KDE Pre-installation Configuration

Based on your preference, set KDE_PREFIX.

One option is to put KDE into the /usr hierarchy. This creates a simpler setup but is more difficult to try multiple versions of KDE.

export KDE_PREFIX=/usr

A method of building multiple versions installs KDE in the /opt hierarchy:

export KDE_PREFIX=/opt/kde-3.5.9

Remember to execute ldconfig after installation of libraries to update the library cache.

If you are not installing KDE in /usr, you will need to make some configuration changes:

You should consider installing the desktop-file-utils-0.13 package. Though not required, this package will allow you to easily use existing .desktop files in /usr/share/applications (and any other locations identified by XDG_DATA_DIRS), and automatically add these applications to the KDE menu system.

Add to your system or personal profile:

export PATH=$PATH:/opt/kde-3.5.9/bin
export PKG_CONFIG_PATH=$PKG_CONFIG_PATH:/opt/kde-3.5.9/lib/pkgconfig

Add to your /etc/ld.so.conf:

cat >> /etc/ld.so.conf << "EOF"
# Begin kde addition to /etc/ld.so.conf

/opt/kde-3.5.9/lib

# End kde addition
EOF

Add to your /etc/man_db.conf:

cat >> /etc/man_db.conf << "EOF"
# Begin kde addition to man_db.conf

MANDATORY_MANPATH /opt/kde-3.5.9/man

# End kde addition to man_db.conf
EOF
[Tip]

Tip

If you prefer installing KDE in /opt, one trick to avoid the above configuration changes every time you install a new version is to replace /opt/kde-3.5.9 with /opt/kde and to create a symlink from /opt/kde-3.5.9 to /opt/kde.

ln -v -sf kde-3.5.9 /opt/kde

Last updated on 2007-04-04 14:42:53 -0500