Does Slackware have a GUI?
 

I installed Slackware 10.1 and when I boot it I get a console, that's it. Does it have a GUI? How do you start it? I installed it "full install", so it should be installed, right?

This will launch the GUI. If you decide that you don't like the default, you can change this as well.
Good book for Slackware is the Slackware Handbook

F_M

The GUI
 

If you are in a login console, doesn't "startx" get you to the GUI log-in graphical User Interface page?

There, you should be able to select a favorite Desktop Manager from the drop down list.

The GUI, More comments...
 

Oops, I also just thought of what you meant!

You ARE in a GUI, something like FluxboxWM, FVWM, IceWM, LarsWM,...

right click the mouse, does it open a drop down window?

And, are the applications and programs there, for your selection?

HTH!

I recommend, for you guys who love to carry a Pocket Rescue mini-cdrom,
the Live Slackware distro: SLAX! at http://livecdlist.com

It boots up into the GUI! Great for Juk, Media, and rescue!

If i run "startx" as root, i get this message: "command not found". My mouse is not working, probably because it's a USB mouse. Can you tell me why GUI isn't already installed, thou I chose "full install". Anyway, how do I install it now? Thank you.

the first thing you should do is create a new user account by typing "adduser" at the root prompt. give the user a name and then accept all the defaults.

once that is done, log out of root by typing "exit", then login as the newly created user instead.

once you're in as that new user, try "startx". if that doesn't work, you might have to run "xorgconfig" first.

only use root when you have to make changes.

startx doesn't work. The same thing with xorgconfig, "command not found". I have xorgsetup instead, but it does nothing. And I have no manual page for it, so there's nothing I can do. Any suggestions? Thank you.

KDE, Gnome, xfce, fluxbox, wmaker, fvwm2 and fvwm95 are most likely installed already. However, unlike some other distros, Slackware doesn't automatically assume you want to run a GUI. That is why it doesn't boot into a GUI. You can configure Slackware to boot into a GUI. I prefer to boot into a CLI, so you will need to search for how to do that.

F_M

It sounds like a corrupt installation based on my past experiences. I'm still quite a newb though, so I could be wrong.

If you want to boot to a graphical interface, you have to change your runlevel to 4 in /etc/inittab.

did you use a second cd for the install? i know that has kde on it for slack 10.2 but not sure for 10.1
also during the install it should have asked you what window manager you wanted to use. if you did install kde on disc 2 that would have been on the top of the list with the others (fluxbox, et al.)

try running pkgtool as root and choose to run Setup scripts and select xwmconfig (its at the bottom of the list). this will let you choose which window manager to use. startx should work after that.

if not, i would say try the install again since it is fresh it couldnt hurt to try it again and make sure you answer all prompts correctly (not saying you missed any, but just make sure)

what Seiken says above is correct also

The mouse should work by default. Which kernel did you installed with Slackware? And, where are you trying to get the mouse working, with GPM on console or in X.org?

By the way, are you using su to change to root? Use su - to load the enviroment values (like PATH) if you do.

once you log in as and come to the command prompt go to

/var/log/packages the type ls x11* and see do you have the x.org packages installed...

and we could take it from there...

Something's wrong with your install. I suggest running pkgtool and reinstalling x, THEN running xwmconfig.

Double-check the checksums on your ISOs to make sure there's no corruption.

Something definitely sounds wrong with your installation. True, PV provides no immediate way allowing new users to enable the GUI during the installation process. Nonetheless, typing startx at the command line should at least do something. As suggested already, consider reinstalling all of the X packages, or perhaps performing another full installation. You also might want to check the search path:

echo $PATH

and see if /usr/X11R6/bin is a part of the search path.

If not, then at the command line, instead of typing startx, try typing

/usr/X11R6/bin/startx

and see if anything different happens.

You also might want to run the command

updatedb

to create a file search database that will help you more easily locate files on your system. After running that program you then you can type

locate startx

and see if the file exists on your box.

I hope this helps.

P.S. IMO, this example demonstrates one of those simple things that could greatly enhance Slackware's usability out of the box. All that is needed is a simple modification to the installation scripts asking the user whether the system should boot into console or GUI. If the user selects the latter the installation scripts automatically runs xwmconfig and of course, automatically modifies inittab. With such a simple usability change, this particular repetitive newbie problem disappears and Slackware's reputation improves dramatically.

i wholeheartedly agree

My challenge is I'm not a professional programmer or developer. So complaining does not help much. :( Otherwise I'd make these kinds of changes. However, I have mildly perused some of the pkgtools related scripts and possibly after I become more confident and proficient with bash (and ncurses) that I just might make some of these changes. Another change is I'd add the confounded two-button mouse with scroll wheel option. I'm weary of reading about THAT one too.

I'd also like to see some KDE front-end tools that would help the newbie experience, or the command line-challenged, such as a dialog box to start/stop/restart services. I was looking at Kommander the other day and I think these kinds of tools are possible without a lot of programmer experience or savvy. But those days are far off for me right now. I only receive 24 hours in my day too!

As I wrote in another thread, Slackware's minimalism is both a benefit and a challenge. Which one depends upon one's experience and which side of the bed one rises that day.

Stupid question: you said you installed slack and are at the prompt. Did you run "setup" yet?
After you install you have to run "setup" next. The install is only halfway done.

hmmm, thats a stupid response. why would you run setup after you installed it? after you boot the cd you run setup. he did say he chose full install. you only see that if you have run setup, so this isnt really a stupid question.


back to the issue, we havent heard from the OP, zahadumy, have you tried any of the suggestions yet?

Thanks for your a**hole attitude. Doesn it make you feel superior to attack people who are trying to help?

are you sure you have enough disk space? type "df" and give us the results

did you recieve any errors while installing?

when you installed did you check for bad blocks?

do you get anything when you type init 4?

if you were helping you wouldnt have insulted zahadumy by saying his question was stupid. if you had read the thread a little more thoroughly you would have gathered that he got past the initial boot prompt and had gone through the install.

To me it parsed like npn was describing his own question as stupid, not the OP's.

yip, confusing indeed.
but the " : " indicates you're right.

egag

1) I wasn't insulting zahadumy, I was being polite by asking him if did the obvious *without* insulting him. 2) you get the boot prompt after the Install CD boots - so it could have been he thought that was it and tried "startx" at that point which would give him the same "can't find startx" message he was talking about.
Sorry for the confusion.

Spoken like a gentleman!

npn - my apologies as well. didnt mean to get this topic off track. thanks for clarifying your post

Also spoken like a gentleman!

Re: Does Slackware have a GUI?
 

So, zahadumy, are you getting anywhere with this?