Not so Common Desktop Environment (NsCDE) Manual
For NsCDE to work, essential software is FVWM Window Manager. Almost all is based on it. Since NsCDE is heavy user of infostore internal variables and other new features of FVWM, initial development has been done on FVWM versions from 2.6.7 to 2.6.9. At this time, this are recommended, versions of FVWM2 for NsCDE, while FVWM3 should be used from the most recent version possible because it is still a bit beta, and bug fixes from fvwm.org are introduced often.
Other software dependencies, used by NsCDE are:
AT&T original Korn Shell 93. All shell script routines inside configuration, helper scripts and FvwmScript helpers are written in Korn Shell (ksh). Clones such as pdksh, mksh and some other variants found by default on some *BSD core systems canot be drop in replacement. Korn Shell is available and it is free. Use you systems' package manager to install it, or fetch it from here:https://github.com/att/astXorg utils (Fedora/CentOS RPM xorg-x11-utils) - xdpyinfo, xprop ...Util xdotool - only if FVWM is not patched with WindowName patch for the FvwmButtonsImageMagick (display, convert, import) - really needed.Xscreensaver - optional, but Screen Style Manager will not exist without it. Something needs to be installed for locking the screen on the real workstation. Freely omitted in virtual machines.cpp - C preprocessor for xrdb functionality - for X resources integration. Used by xrdb(1).xorg-x11-server-utils (CentOS, Fedora name) - xrdb, xset, xrefresh mandatory for startup, some style managers and menus.python-yaml - needed for python part of the color theme management and for Gtk+Qt integration.PyQt4, PyQt5 or possibly python3-qt4, python-qt5 or python3-qt5 or ... This is unfortunate dependency which is further dependent on Qt libraries. NsCDEtries to have as less as possible dependencies, specially indirect (dependencies of dependent dependencies of dependencies ...). Gtk/Qt integration is borrowed from CDEtheme Motif/CDE theme project and adapted for use with FVWM (instead of heavy Xfce dependency) or standalone engine. In part of the Theme.py code, some png pixmaps are cut and colored with functions from this API. With present job and lack of time, there was no time to do this without PyQt5 or PyQt4 for the first public release.Gtk2, Gtk3, Qt4, Qt5, qtconfig-qt4, qt5ct, qt5-qtstyleplugins (optional) There is a great chance this libraries and some usefull programs using them are already installed on user's system. If Gtk and Qt integration is activated in [70]Color Style Manager, there is no point not to have it installed. Notice about Qt4and Qt5: qt4-config (or qt-config) and qt5ct: Although colors will be applied, for font setting to take effect, qtconfig-qt4 (or qtconfig) must be run, something changed back and forth, and then applied/saved - no matter that you will see fonts of your choice already selected. This can be considered a bug. Same goes for Qt5. Notice about Qt5: QT_QPA_PLATFORMTHEME environment variable must be set, and be set to qt5ct value in order to run qt5ct configurator.Recommended fonts for as close as possible CDE look are DejaVu Serif for variable, and DejaVu Sans Mono for monospaced fonts. Check should be made if this fonts are installed on the system. For Solaris CDE look, Lucida Sans and monospaced Lucida Sans Typewriter should be installed, selected and used instead. (optional)xterm (initial user setup is done with xterm)gettextStalonetray for tray facility (optional, highly recommended)Dunst notification daemon (optional, highly recommended)XSETTINGS - xsettingsd daemon for theme and X settings dynamic management (optional, highly recommended)gkrellm - recommended optional addonrofi - recommended optional addonxclip - recommended optional addonpython3python34-pyxdg or python3-pyxdg or python36-pyxdg or ... (FVWM)
