summaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
path: root/doc/faq/install.docbook
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to 'doc/faq/install.docbook')
-rw-r--r--doc/faq/install.docbook726
1 files changed, 726 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/doc/faq/install.docbook b/doc/faq/install.docbook
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6ab33ef78
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/faq/install.docbook
@@ -0,0 +1,726 @@
+<!-- <?xml version="1.0" ?>
+<!DOCTYPE chapter PUBLIC "-//KDE//DTD DocBook XML V4.2-Based Variant V1.1//EN"
+ "dtd/kdex.dtd">
+-->
+
+<chapter id="install">
+<title>Installation instructions</title>
+
+<para>These are the generic installation instructions for the K
+Desktop Environment. Please complement your reading with the
+<filename>README</filename>s and <filename>INSTALL</filename>s that
+come along with the package. Please read them carefully and try to
+help yourself out if anything goes wrong. If you need further
+assistance, consider joining the &kde; mailing lists
+(see our web site instructions for joining the &kde;
+<ulink url="http://www.kde.org/mailinglists/">mailing
+lists</ulink>) or newsgroups.</para>
+
+
+<qandaset>
+
+
+<qandaentry>
+<question>
+<para>To the would-be converts</para>
+</question>
+<answer>
+
+<para>So you have heard the rumors. Or you have seen the screenshots.
+And you are dying to get hold of &kde;. But you know next to nothing
+about this whole <quote>alternative OS</quote> business. Don't worry!
+You only need to do some (well, maybe not some) reading, that's
+all!</para>
+
+<para>&kde; does not run on any version of &Microsoft; &Windows; or OS/2 (yet). To run
+&kde;, you need to have a &UNIX; system. Please refer to <xref
+linkend="platform"/> for more details.</para>
+
+<para>Decide on a platform and set it up for your system. This
+<acronym>FAQ</acronym> can not help you with this, since &kde;<ulink
+url="http://www.kde.org"> runs on many &UNIX;</ulink> platforms. </para>
+
+<!-- Taken out because we can not help with all platforms and KDEisnotLINUX -->
+
+<para>Finally, you are ready to commence the &kde; installation.
+Please start reading from the next section. To get &kde;, please
+refer to <xref linkend="where-to-get-kde"/>. Last but not least, if
+you encounter any problems while installing &kde;, please do not
+hesitate to make use of the &kde; <link
+linkend="mailing-lists">mailing lists</link> and <link
+linkend="newsgroups">newsgroups</link>. But do bear this in mind: no
+question is too silly to ask, but some are too silly to answer,
+especially when they are already answered in this <acronym>FAQ</acronym>.</para>
+<para>Good luck and have fun!</para>
+
+</answer>
+</qandaentry>
+
+<qandaentry>
+<question>
+<para>What kind of hardware do I need to run &kde; ?</para>
+</question>
+<answer>
+<para>To run &kde; it is recommended that you have at least a pentium II processor, 64MB of memory and 500MB of free disk space for a basic installation. While &kde; may run on slower configurations than this, performance can be severely impaired. Generally, if your computer runs an &X-Server; already with other desktop environments or window managers it's probably fast enough to run &kde;.</para>
+</answer>
+</qandaentry>
+
+<qandaentry>
+<question>
+<para>Available package formats</para>
+</question>
+<answer>
+
+
+<para>You can find several kinds of binary and source packages for
+different distributions and operating systems on the &kde-ftp;. The
+binary packages are not made by the &kde; Team, but by the
+distributors themselves, or some dedicated individuals. Please refer to
+<ulink url="http://dot.kde.org/986933826/">&kde; Package Policy
+Explained</ulink> for information about the &kde; Package Policy. The
+only <quote>official</quote> release is the source tar.bz2
+packages. Please refer to the <filename>README</filename>s and
+<filename>INSTALL</filename>s in the several binaries folders. For
+a list of the available packages for a release, refer to the relevant
+info page. For the latest release this is the <ulink
+url="http://www.kde.org/info/3.4.1.php">&kde; 3.4.1 Info
+Page</ulink>.</para>
+
+</answer>
+</qandaentry>
+
+<qandaentry>
+<question id="prerequisites">
+<para>Prerequisites</para>
+</question>
+<answer>
+
+<!-- rewrite to make it more general, pointing to the according webpages? -->
+
+<para>For &kde; 3.4.1, you need the &Qt; library version 3.3 or greater.
