce4ui-doc.tcz
libxfce4ui-locale.tcz
libxfce4ui.tcz
libxfce4util-doc.tcz
libxfce4util-locale.tcz
libxfce4util.tcz
xfce4-appfinder-locale.tcz
xfce4-appfinder.tcz
xfce4-panel-doc.tcz
xfce4-panel-locale.tcz
xfce4-panel.tcz
xfce4-power-manager-doc.tcz
xfce4-power-manager-locale.tcz
xfce4-power-manager.tcz
xfce4-session-doc.tcz
xfce4-session-locale.tcz
xfce4-session.tcz
xfce4-settings-locale.tcz
xfce4-settings.tcz

[ALF]

Thanks Rich, but don't work.. i made two things..

1. First i made
tce-load -wi Xfbdev wbar libxfce4ui-doc.tcz libxfce4ui-locale.tcz libxfce4ui.tcz......xfce4-session.tcz xfce4-settings-locale.tcz xfce4-settings.tcz

sudo reboot..and nothings happens...the same TinyCoreScreen with an "X" instead mouse pointer...please view attached image...

Another thing...startxfce4 don't recognize the command...

Where are xfce4 taskbar, icons..etc..?

1. Make a new virtual machine with.
tce-load Xfbdev wbar openbox obconf aterm bash htop

startx and start a typical openbox desktop manager in TinyCore...

after run Appss loads OnBoot

libxfce4ui-doc.tcz
libxfce4ui-locale.tcz
libxfce4ui.tcz
libxfce4util-doc.tcz
libxfce4util-locale.tcz
libxfce4util.tcz
xfce4-appfinder-locale.tcz
xfce4-appfinder.tcz
xfce4-panel-doc.tcz
xfce4-panel-locale.tcz
xfce4-panel.tcz
xfce4-power-manager-doc.tcz
xfce4-power-manager-locale.tcz
xfce4-power-manager.tcz
xfce4-session-doc.tcz
xfce4-session-locale.tcz
xfce4-session.tcz
xfce4-settings-locale.tcz
xfce4-settings.tcz

reboot and nothing happen..the same openbox desktop..

if i quit to prompt and type

startxfce4

startxfce4: Starting X Server
startxfce4: excec: line 118: xinit: not found

I will be ver thankfull if you can give me an step by step...

Where is XFWM4 ? , why only exists for TinyCore 5.x.? Maybe the problem..?

Thanks!

[Juanito]

The xfce4 extensions don’t look to have been maintained since tc-5.x and as you say xfwm4 is missing.

I suspect that the xfce4 infrastructure would need rebuilding for tc-15.x.

[Rich]

Hi ALF
TC11 is the last version that lists xfwm4 extensions.
If you want to see if they still work, you can download
the files from here:
http://tinycorelinux.net/11.x/x86/tcz/xfwm4.tcz
http://tinycorelinux.net/11.x/x86/tcz/xfwm4.tcz.dep
http://tinycorelinux.net/11.x/x86/tcz/xfwm4-locale.tcz
http://tinycorelinux.net/11.x/x86/tcz/xfwm4-locale.tcz.dep

[ALF]

Thanks frieds...but don't work too...

Also i idid
tce-load -wi xorg-server
tce-load -wi Xorg-7.7

And..Same error..
startxfce4: Starting X Server
startxfce4: exec: line 118: xinit: not found

where is xinit..?

I had attached two images..

Maybe LXDE could be another option..?

[Juanito]

Xinit is an xorg app - I don’t believe it is present in tc-15.x and I’m not sure how the xfce4 extensions maintainer intended xfce4 to be started.

[ALF]

Thanks Juanito, so then ..is not possible..?

[GNUser]

Why not use a simple window manager such as openbox or fluxbox (which are well maintained on TCL and thoroughly tested) and then figure out how to run thunar (and whatever other applications you like from XFCE) on TCL? It's a smaller problem to solve.

When I switched all my home's computers to TCL a few years ago, I ran into a similar issue: My family was used to MATE desktop environment, but MATE's window manager is not available on TCL. No problem: I switched to a simpler window manager (fluxbox in my case) and then figured out how to run the familiar MATE applications (including caja file manager) on TCL. My family members barely noticed the difference. Window manager is like basic plumbing, hidden (in plain sight!) from casual user.

