Want To Try Slack - Afraid Of One Thing.....
 

Hello There, Slackers!

I use Crunchbang [sort of a minimalist Debian, for those who aren't familiar] as my primary OS, and am very happy with it- but half of my HDD is a partition that I use to fool around with other Linux OS's, until I find one that I want to keep as a secondary OS.

I've been wanting to try Slackware for some time now. One thing scares me: What's all this I hear about having to resolve dependencies manually?

Eek!

I mean, say you want to install a package. Does it tell you what dependencies it needs when you go to install it, and then you have to type in the names of those dependencies to install them, or what?

I'm no computer-geek.....but I've found all the distros I've tried so far to be very easy- but then again, all of them have been quite user-friendly, and pretty much do things like installation automatically.

So what would I be getting into with Slack? I don't mind doing things manually (in fact, I usually prefer it)....just as long as I have access to the necessary knowledge/procedures.....

So can someone please explain what package installation entails in Slack?

(I currently have AntiX on my "experimental" partition.....it's a pretty decent OS, but I'm freaked-out by the fact that the guy behind it is a Marxist- and uses his software to propagate that political philosophy. I don't care to support that any more so than I want to support Microsoft)

Yes it's correct that there is no auto dependency resolution. Many of us use slackbuilds.org for installing extra software, and that site will have listed all the required and optional dependencies needed.

If you want to build something that isn't in on slackbuilds.org, alienBob's or rworkman's repos then usually the output from ./configure will tell you it needs something.

In addition to what dive posted, you can use tools like sbopkg together with sqg to automatically install packages from Slackbuilds.org with their listed dependencies, so that (if you want) you have some kind of automatic dependency resolution.

I suggest you reading this and, to be honest, with slackpkg+ and sbopkg I can still pretty much everything I need.

Honestly, try not to think too much about it.

Slackware already comes with a lot of software libraries and packages that resolve a lot of dependencies from the SlackBuilds website.

Slackbuilds.org also lists and links to any prerequisite dependencies needed by a package, so you'll know exactly what you need.

You should also create a SBO-List.txt file in your root directory folder to track any SBo packages you install so you can tell what is installed in case a package is a dependency of another.

Manual dependency resolution is not that bad. Once you get used to it, it becomes second nature to you.

I normally use the repositories that dive mentioned above.

When I started with Slackware, slackbuilds.org did not exist, but there were a few websites that provided Slackware packages. Mostly, though, I compiled from sources. It's not as intimidating as it sounds.

If you are compiling from sources, error messages will tell you what dependency(ies) is missing.

I have to say that I do not really miss searching for dependencies on the web, but, at the time it was kind of fun. And it was a darned good learning experience.

Don't be afraid of Slackware; it's not the monster that some persons seem to think it is. Out of the box, it gives you a full-featured software install with programs to do just about anything you might want to do, and, when you start to customize it, you will find that it is a damned fine teacher.

I started with Slackware. Since then, I've used lots of distros (I'm typing this on Debian while I watch an old television show on Mageia over there, on the other computer on this desk).

Wherever I wander, though, I always seem to come back to the elegant simplicity of Slackware--the Distro of Iron, that always works and never breaks.

Well, thanks, everyone!

And FrankBell, you know, since it will not be my primary OS; and since I really have been wanting something which will force me to learn more (I had even mentioned that in another thread, some time ago- and a few people- probably including you, mentioned that Slack would be right up my alley)

I may just taske the plunge, and give it a try.

(I just ordered a copy of The Collector from Amazon..... too lazy to post that fact in the "old Movie" thread!)

I would suggest you to have a look on my blog post about resolving dependencies for packages in SBo project using sbopkg + sqg. It's very easy to do :)

The other thing you're not considering is that with other distributions, you start with a minimalist system and then you have to install everything yourself. Yes it is easy to install things but you install what you want, not what you need. So every time you turn around, you need to install something else. Its endless. And you pay dearly for that easy install with config files chopped up and scattered such that the original application developers documentation is worthless to you.

Slackware starts with nearly everything you need. So the amount of software you need to install is minimal. Slackware follows the file hierarchy standard. The applications included are setup as the developer intended and their documentation is fully applicable. And unlike those minimal systems, when you do need to download source and compile it, you've got all the compiler tools already there.

My $0.02

Will do! (Just hope I understand it- It's been my experience that a lot of such things are written for the benefit of people who are more advanced than I). Then again, I'm also the type who will dive-in and give it a try, and figure out what I don't understand, as I go. :)

Interesting. On the one hand, I like the minimalistic systems because I really don't need a lot of software. They give me a fully functional system, and I just have to install a few necesseties. I tend to avoid the "big systems" with a lot of bloat, because I never use 97% of the things offer- and yet still have to install my necesseties. I'm glad you said what you did, because i may have looked at Slack and thought of it as bloated; but now i won't look at it as bloat, but rather, like you said, as an integrated whole that is designed to work at it's best.

Thanks again, to everyone. I'm learning!

Further to the above, excellent posts I suggest that you do a full install of Slackware. A full install of Slackware works out of the box with all dependencies met.
After you're up and running you can install stuff from the above-mentioned repositories and web-sites.
Happy Slacking. :)

Good advice, Hitest; I'll take it!

Guys, ya know......sometimes fear of the unknown is the biggest obstacle! I always imagined that compiling was some kind of computer-programming-esque feat only for supernerds....

I just took a quick look-see on Youtube (I should be in bed...but I like this stuff!!!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7_5zsaQlFE

DAYUMMmmm!!! That's it? That's all there is to it? That's what I've been living in fear of for years?

Is that really all that is to it?????

I feel like such a tool! So...compiling isn't the boogeyman that I had imagined it to be?

G'night everyone, and thanks for the encouragement!

It's really a misconception.

Most of us build our Slackware packages using scripts from SlackBuilds.org. The descriptions of each script on SlackBuilds.org lists its dependencies.

SlackBuilds.org has a frontend called sbopkg. Sbopkg lets you create queues of packages to build and install in order. That helps.

And then there are tools like sqg, which automatically parse the SlackBuilds.org "database" and build the queues for you. After you run it and have your queues generated, you can do "sbopkg -i ffmpeg", or "sbopkg -i ffmpeg -k" if you don't want packages you already have installed rebuilt, to install ffmpeg and all its dependencies.

Furthermore, the "lack" of dependency resolution doesn't lock you down to package versions the way other distributions do. Want to install a new version of nginx? Just get the SlackBuild and a newer nginx source tarball, and use the SlackBuild script to build and install the newer version. You can upgrade almost all packages that way, including those that are part of Slackware. If you're worried about this causing problems with library conflicts, well, in practice it never does.

A full install of Slackware is designed to make this process as easy as possible, by including most of the dependencies that you're going to need.

Yes, the overall process is still more involved and time-consuming than on other distros. To me, the gain in control is worth it, and the workflow is more than efficient enough.

You know? With all these great explanations, it's actually beginning to sound rather easy!

A Youtube review of Slackware which I was watching last night basically said the same thing too, about the fredom of choice in updating selectively- and I LOVE that feature! My whole computing life, I've always avoided doing updates, until absolutely positively necessary- I always hated the idea of clicking a button and sitting there helplessly as thousands of different things just get changed whether you like it or not.

I like having control (I'd much rather drive a stick than an automatic)- and these days especially, where often, just doing something manually, is often actually much easier than trying to "trick" some automated system into doing what you want it to.

I basically operate under the idea that if I have a good-working system, there should be little need to modify it. i.e. the idea of always keeping my OS "current" is anathema to me; I like to install something, and, if it works good, just leave it alone until and if there is some actual need to change it. Sounds like Slackware is made for me!

My greatest fear now, is that I'll likely install so little software, that on the rare occasion that I do need to install something, I'll probably have folrgotten how to do it! :D (Even on my minimal systems, I basically install Emilia Pinball; an audio tagger [and that is likely unnecessary- I could probably just learn to do what I need to do with a terminal script); Xiphos; and maybe an alternate browser and email client (And I'm thinking of switching to MUTT for email...so that should be easy!).

Oh, I think I'm going to like Slackware. If I remember correctly, even though it's a big distro, it should still work on my 7 year-old POS 'puter, eh?

For some reason, I had been laboring under the idea that Slack was some kind of erector-set OS, where you basically had to build an OS from scratch- installing and tweaking every little thing- even the most basic utilities. Sounds like that is definitely not the case.

Methinks I'll be burning an ISO tonight!

...and this thread will make a handy point of reference for me, for all the links in youse guyses[sic] signatures!