+Please make sure you download the correct &Qt;. You will
+also need the header files, if you want to compile &kde;
+yourself. They are all available, at no cost, from <ulink
+url="http://www.trolltech.com/products/download">http://www.trolltech.com/download</ulink>.
+In addition, there are optional libraries that might improve &kde; if
+installed on your system. An example is OpenSSL which will enable
+&konqueror; to browse web pages securely and is needed in a version
+>=0.9.6. These should be provided by your distributor; if not, ask
+for an update.</para>
+
+</answer>
+</qandaentry>
+
+<qandaentry>
+<question>
+<para>Description of the base packages</para>
+</question>
+<answer>
+<para>The base distribution currently consists of twenty
+packages. Some are required, while others are optional. Each package
+is available in each of the aforementioned package formats.</para>
+<variablelist>
+<varlistentry>
+<term>kdelibs</term>
+<listitem>
+<para>Required</para>
+<para>This package contains shared libraries that are needed by all
+&kde; applications.</para>
+</listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+<varlistentry>
+<term>kdebase</term>
+<listitem>
+<para>Required</para>
+<para>This package contains the base applications that form the core
+of the K Desktop Environment like the window manager, the terminal
+emulator, the control center, the file manager, and the panel.</para>
+</listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+<varlistentry>
+<term>&arts;</term>
+<listitem>
+<para>Required</para>
+<para>The &arts; sound server. A powerful, network transparent sound
+server.</para>
+</listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+<varlistentry>
+<term>kdeaddons</term>
+<listitem>
+<para>Optional</para>
+<para>Various plugins for &kate;, &kicker;, &knewsticker;, &konqueror; and &noatun; </para>
+</listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+<varlistentry>
+<term>kdeartwork</term>
+<listitem>
+<para>Optional</para>
+<para>Additional wallpapers, themes, styles, sounds ...</para>
+</listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+<varlistentry>
+<term>kdebindings</term>
+<listitem>
+<para>Optional</para>
+<para>Various bindings for other languages, including &Java;, Perl, Python, ...</para>
+</listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+<varlistentry>
+<term>kdegames</term>
+<listitem>
+<para>Optional</para>
+<para>Various games like &kmahjongg;, &ksnake;, &kasteroids;, and
+&kpatience;.</para>
+</listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+<varlistentry>
+<term>kdegraphics</term>
+<listitem>
+<para>Optional</para>
+<para>Various graphics-related programs like &PostScript; previewer,
+&DVI; previewer, and a drawing program.</para>
+</listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+<varlistentry>
+<term>kdeutils</term>
+<listitem>
+<para>Optional</para>
+<para>Various desktop tools like a calculator, an editor and other
+nifty stuff.</para>
+</listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+<varlistentry>
+<term>kdemultimedia</term>
+<listitem>
+<para>Optional</para>
+<para>Multimedia applications like a &CD; player and a mixer.</para>
+</listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+<varlistentry>
+<term>kdenetwork</term>
+<listitem>
+<para>Optional</para>
+<para>Network applications. Currently contains the instant messaging client &kopete;, the
+download manager &kget;, and several other network-related programs.</para>
+</listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+<varlistentry>
+<term>kdepim</term>
+<listitem>
+<para>Optional</para>
+<para>Personal information management tools. Contains the email client &kmail;, the newsreader &knode; and other related programs.</para>
+</listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+<varlistentry>
+<term>kdeadmin</term>
+<listitem>
+<para>Optional</para>
+<para>System administration programs.</para>
+</listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+<varlistentry>
+<term>kdeedu</term>
+<listitem>
+<para>Optional</para>
+<para>
+Educational and entertaining applications for &kde;'s younger users.