[ALF]

Hello GNUser, you're absolutely right!! In fact, I use TC with OpenBox and Rox-Filer ( view attached image ) to have icons on the desktop... it works very well!!

Regarding XFCE, it's more of an academic topic... if it's in the repository, I hoped it would work... XFCE is very well-known and could be very comfortable for other people... I'm thinking of installing TC on some XFCE installations if possible... the support team is more familiar with an XFCE desktop... in summary, it's an academic and comfort matter.

[GNUser]

Hi ALF. I don't use xfwm4 but decided to hack my way into making it work on my TCL15 64 bit system. Experiment was successful! I assume making it work on your TCL15 32 bit system would be similar. How motivated are you?

1. Grab a few .deb packages

Do you have access to a Debian or Devuan installation? If so you can download the xfwm4 .deb file like so:

Code: [Select]

apt download xfwm4
It is trivial to convert a Debian .deb package into a TCL .tcz extension (search the forum).

I found xfwm4 needed a few libraries available in these other .deb packages: libxfce4ui-2-0, libxfce4util7, and libxfconf-0-3. You can likewise convert these .deb into .tcz.

2. Put the four custom .tcz extensions in the tce/optional directory and add them to tce/onboot.lst

3. Create startup script ~/.X.d/start-xfwm4.sh
Script should look like this and be executable:

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#!/bin/sh
xfwm4 &

4. Reboot

It works for me (see attached). If it doesn't work for you, it's probably just a matter of a few additional missing libraries. If you decide to pursue this and get stuck, let me know and I'll help if I can. We can also make it less hacky (e.g., by creating a proper xfwm4.tcz.dep rather than listing each individual custom extension in onboot.lst).

[ALF]

Perfect ! GNUser, Thanks you!!, sounds good!!! This weekend I will do it...I am very motivated...!!

I love to learn..

I'll keep you posted on the results!!

[GNUser]

Hi ALF. I have bad news: Building an xfwm4 extension with borrowed binaries and libraries from Debian is not going to work on TCL15 x86, so don't bother

I tried it myself and got very close, but hit this brick wall:

Code: [Select]

$ xfwm4
... /usr/local/lib/libxfce4ui-2.so.0: undefined symbol: gdk_wayland_display_get_type
It seems that for TCL15 32 bit, creating a proper xfwm4 extension by compiling from source would be necessary.

The good news is that the TCL15 32 bit repo already contains a lot of xfwm4's dependencies, namely these:

Code: [Select]

gtk3.tcz
libXdamage.tcz
libstartup-notification.tcz
libXres.tcz
The bad news is that the TCL15 32 bit repo is missing a few libraries that, judging from the Debian binary, xfwm4 depends on. Namely these:

Code: [Select]

Shared library: [libxfce4kbd-private-3.so.0]                           
Shared library: [libxfce4ui-2.so.0]                             
Shared library: [libxfce4util.so.7]
Shared library: [libxfconf-0.so.3]
Shared library: [libXpresent.so.1]
Long story short, building xfwm4 for TCL15 x86 would be a big project that would entail creating normal and -dev extensions of the missing libraries plus xfwm4 itself (so potentially 5x2+1=11 new extensions). Brutal.

[Juanito]

The wayland error you see is because mesa/x is not compiled against wayland in tc x86 to avoid additional size.

[nick65go]

Out of curiosity, what is so important/critically desired for XFCE?
I mean I like very much XFCE (in Alpine Linux), but my understanding is that XFCE is, like GNOME or KDE, just a desktop-environment, aka a bunch of applications (file manager, control panel, etc) + windows-manager + task-bar.

1.So, if small SIZE is the main goal, then Tiny Core has already the FLTK +WBAR + tc-panel, you just need a small file manager (gkt1 /2), some sound/memory applets (like flit, etc) for icons of ram/cpu/sound/network etc.

2. But if the goal is super-flue, like convenience, or "consistency" of colours (blah), or icons (who cares to remember their goal, if more than 10-20 icons) then ... good luck. BTW, XFCE was, once upon time, a relative small desktop paradigm alternative; not anymore.

3. if you want more "security" then CPU + kernel + libc/musl should be the latest (and bloated) -- because vulnerabilities were discovered and corrected (keep dreaming). The price must be paid somewhere, as time/ money /speed /size/ resources.

PS: in my conception, humanity must pay for at lest 3 things: laziness, or luxury or stupidity.