Could you please post a link to the review? :)

Here ya go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3FT1vApWW0

Not the greatest review.....the part I paraphrased above was the best part; and made watching it worthwhile. [The guy was impressed that Slack has lots of nice screensavers.....LOL- although, after seeing the crap screensavers/wallpapers that come with the otherwise-great Crunchbang...I may echo his thoughts!]

[EDIT: After watching the video again now, as I posted the link.....it really is a pretty good review- Not much fluff- and covers the real important things.... which is more than I can say for many Youtube OS reviews, which are usually little more than a cataloging of what software/widgets a distro comes with.]

This would be a good read too

This is a great reference post!

Like others have mentioned, if you use sbopkg and the que files, you'll likely have most of what you need.

Any questions on that tool, feel free to ask. I can help you myself or I can point you to the tutorial that I used, but basically install sbopkg, download a zip (tar.gz?) file and then extract those files into your "que" dir ( /var/lib/sbopkg/queues - but you can change it through your ~/.sbopkg.conf file).

I've tried a lot of linux distributions and slackware was the only one that finally got me to stop dual-booting windows. Although I do miss MS Office - there is nothing like that product anywhere else.

Slackware is maintained by a single man (almost, there is small well-selected team) and it is designed to be maintainable by a single person. So you don't depend on hundreds of volunteer or corporate-paid maintainers and their questionable decision-making processes. You stay in control. Nowadays this is more important than ever.

Slackware is an offline distribution, sold on CD/DVD. Internet connectivity is not required, instead it is optional. Most current Linux distributions already depend on the "cloud" (their servers and mirrors) and are designed around the idea of an always-on connected computer. My understanding of software freedom is to be independent.

The often-mentioned dependency hell is something Slackware didn't introduce, so it's not Slackware's task to remedy it.

Slackware doesn't change basic concepts every year, it is very stable. So knowledge and experience actually keeps value, learning Slackware is worth it.

These points played an important role in my decision-making regarding Slackware. YMMV.

I just check the dependencies in here:
http://www.slackel.gr/repo/x86_64/sl...t/PACKAGES.TXT
I an using slackel with openbox and I rebuild my installation.
No auto dependency check means you need to read and learn more and you will learn fast.
Slackware is very clean.

Slackware is more akin to the analogy of a gentle little puppy than a snarling foaming at the mouth wolf as it mostly is portrayed by the unlearned.

There's a reason why it's called Slack.

Go listen to The Greatful Dead's song "I will get by." It sums Slackware up both in philosophy and practice.

Posting from Debian Testing. Dependency resolution way is overrated. I have had so many packages that I do not need installed get pulled in and a lot of broken packages because of of automatic dependency resolution. Granted I'm using debian/testing, but I never had these problems using Slackware current. I cannot wait to get my desktop fixed and go back to Slackware.

You might also find this interesting:

http://docs.slackware.com/slackware:..._off_slackware

Wow! That is like the mantra of exactly what I want in an OS! ...or anything, for that matter! I started out in the Linux world with Ubuntu 10.04LTS. I KNEW it would just be a matter of time until Ubuntu would go wonky- as corporations just don't give away their products.... and it wasn't long until that came to pass and I had to abandon Ubuntu. Crunchbang is maintained by one man- but as it is built on Debian, it basically inherits it's attributes, for better or worse. Antix is maintained by one man, too- but is also reliant on Debian....and while Antix is a decent OS, the man who maintains it is a Marxist- and uses his distro to propagate such (Even including links to Marxist websites in the IceWeasel that ships with Antix). I booted-up Antix once; I'm ready to dump it, if for no other reason than I abhor Marxism! Maybe I can send my Antix CD to Obama as a "May Day" gift :D

From all I've seen in this thread, it looks as though Slackware is indeed founded on principles which I embrace in many aspects of my life- and to have those principles extend to one's OS, can only make for a better experience!

Since it sounds as though Slackware is the ultimate in stability and independence- I WILL learn to make it work! I avoid the "latest & greatest", and the need to "keep up" with every whim of change. I'd love to have an OS that I can install; get it to where I want it...and just leave it for 5 or 10 years and enjoy it, without constantly having to make changes which have nothing to do with my needs and wants, but which are instead necessitated by what others may need or want. I know I'm going to love Slackware!

I like that Mr. Volkerding also offers choice! While I abhor dependence on "the cloud", I do like the fract that Slackware is also available as a torrent (I'd rather get it anonymously off the web, than to send my name and address to someone). I downloaded it last night. Ready to burn an ISO! I will read the excellent installation and set-up links which were provided in this thread, first. As long as I have documentation- a manual to read- and it is not written for computer programmers/scientists, I should be pretty much self-sufficient.

And thanks to you all for those links and resources- because the info on the official Slackware site is ANCIENT- It still mentions floppy disks, LOL! (Come to think of it, that is why I avoided Slackware the first time that some of you had mentioned it to me, a while back- because I took a look at the Slackware site, and saw how ancient the info was, and figured that I'd be totally lost, trying to transpose instructions meant for Slackware 3, to Slackware 14 !!)

Youse[sic] guys have done a good job of evangelizing me! You may be sorry though, as now you will have to answer my stupid noobish questions from time to time! :D

Love Openbox! Love clean! I want to learn (I keep saying that- but I've been using Linux for 4 years now, and since I have to do so little with the simpler distros, I've actually forgotten things that I used to know!) :D

Ah! A Touch Of Gray. You'd be surprised at how often that song is playing my head- even though I was never really a fan of The Dead, I like that song!

I can't wait to get Slack installed and up and running! I am seeing that dependencey resolution does not seem to be the monster I had thought it was. And from what others have said, I may even come to find it beneficial.

Excellent! I only wish I would have seen such things sooner...as I would have not been afraid to try Slack much sooner!

One question: [the first of many, I'm sure! But hey...that's what you guys get for encouraging me :D)

I downloaded the DVD version of 32-bit Slack 14.

Instead of the usuasl ISO file which I am used to, there is a folder with 4 files in it.

I'm thinking that I just need to burn the .install-dvd.iso file as my instalation DVD?

If so, then what do I do with the remaining .asc; .md5; and .txt files?

Or can I put all 4 files on DVD, just so long as they're not in the folder?

(Nyah-nyah! Told ya there would be stupid noobish questions!)

Question, The Second: Reading "Ruarí's thoughts", it mentions that the official full-install DVD is 6.8GB. The ISO I downloaded is only 2.8 GB.... Is what I downloaded just a pared-down system which will put me in dependencey Hell? (I HATE it when that happens!]

A1: you only need to burn on the DVD the file ending in .install-dvd.iso.

But first download in the same directory the file ending in .md5 and run this command:If the answer is OK you can go ahead: the .iso is not corrupted.

The file ending in .asc is Patrick Volkerding's signature so you can be sure himself released the .iso. There shouldn't be a problem if you downloaded the file from an official mirror.

For the file ending in .txt, just open it in your browser to see what it is.

A2: No worries, the ISO you downloaded doesn't include the /source directory but this put aside is fully functional.

Would you need some files in the /source directory you can always download them later - or maintain a local mirror of the whole distribution, if you prefer.

You have the full iso.. its around 2.3g
when you use the dvd burning software it will only use the .iso file the md5 is used to make sure you have the correct .iso (chesum file).
The .txt file is just a file with the breakdown of the files on the dvd.

Ah, beautiful! Thanks, guys!

I should be good to go. I'm just going to read the tutorials first, and if it all seems straight-forward, I'll go ahead and do an actual install- or, if it sounds "iffy", I'll try an install on a virtual machine first, to be safe (Although I haste to do that, as it will likely take a long time...and it will all be wasted time).

I think I am about to embark on something great here!

Indeed, Sumguy misread my post. Here is what I actually said:

(Emphasis on occupies was added)

I was talking about Slackware taking up 6.8Gb of space on your hard disk once it is installed. The XZ compressed packages are substantially smaller.

I should also mention, there have been two releases since 13.37. Slackware 14.1 is closer to 8Gb installed. As a side note, this is substantially smaller than a modern Windows or MacOS install and yet includes a lot more useful stuff out of the box. ;)

Indeed! Mr. Volkerding ensures that high quality software is included with each release of Slackware.
Slackware forever, man. :)

You can stray as much as you want from Slackware, but regardless, somehow, someway, you always come back to Slackware. It's just that good.

Welcome on board (well, almost!) :hattip: In addition to what other Slackers already suggested, I recommend that you subscribe to Slackware's mailing lists, in particular to the "slackware-security" one. This way you will receive every announcement regarding important security updates directly into your mailbox, and you will also experience another aspect of Slackware's stability: you're not going to have to update your system very often. Moreover, right now a release is supported, de facto, for at least five years: that's true LTS. ;)

I'd say that the website is definitely up to date, see the changelogs, while it does provide some "historical" information. Regarding floppies, the book Slackware Linux Essentials was released in 2000 (1. edition) and in 2005 (2. edition), so it made sense to mention them. The book is still an excellent, valuable, enjoyable reference, and it's definitely worth reading. For more recent stuff see also the revised Slackbook (still a work in progress), the documentation project and also the docs included in the distribution's file tree.