+</para>
+</listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+<varlistentry>
+<term>kdeaccessibility</term>
+<listitem>
+<para>Optional</para>
+<para>
+KDE accessibility programs such as a screen magnifier and speech synthesizer front end.
+</para>
+</listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+<varlistentry>
+<term>kdetoys</term>
+<listitem>
+<para>Optional</para>
+<para>Toys!</para>
+</listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+<varlistentry>
+<term>kdevelop</term>
+<listitem>
+<para>Optional</para>
+<para>A complete Integrated Development Environment for &kde; and Qt</para>
+</listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+<varlistentry>
+<term>kdewebdev</term>
+<listitem>
+<para>Optional</para>
+<para>Web development applications. Contains such applications as &quanta;, an integrated web development environment and other applications useful in web development</para>
+</listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+<varlistentry>
+<term>kdesdk</term>
+<listitem>
+<para>Optional</para>
+<para>KDE Software Development Kit. Contains a collection of applications and tools used by KDE Developers.</para>
+</listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+
+<para>&arts; and then kdelibs should be installed before everything
+else, and kdeaddons last. The other packages can be installed in any
+arbitrary order.</para>
+
+<para>Most package management tools will let you put all these
+packages in one folder and install them all at once, figuring out
+the dependencies as they go.</para>
+
+</answer>
+</qandaentry>
+
+<qandaentry>
+<question>
+<para>Installation instructions for the different package
+formats</para>
+</question>
+<answer>
+<para><important>
+<para>Please do not forget to read the <filename>README</filename> and <filename>INSTALL</filename> files if they are available.</para>
+</important></para>
+<variablelist>
+<varlistentry>
+<term>Installation of the Debian packages</term>
+<listitem>
+<para>The Debian packages install in accordance with the upcoming <acronym>FHS</acronym> (File
+Hierarchy Standard).</para>
+<procedure>
+<step performance="required"><para>become superuser</para></step>
+<step performance="required"><para>run <command>dpkg <option>-i
+<replaceable>packagename.deb</replaceable></option></command> for
+every package you want to install.</para></step>
+</procedure>
+</listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+<varlistentry>
+<term>Installation of the <acronym>RPM</acronym> packages</term>
+<listitem>
+<procedure>
+<title>To install binary <acronym>RPM</acronym>s</title>
+<step performance="required"><para>become superuser</para></step>
+<step performance="required"><para>execute <command>rpm <option>-ivh
+<replaceable>packagename.rpm</replaceable></option></command></para></step>
+</procedure>
+</listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+<varlistentry>
+<term>Installation of the source <filename>.tar.bz2</filename> files</term>
+<listitem>
+<para>Since there are always changes and updates to the way &kde; is compiled, please
+refer to <ulink url="http://developer.kde.org/build/index.html">Download and Install from Source</ulink> for the most up to date installation instructions for the source packages.
+</para>
+<para>The general approach should work in most cases though.
+</para>
+<para>The source <filename>.tar.bz2</filename> package installs into <filename
+class="directory">/usr/local/kde</filename> by default. You can
+override this setting by using the <option>--prefix</option> option of
+the <filename>configure</filename> script.</para>
+<procedure>
+<step performance="required"><para>unpack the packages with <command>tar <option>jxvf
+<replaceable>packagename.tar.bz2</replaceable></option></command></para></step>
+<step performance="required"><para>change folder to the package folder: <command>cd
+<replaceable>packagename</replaceable></command></para></step>
+<step performance="required"><para>configure the package: <command>./configure</command>
+<note><para>Some packages (notably kdebase) have special configuration
+options that might be applicable to your installation. Type
+<command>./configure <option>--help</option></command> to see the
+available options.</para></note></para></step>
+<step performance="required"><para>build the package: <command>make</command></para></step>
+<step performance="required"><para>install the package: <command>su <option>-c "make
+install"</option></command> (if you aren't already root). If you
+already are, just type <command>make
+<option>install</option></command>.</para></step>
+</procedure>
+</listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+</answer>
+</qandaentry>
+
+<qandaentry>
+<question>
+<para>Post-installation procedures</para>
+</question>
+<answer>
+<para>First of all, please make sure that you have added &kde;'s binary
+installation folder (&eg; <filename
+class="directory">/usr/local/kde/bin</filename>) to your <envar>PATH</envar>
+and &kde;'s
+library installation folder to your <envar>LD_LIBRARY_PATH</envar> (only
+necessary on systems that do not support rpath; on &Linux; &ELF;, it
+should work without). This environment variable may be called
+differently on some systems, &eg; it is called
+<envar>SHLIB_PATH</envar> on &IRIX;. Then set the environment variable
+<envar>KDEDIR</envar> to the base of your &kde; tree, &eg; <filename
+class="directory">/usr/local/kde</filename>.
+<caution>
+<para>Please bear in mind that it is unwise to set
+<envar>LD_LIBRARY_PATH</envar> blindly. In the vast majority of cases it is
+unnecessary and can do more harm than good. There is a web page
+written by <ulink url="mailto:barr@cis.ohio-state.edu">Dave
+Barr</ulink> explaining the evils of <envar>LD_LIBRARY_PATH</envar> and it can be
+found at <ulink
+url="http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/~barr/ldpath.html">http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/~barr/ldpath.html</ulink>.</para>
+</caution>
+</para>
+<para>Even though you can use most of the &kde; applications simply by
+calling them, you can only benefit fully from &kde;'s advanced
+features if you use the &kde; window manager and its helper
+programs.</para>
+<para>In order to make it easy for you, we have provided a simple
+script called <filename>startkde</filename> which gets installed in <filename
+class="directory">$<envar>KDEDIR</envar>/bin</filename> and is therefore in your
+path.</para>
+<para>Edit the file <filename>.xinitrc</filename> in your home folder (make a backup
+copy first!), remove everything that looks like calling a window
+manager, and insert <command>startkde</command> instead. Restart the &X-Server;. If you use
+&kdm;/<application>xdm</application>, you will have to edit the file <filename>.xsession</filename> instead of
+<filename>.xinitrc</filename>. And if there is no <filename>.xinitrc</filename> or <filename>.xsession</filename> in your home
+folder, simply create a new one with just one line containing
+<command>startkde</command>.
+<note>
+<para>Some systems (notably &RedHat; &Linux;) use <filename>.Xclients</filename>
+instead.</para>
+</note></para>
+<para>This should present you with a new shining &kde; desktop. You
+can now start to explore the wonderful world of &kde;. In case you
+want to read some documentation first, there is a highly recommended
+<ulink
+url="http://www.kde.org/documentation/quickstart/index.html">Quick Start
+guide</ulink> available. Furthermore, every application has an online
+help that is available via the <guimenu>help</guimenu> menu.</para>
+</answer>
+</qandaentry>
+
+
+<qandaentry>
+<question>
+<para>Should I remove old version xyz before installing a new
+one?</para>
+</question>
+<answer>
+<para>In principle, this is not necessary. <acronym>RPM</acronym> and Debian packages
+should take care of all dependencies.</para>
+<para>If you compile the source code yourself, you should take more care.
+Instructions for running two different versions of &kde; on the same system are
+given at <ulink
+url="http://developer.kde.org/build/kde2-and-kde3.html">http://developer.kde.org/build/kde2-and-kde3.html</ulink>.
+However, please note that running two different versions of &kde; from source
+can lead to problems if you are not careful. </para>
+</answer>
+</qandaentry>
+
+<qandaentry>
+<question id="startkde">
+<para>How do I start &kde;?</para>
+</question>
+<answer>
+<para>The most comfortable method to start &kde; is to use the
+<filename>startkde</filename> script. Simply put the line
+<command>startkde</command> at the end of your <filename>.xsession</filename>
+file (or your <filename>.xinitrc</filename> or <filename>.Xclients</filename>
+file if you are not using &kdm; or <application>xdm</application>). Please
+also remove the lines that start your previous window manager. If there is no
+<filename>.xsession</filename>, <filename>.xinitrc</filename>, or
+<filename>.Xclients</filename> in your home folder, simply create a new one
+that contains just one line: <command>startkde</command>.</para>
+</answer>
+</qandaentry>
+<!-- Still needed?
+<qandaentry>
+<question>
+<para>Whenever I start &kde;, it complains about "shadow passwords".
+Why?</para>
+</question>
+<answer>
+<para>When your system uses shadow passwords, the screensaver can only
+run properly if the suid bit is set. This bit gives the screensavers
+root privileges, which are needed to access the shadow passwords.
+<caution><para>The screensavers might be configured to secure the
+machine until the password is entered.</para></caution></para>
+<procedure>
+<title>Setting the suid bit on the screensavers</title>
+<step performance="required"><para>become root</para></step>
+<step performance="required"><para><command>chown root
+$<envar>KDEDIR</envar>/bin/*.kss</command></para></step>
+<step performance="required"><para><command>chmod u+s
+$<envar>KDEDIR</envar>/bin/*.kss</command></para></step>
+</procedure>
+<para>Alternatively, if you compile &kde; from source, you can use
+<command>./configure <option>with-shadow</option></command> to
+configure kdebase. Then the suid bit is set automatically during
+<command>make install</command>.</para>
+</answer>
+</qandaentry>
+-->
+<qandaentry>
+<question>
+<para>Is it possible to install &kde; in my home directory?</para>
+</question>
+<answer>
+<para>Yes, you can install &kde; in any folder you want. What you
+have to do depends on the kind of packages you want to install:</para>
+<procedure><title>Source packages</title>
+<step performance="required"><para>Configure and install the package using <command>configure
+<option>--prefix=<replaceable>/home/me</replaceable></option>;
+make; make install</command> to install into <filename
+class="directory">/home/me</filename>. Replace <replaceable>/home/me</replaceable> with your home directory, generally defined in <envar>$HOME</envar></para></step>
+<step performance="required"><para>Add the following to your init files. Please note that if
+it is not necessary for you to set <envar>LD_LIBRARY_PATH</envar>, it
+is better to leave it out.</para>
+
+<para>For csh or tcsh:</para>
+<programlisting>
+setenv KDEDIR /home/me
+
+if ( $?LD_LIBRARY_PATH ) then
+ setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH $KDEDIR/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
+else
+ setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH $KDEDIR/lib
+endif
+
+if ( ! $?LIBRARY_PATH ) then
+ setenv LIBRARY_PATH $LD_LIBRARY_PATH
+endif
+</programlisting>
+<para>For <application>bash</application>:</para>
+<programlisting>
+KDEDIR=/home/me
+PATH=$KDEDIR/bin:$PATH
+LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$KDEDIR/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
+LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
+export KDEDIR PATH LD_LIBRARY_PATH LIBRARY_PATH
+</programlisting></step>
+</procedure>
+<procedure><title><acronym>RPM</acronym> packages</title>
+<step performance="required"><para><command>rpm</command> allows you to use the
+<option>--prefix</option> option to select the folder you want to
+install to. For example, executing <command>rpm <option>-i
+--prefix=<replaceable>/home/me
+package.rpm</replaceable></option></command> will install the package
+to <filename
+class="directory">/home/me</filename>.</para></step>
+</procedure>
+<para><note>
+<para>Although &kde; will run from a user folder, there are some
+problems with programs that require suid root, &eg; the programs in
+the kdeadmin package. But since they are not meant to be run by users
+in the first place, this is nothing to worry about.</para>
+<para>However, on systems using shadow passwords, the screensavers
+have to be suid root to enable password access for unlocking the
+screen, so this option will not work.</para>
+</note></para>
+</answer>
+</qandaentry>
+
+<qandaentry>
+<question>
+<para><command>startkde</command> fails with <errorname>can not connect to X
+server</errorname>. What is wrong?</para>
+</question>
+<answer>
+<para>You probably tried to start the X server with <command>startkde</command>. The X
+server is started with <command>startx</command>.
+<command>startkde</command> is the
+script that should be run from your <filename>.xinitrc</filename>, <filename>.xsession</filename>, or
+<filename>.Xclients</filename> to activate the window manager and the necessary server
+daemons for &kde;. See also <xref linkend="startkde"/>.</para>
+</answer>
+</qandaentry>
+
+<qandaentry>
+<question>
+<para>&kde; on &AIX;?</para>
+</question>
+<answer>
+<para>
+<!--
+<para>If you have trouble building &kde; on
+&AIX; check out Stefan Westerfeld's <ulink
+url="http://space.twc.de/~stefan/kde/aix.html">Running &kde; on
+Aix</ulink> page for lots of help on building &kde; on this
+exceptional &UNIX; variant.</para>
+-->
+<acronym>IBM</acronym> now officially support &kde; on &AIX;. You can find
+details at <ulink
+url="http://www.ibm.com/servers/aix/products/aixos/linux/index.html">http://www.ibm.com/servers/aix/products/aixos/linux/index.html</ulink>.
+There is also some older information at <ulink url="http://space.twc.de/~stefan/kde/aix.html">http://space.twc.de/~stefan/kde/aix.html</ulink>.</para>
+</answer>
+</qandaentry>
+
+<qandaentry>
+<question>
+<para>&kde; on a laptop?</para>
+</question>
+<answer>
+<para>If you can get &X-Window; to run on your laptop, you should not have any problem
+getting &kde; to run on it. In addition, you might find the following
+links helpful:</para>
+<itemizedlist>
+<listitem>
+<para><ulink url="http://www.linux-laptop.net/">http://www.linux-laptop.net/</ulink></para>
+</listitem>
+<listitem>
+<para><ulink url="http://www.sanpei.org/Laptop-X/note-list.html">http://www.sanpei.org/Laptop-X/note-list.html</ulink></para>
+</listitem>
+</itemizedlist>
+</answer>
+</qandaentry>
+
+<qandaentry>
+<question>
+<para>I do not like the default &kde; folder after installation. How
+do I move it without breaking anything?</para>
+</question>
+<answer>
+<para>Assuming the default is <filename
+class="directory">/opt/kde</filename> and you want to move it to
+<filename class="directory">/usr/local/kde</filename>, here's what
+you have to do:</para>
+<procedure>
+<step performance="required"><para>change to superuser if you aren't already</para></step>
+<step performance="required"><para><command>mv /opt/kde /usr/local/kde</command></para></step>
+<step performance="required"><para><command>ln -s /usr/local/kde
+/opt/kde</command></para></step>
+</procedure>
+<para>This will put all your &kde; files in <filename
+class="directory">/usr/local/kde</filename> but everything is
+still accessible from <filename
+class="directory">/opt/kde</filename>.</para>
+</answer>
+</qandaentry>
+
+<qandaentry>
+<question>
+<para>What files can I delete from my &kde; install folder? Can all the
+<filename>*.h</filename>, <filename>*.c</filename> and <filename>*.o</filename>
+files be safely removed?</para>
+</question>
+<answer>
+<para>There should not be any need to keep the <filename>.c</filename> and
+<filename>.o</filename> files, but you might want to keep the
+<filename>.h</filename> files, as they are used by includes if you ever want to
+compile your own &kde; programs. But if you wish to add patches to the source
+programs as they become available (rather than downloading everything again),
+then they should stay.</para>
+</answer>
+</qandaentry>
+
+<qandaentry>
+<question>
+<para>Will I lose my current settings when I upgrade &kde;?</para>
+</question>
+<answer>
+
+<para>No. In most cases &kde; will be able to transport your settings
+intact. You may need to reenter passwords in some applications (such
+as &kmail; or &knode;) but most other settings will be safe.</para>
+
+<para>There were mixed reports of results between some previous
+versions of &kde;. To be safe, you may like to back up your entire
+&kde; configuration. </para>
+
+<para>Settings are kept in the <filename
+class="directory">$<envar>HOME</envar>/.kde</filename> or <filename
+class="directory">$<envar>HOME</envar>/.kde2</filename> subfolder in your home
+folder. Copy your
+old <filename class="directory">.kde</filename>/<filename
+class="directory">.kde2</filename> folder to a backup location,
+install &kde; 3.2, and then copy back any necessary mail and news
+settings. That said, most people can make a direct upgrade, without
+removing the old <filename class="directory">.kde</filename> folder,
+ without a hitch.</para>
+<para>You can override the use of <filename
+class="directory">$<envar>HOME</envar>/.kde</filename> by setting the
+$<envar>KDEHOME</envar> variable.</para>
+</answer>
+</qandaentry>
+
+<qandaentry id="greyscreen">
+<question>
+<para>I upgraded &kde; and it seemed to go fine, but when I start it,
+I get a blank gray screen, and nothing happens. There are errors in
+the console about DCOPserver. What's going on?</para>
+</question>
+
+<answer>
+<para>
+&kde; uses several temporary files during its operation.
