rootyard: you've forgotten what it is to be a complete beginner and not know what is important and what is not important.

i haven't got it to work, as far as i know. i plan to take a step back and try and understand more about the linux environment. i am going to update the other parts that i can from the www.gnu.org site. like autoconf, make, binutils and such. i am wondering if Mandrake has stuff configured in a funny way that is alittle out of the norm and maybe that is what is going wrong. i also tried the latest development build. My next step is to study X86Free environment and see if that needs some updating or change in its configuration. on my system the .desktop file seems to be the one that determins which desktop startx uses. i don't have the .xinitrc in my home. i am going to see if that is one of the base reasons the think won't compile. i just don't understand why the errors are in the following functions:

fluxbox.cc: In member function `void Fluxbox::save_rc()':
fluxbox.cc:1976: error: `B_EuropeanDate' undeclared
fluxbox.cc: In member function `void Fluxbox::load_rc(BScreen*)':
fluxbox.cc:2324: error: `B_AmericanDate' undeclared
make[3]: *** [fluxbox.o] Error 1
make[3]: Leaving directory `/home/solitear/fluxbox-0.1.14/src'
make[2]: *** [all-recursive] Error 1
make[2]: Leaving directory `/home/solitear/fluxbox-0.1.14/src'
make[1]: *** [all-recursive] Error 1
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/solitear/fluxbox-0.1.14'
make: *** [all] Error 2

i updated my autoconf to the latest version and i plan to update my make utility as well and the binary utilities. then i'll try to delete all the directories that fluxbox config and make made and start again, one i look at XF86Free.

i even tried the 1.12 version that someone else got working. so that is why i wonder if maybe some files are missing or the system is configured funny, at least for Fluxbox install.

Did you even read my post? I said to compile from CVS for a reason. B_EuropeanDate and B_AmericanDate can't be used, because no libs have been included that declare those variables. It's a KNOWN problem with that version of the source. If you don't believe me, ask on #fluxbox (which I also recommended).

atnan,

Yes. I did. I got some sort of error when I did that. I do appreciate the help. I've just reached a frustration point is all. I need to step back. When I did the commands, (I copied and pasted them) my computer was looking for a .cvspass file in my home directory which wasn't there and honestly i'd have to read a bunch of stuff to figure out what that file does and how to get it created.

i really appreciate your response and i tried it 3-5 times and in different ways and couldn't get it to work. i guess i am almost hopeless.

once again, sorry if i offended, but i tried with my meager skills to accomplish your instructions, but i failed. also, i had to update to autoconf 2.59 because at first it stopped because it needed 2.52 at a minimum.

and yes, i do believe you.