Yes. For example, right now I'm typing this one on a 2000 Pentium III laptop (fluxbox), while relying on a more powerful box (2003 Pentium IV) for more demanding tasks (X11 forwarding via ssh). I personally don't need more, most of the time.

So you're from the Blue Grass Country. :cool: That's cool. I've read somewhere (probably an interview) that PV used to pick the banjo himself.

Funny- I haven't even installed Slackware yet...but learning what I have about it, so far, I'm thinking "Once you go slack, you never go back".

Thanks! I think I've found a Linux subculture here which is far more to my liking than some others.



...and the beauty is, if the security updates are few and far between, I may actually DO them! (I'm the guy who, back in my WinD'oh's daze[sic], used WIN98 from '99-'07, and I think I updated it twice.)



It was just weird, looking for installation instructions, and reading about floppies! :eek:


Well, actually I'm an ex-New Yorker.....but believe me, I'm more hillbilly than most of the natives! .....until I open my mouth, at which time I inevitably hear "You ain't from around here, are ya?" :) -at least that's what my wife/sister says.... :D

One quick questione, guys:

When installing Slack, can I skip installing the LILO [I'll be dual booting with my existing Crunchbang], and then do as I did when I installed my last distro< which was: After the installation, boot-up my other OS, and then temporarily mount the Slack file system, and run "update-grub", so that my existing grub will recognize the Slack? Or should I just use the included LILO, assuming it will recognize my Crunchbang- or can be made to, without too much difficulty?

One more! One more!

My hard drive is already partitioned, with a common swap area; a Crunchbang root and home; and my AntiX OS. Do I have to first wipe the Antix, or will the Slackware installer just format and write in that partition if instructed to? (I'm watching a Slack installation video on Youtube right now...but the guy just kind of skips over the details of that part, as he is using his entire disk.)

I probably won't get around to installing Slack for a few days- as I don't want to rush it; I want to wait till I have a nice block of time, where I can take my time and do it right- plus do the requisite reading in advance. So keep the tips coming!

Um Sum... you may want to requote a few of those statements... I never said some of them. Heh.

Done and done! Sorry about that, my grim friend.

You install LILO into the Slackware root/boot partition and add it as a chainloader to your favorite boot manager. Then you boot Slackware just as you boot DOS, Windows or every other x86 PC OS: by activating and chainloading its partition.

Slackware won't detect anything, it's up to you to add different OSes to LILO. Install their boot loader into their root/boot partition and then add it to LILO as
or use liloconfig. Note: "update-grub" from a different Linux distribution might not boot Slackware correctly, because its "Linux auto-detection" doesn't know Slackware's initrd. So if you want to use GRUB, use Slackware's GRUB, it has been modified accordingly.

BTW: Most distributions install GRUB into the reserved no man's land behind the MBR, which is an unreliable practice, I don't recommend. If you want to use GRUB, create an extra partition for it and install it there. Then uninstall GRUB from the MBR and install a standard MBR with
The LILO standard 'ext' MBR (which is not LILO itself) is also able to boot activated extended/logical partitions, so you can have your favorite boot manager anywhere. Just remember to activate the partition, which contains your chosen boot manager.

It will ask you, what to do (and which filesystem you want to use).

(If this sounds overcomplicated to you, it's actually GRUB, which overcomplicates things, LILO uses the standard IBM PC boot process defined 30 years ago.)

Ah! I think I get the gist of that. I'll just use the LILO, since it sounds like LILO is in keeping with Slackware's philosophy. So, even if I use the LILO, I still have to keep GRUB for Crunchbang- but move it out of the MBR, and essentially point LILO to it, for when I want to use Crunchbang?
That's the very type of scenario I was worried about. [I couldn't have phrased it so...but I was on the right track! :)]- I'll try the LILO- I have no loyalty to GRUB; it's just that it's a "known"- whereas LILO is unknown to me.

In theory, I "get" that.


So as long as I know which existing partitions I want to use for Slack, there's really no need to even run fdisk at the beginning of the installation, right? Just choose the appropriate partitions when I get to the screens that deal with such?

Heh, yeah, I saw recently that GRUB does seem to be quite complex. I've always been of the opinion that the best way to do something, is usually the simplest and most straight-forward- which, from the little I know of it, seems to be the way LILO does it!

Thank you very much for all the helpful info!:hattip:

I read a little of an installation guide last night; and watched a video. The Slack installation seems pretty straight-forward, and much like other distro's. Shouldn't be a problem once I get past the partitioning [I understand partitioning; it's just the different ways that every installer handles it which can be confusing] and any boot-loader issues- but now, thanks to you, I've got a handle on that. (And I still have a live ISO CD of Antix...so if anything goes wrong, I can always use that to get online and find solutions....)

I just wish that I had the time to do the install today! Unfortunately, it's looking like either Saturday night or Monday night will be "go" time.

I did the same with my first install of Slackware but I did not to empty the partitions. I ended up with a bunch of extra files I had to clean out ( still cleaning them) , but it kept my home directory and some of it's settings. As well as a few working programs from the previous distro. Wasn't the best idea but helped me learn about what was/wasn't needed in slack.

My second install ( a week later on a new machine) went even better. Nice and clean hard drive.

I would recommend backing up what you need & wiping out the partitions your planning on using (except for the swap ...you can share that). It will give you a nice clean Slack experience.

Indeed. It's quite hard to get GRUB2 out of the way, because GRUB developers think, that it has the right to own the MBR. It's even more intrusive than Windows, which keeps to the IBM standard. You get messages like
Unlike Slackware most Linux distributions don't even ask you before overwriting everything with their own boot manager. (Although the Ubuntu GUI installer allows you to choose the boot loader partition.)

Yes, just make sure you choose the right partition.

Agreed. Also as previously mentioned back-up everything that you cannot afford to lose before you start the Slackware installation.

Hey Guys!!!

I'm posting this from SLACKWARE!

Got it up and running from inserting the DVD to starting the XFCE desktop in about an hour and a half (Would've been quicker, but I had some trouble with nano during configuration- was working and wouldn't let me uncomment a mirror to use! )

All the fear and trepidation was for NOTHING! The Slack installer was probably the nicest; easiest; and least-confusing of any I've used.

I printed-out the post-install configuration docs- luckily- so I was able to set my mirror; establish an interweb connection; and get x started.....

Still lots of work to do...like switching to a generic kernel and all......

.....but it's up and working! And so far........it looks good!

Anybody here use Slack with the Icewm? (I may try Fluxbox- I used it once as an experiment...don't remember if I liked it or not, 'cause I tried a few at the time- I just remember that I abhorred Xmonad!)

Wee-heee!!! I'm using Slackware [5 minutes later, computer blows-up] :D

You can get stuff needed to build an IceWM package here. Read carefully the SlackBuild Usage HOWTO first. For your documentation needs, see SlackDocs.

I've used IceWM in the past, now I use Fluxbox. Using one or the other is a matter of taste, I think. Both are lightweight.

Thanks for the info, Didier.

For the time being though, I'll just use one of the included DE's/WM's.

One question:

Also, when booting Slack up, when I go to start X, I used to be presented with a dialogue with two choices for the XFCE DE- Choice A[forget what exactly it said] and "Use a single window". I selected choice A the first time, and it gave me a nicely featured XFCE desktop. Rebooting, I chose the "single window" option. to see what would happen. I got a stripped-down XFCE and my wallpaper, etc. were gone. On subsequent rebootings, I am no longer presented with the choice of options which gave me the full desktop, with my wallpaper and all. How do I get that option back? [I hope you can understand what I'm talking about]

What? I've never seen that. Can you post a screenshot?

Hehe...no- if I could get it to offer the choice again, it'd be fixed.

Weird! What I have to do, is initially login as root. Then when I start X, I get the regular XFCE desktop with my wallpaper and icons and everything. Then I use the terminal to login as a regular user- and all is well.

I even tried copying the .Xinitrc file from the root folder into my user folder- but that didn't work. I figured if I could give the user account the same default options as root, it'd work......

Hmmm...maybe if I delete my user account, and then add myself again as a new user...... (worth a shot, eh?)

You can try removing the xfce config files under .config folder on your home directory (your user home directory)

Remove the following directories:
.config/xfce4
.config/xfce4-session
.cache/xfce4