+These are usually to be found in the following locations:</para>
+<itemizedlist>
+<listitem><para><filename>~/.DCOPserver-*</filename> (there are usually two of these; one is a symlink to the other)</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para><filename>~/.kde/socket-<replaceable>hostname</replaceable></filename></para></listitem>
+<listitem><para><filename>~/.kde/tmp-<replaceable>hostname</replaceable></filename> which is normally a symlink to the next file:</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para><filename>/tmp/tmp-kde-<replaceable>USER</replaceable></filename></para></listitem>
+<listitem><para><filename>~/.kde/socket-<replaceable>hostname</replaceable></filename> which is also normally a symlink to:</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para><filename>/tmp/ksocket-<replaceable>USER</replaceable></filename></para></listitem>
+</itemizedlist>
+
+<para>If the symlinks get broken, usually because a
+<command>cron</command> or shutdown script is emptying out the
+<filename class="directory">/tmp</filename> folder, then strange
+things will happen. These files, and the symlinks, will all be
+created automatically at the start of &kde; so you can safely remove
+them <emphasis>while &kde; is not running</emphasis>.</para>
+
+<para>If you are only getting a gray screen when you start &kde;, or if you get an error message telling you to <errorname>Check your installation</errorname>, then shut down X and delete all the files listed above, then try to restart X.</para>
+
+<para>Normally (&ie; when not upgrading between &kde; versions) it's
+quite safe to leave these files intact, and you may shave a few
+seconds off your &kde; startup time by doing so.</para>
+</answer>
+</qandaentry>
+
+<qandaentry>
+<question>
+<para>Compiling kdebase gives me a <errorname>bin/sh: msgfmt: command
+not found</errorname> error!</para>
+</question>
+<answer>
+<para>You need the &GNU; <application>msgfmt</application> which is
+part of the &GNU; i18n package <application>gettext</application>.
+You should be able to download it from any
+&GNU; mirror.</para>
+</answer>
+</qandaentry>
+
+<qandaentry>
+<question>
+<para>How do I uninstall &kde; applications compiled from
+source?</para>
+</question>
+<answer>
+<para>You can uninstall your programs by typing <command>make
+uninstall</command> in the folder where you did <command>make
+install</command>. If you have already deleted that folder,
+then there is only one way, and it is not good: go to <filename
+class="directory">$<envar>KDEDIR</envar>/bin</filename> and start deleting files
+one by one.</para>
+<para>If you expect to find yourself in this situation, you might want to
+consider a program such as &GNU; <application>stow</application>, found at
+<ulink url="http://www.gnu.org/software/stow/stow.html">http://www.gnu.org/software/stow/stow.html</ulink>.</para>
+</answer>
+</qandaentry>
+
+<qandaentry>
+<question id="gif">
+<para>What is up with &GIF; support?</para>
+</question>
+<answer>
+<para>This has to do with issues with Unisys' &LZW; patent. &GIF;
+support is turned off from &Qt; 1.44 onwards by default. When you want to use
+&GIF;s and have the relevant license, recompile &Qt; with &GIF; support.
+<command>./configure <option>-gif</option></command>.</para>
+</answer>
+</qandaentry>
+</qandaset>
+</chapter>