Known system specific package dependencies
Arch / Artix / Manjaro ``` sh
Use your AUR helper of choice (e. g. trizen) to install the package
trizen -S nscde
Alternatively install the -git package to get the latest sources
trizen -S nscde-git ```
Debian / Devuan / Ubuntu / Mint / MX Linux sh sudo apt update sudo apt dist-upgrade sudo apt install -y ksh xutils/x11-utils xdotool imagemagick \\ xscreensaver x11-xserver-utils python3-yaml python3-pyqt5 \\ qt5ct qt5-style-plugins stalonetray xterm python3 \\ python3-xdg libstroke0 xsettingsd fvwm fvwm-icons \\ libfile-mimeinfo-perl gkrellm rofi xclip
Fedora / RHEL / CentOS / RockyLinux / openEuler sh sudo dnf update sudo dnf install -y ksh xorg-x11-utils xdotool ImageMagick xscreensaver \\ python3-pyyaml python3-qt5 qt5ct qt5-styleplugins \\ stalonetray xterm pyhon3 pyhon3-pyxdg libstroke xsettingsd \\ fvwm perl-File-MimeInfo gkrellm rofi xclip
FreeBSD/ DragonflyBSD/ GhostBSD/ MidnightBSD sh sudo pkg install ksh2020 xorg ImageMagic6/7 xscreensaver \\ py37-yaml py37-qt5 qt5ct qt5-style-plugins stalonetray xterm pyhon3 py37-xdg libstroke xsettingsd \\ fvwm3 p5-File-MimeInfo gkrellm2 rofi
Gentoo/ Funtoo / Calculate/ Sabayon/ Redcore ``` sh echo "app-shells/ksh \n x11-base/xorg-x11 \n x11-misc/dunst \n x11-apps/xdpyinfo \n x11-apps/xprop \n x11-misc/xdotool \n media-gfx/imagemagick \n x11-misc/xscreensaver \n dev-python/pyyaml \n dev-python/PyQt5 \n x11-misc/qt5ct \n dev-qt/qtstyleplugins \n x11-misc/stalonetray \n x11-terms/xterm \n dev-lang/python \n dev-python/pyxdg \n dev-libs/libstroke \n x11-misc/xsettingsd \n x11-wm/fvwm \n dev-perl/File-MimeInfo \n app-admin/gkrellm \n x11-misc/xclip \n x11-misc/rofi" > /etc/portage/sets/nscde-desktop emerge --sync emerge -auvDN @world emerge @nscde-desktop --autounmask-write etc-update --automode -3 emerge @nscde-desktop
OpenMandriva `sh
sudo dnf update
sudo dnf install -y xorg xdotool imagemagick xscreensaver \\
python-pyyaml python-qt5 qt5ct qt5-style-plugins \\
stalonetray xterm pyhon3 pyhon-xdg llib64stroke0 xsettingsd \\
fvwm2 perl-File-MimeInfo gkrellm rofi xclip
cd ~
git clone --depth 1 <https://github.com/att/ast.git>
./bin/package make
sudo ./bin/package install`
OpenSUSE Leaf /Tumbleweed / GeckoLinux `sh
sudo zypper ref
sudo zypper up
sudo zypper in ksh-93uv xorg xdotool ImageMagick xscreensaver \\
python3-pyyaml python3-PyQt5 qt5ct libqt5-styleplugins \\
stalonetray xterm pyhon3 libstroke xsettingsd fvwm2 \\
perl-File-MimeInfo gkrellm rofi xclip`
Void Linux ``` sh xbps-install -Su xbps-install -Sy xorg xdotool ImageMagick xscreensaverpython3-yaml python3-PyQt5 qt5ct qt5-stylepluginsstalonetray xterm pyhon3 pyhon3-xdg xsettingsdfvwm3 perl-File-MimeInfo gkrellm rofi xclip cd ~ git clone --depth 1 <https://github.com/att/ast.git> ./bin/package make sudo ./bin/package install
cd ~ wget <http://ftp.udc.es/debian/pool/main/libs/libstroke/libstroke_0.5.1.orig.tar.gz> tar -zxvf libstroke_0.5.1.orig.tar.gz cd libstroke-0.5.1 ./configure make sudo make install ```
SparkyLinux `sh
sudo apt update && sudo apt dist-upgrade && sudo apt install nscde-desktop`
Installation
When `FVWM` and above mentioned dependencies are met, `NsCDE` can be installed and used. Present installation is very simple: