Re: Installing XFree86 4.3 on RHL 7.3

["Mike A. Harris" <mharris www linux org uk>]

On Fri, 16 May 2003, Rex Dieter wrote:

>> I'm trying to install XFree86 4.3.0 on RHL 7.3. The rawhide RPMs are
>> built for post 7.3 so I'm working on the src.rpm. At first rpm
>> complained about a lot of dependencies with devel packages but I got by
>> that and created RPMS successfully.
>
>You'll soon find out that porting rawhide's 4.3.0 will force you
>to rebuild/back-port many, many dependancy packages too (making
>it not really worth it)

Indeed.

>including but not limited to: fontconfig,

yep

>Xft2(mostly included in XFree86 now)

Entirely included in XFree86 4.3.0 now.  rpm -e Xft before 
attempting to install 4.3.0.

Also, freetype, expat, glut, possibly Glide3, ttmkfdir, and there
are likely others I've forgotten about.  If using rawhide 4.3.0, 
which contains numerous bug fixes and other enhancements, xterm 
is now a separate package as well.


>this is the hardest part. kernel-drm

Indeed.  It is due to all of the above complexities, as well as 
the complexity many face when confronted with trying to upgrade 
kernel DRM which is why I generally avoid trying to help anyone 
backport X to older releases.  It is a non-trivial process, 
fraught with a lot of room for user error, dependancy frustration 
(unless the person understands rpm and dependancy resolution very 
well), and generally requires more technical proficiency than 
just upgrading a couple of RPM packages here or there.


>as well as lots of subtle incompatibilies between XF 4.2 and 4.3
>that would/should require rebuilding other packages for the new
>XFree86.

This one though, is absolutely false.  ;o)

You should not have to recompile a single line of code to use the
new XFree86.  X11 is X11 and the core protocol hasn't changed in
over 15 years.  Every release of XFree86 should remain as
compatible as every prior release.  You are extremely unlikely to
encounter any kind of software compatibility problem which
becomes fixed by recompiling the software linked to X libraries,
as these libraries.


>In short, IMHO, you're best either sticking with RH 7.3/XFree84-4.2.x(*) or 
>simply upgrading to RH9/XFree-4.3.0

I will be releasing a 4.2.1 update for RHL 7.3 and 8.0 shortly 
which might perhaps fix some problems users are experiencing 
which is making them want to try 4.3.0.  The best way to get 
4.3.0 and experience the least amount of pain however, is 
definitely to upgrade to Red Hat Linux 9.

Hope this helps.

-- 
Mike A. Harris