If I prefer and plan to use KDE only as my desktop and I fully suspect that eventually I will install GTK applications, what do I loose by not installing dropline gnome? Are there libraries (GTK+?) that I'm not going to have or will make my life difficult when I install misc. GTK based programs?

Thanks
Tomas

if you're running a standard install of slackware the GTK libraries are already install - you can run programms like GAIM already.

so you're not loosing anything.

other than not have gnome.

dont install dropline if you dont want gnome. no point...

Ok, great. Thanks

if you go into pkgtool and 'remove packages'. you will see that GTK+ etc is already in there (dont remove them though)....

Strictly speaking, GTK doesn't depend on Gnome. Gnome depends on GTK. So apps compiled with GTK libs will not require Gnome while apps written with the Gnome libraries will require both Gnome and GTK.

However, there are many many apps that DO require "gnome libraries", even ones that you wouldn't necessarilly suspect.

Install Dropline(if you plan on actually using gnome) or Freerock(if you just want the libraries). Just because you install them doesn't mean you have to use them. But you may need those libraries eventually. You've nothing to lose at all except hard drive space, which i can almost guarantee you have enough of. It'll save you time in a long run when you want to go compile an app that depends on something like cairo.

There are enough libraries in slackware to run most apps. that depend on gtk. Mozilla, Firefox and Thunderbird all use them, There is even cairo in -current now. I would take a close look at the changes Dropline makes to Slackware (pam, etc.) and decide if it's worth it to you. Once Dropline is installed it's really hard to go back.

It's not so hard to get back. It depends on a lot of things. As somebody said in another previous thread, difficulty removing dropline is only a myth. There are no real evidences of troubles when removing. However, if you ar4e afraid of it, you can try gware.

there are troubles if you are a relative beginner.

i wouldn't recommend installing gnome if you dont want to use it.

also if nothing is not working. why bother??

I would still install Dropline if you want to use gnome or Freerock if you just want the libraries.

There are a lot of programs that depend on gnome libraries. Drivel, gaim2, liferea, etc. It's very difficult to manually install the dependencies of these programs.

Besides, you've nothing to lose but hard drive space. If you do go for dropline, KDE is untouched. Dropline's xorg is faster and has more fonts, and PAM is a very good thing if you know what it does. If you go with freerock, then nothing will happen except hard drive space will be lost.

yeah you say that. but if you install drop line or FRG it replaces some of the packages with gnome ones. if you then use swaret or slackpkg to upgrade you system it will replace these with the normal slackware ones, thus breaking gnome and defating the object....

it makes package management much more tricky. IMHO

Well, my first time around (and I am a totally new user) I did install dropline gnome and I didn't like what it did. It not only installed the desktop environment but it upgraded some of my KDE stuff. Now I don't necessarily know or understand everything it did, but I don't want to have problems with my software pop up later. I didn't like the effect it *might* have caused my system. So I re-installed with just KDE.

The fact of the matter is that I don't think I need it if I have all the gnome libraries I will need to run what I think I will run (and so far I do). Hopefully I won't be forced into the total package gnome install.

TS

Dropline could not have upgraded any KDE package. They are left untouched. However, there is a bug in KDE that causes the menu to be broken due to the fact that it doesn't support freedesktop.org specifications(which are used in gnome).

The fix is easily available in the dropline forum and on the FAQ page of freerock.

Also, slapt-get completely blocks out all dropline packages automatically, meaning that you don't have to worry about them getting replaced with slackware packages.

Just a quick warning concerning dropline gnome.

After I installed dropline gnome for my x86_64 based system that is using Slamd64-10.2b (an unofficial port of Slackware 10.2), it essentially killed my system.

My basic everyday apps still ran fine, and I *thought* that I just saved myself a lot of time, but I soon discovered that my most important apps simply would not run anymore.

Cinelerra http://heroinewarrior.com/cinelerra.php3 crashed on startup. Yes, I know that Cinelerra has its quirks, but there are no other comparable video editing apps for Linux. And, most importantly for me, jack (low latency audio server) http://jackaudio.org would not run properly.
Recompiles of jack & cinelerra did not help. And no jack means no Ardour http://ardour.org or any other of my many excellent audio apps.

Since it was a new system, I decided to do a fresh install, *WITHOUT* dropline. And, I compiled gnome-2.14.2 myself. This way, I know that I won't be doing any system changes like dropline does.

I also installed gnome into /opt/gnome-2.14.2 so this way, any upgrades would be easier than using /usr/local .

I'm not slamming the good people behind dropline, but, you may want to consider another gnome distribution, especially for x86_64 systems.

Despite what some people say about removing dropline being no problem...... I beg to differ.

Be warned, dropline makes a lot of changes to your system, and I know that I'm not the only person who has had troubles with dropline.

You would loose unnecessary headaches what shouldn't be a bad thing (TM) IMHO
Dropline Gnome replaces Slackware stock packages so you have to partially give up time proven quality work of Slackware Team. They could lead to complications with keeping system up-to-date, break dependencies and/or cause eventual instabilities.
Even main maintainer of Slackware don't recommend it.

It replaces f.E. following packages:

• shadow - very important & security sensible login authentication utilities. Dropline version adds PAM support intentionally rejected by Slack developers. In addition to Slackware would become PAM aware distro it would require to rebuild many many more packages then Dropline brings.
• x11 - all packages of XOrg system. Too important security intervention. Speed gains are arguable, I personally didn't noticed any difference.
• freetype2 - replaces files contained in x11 package
• glib2
• gnupg - another security tool
• gtk+2
• gtkhtml
• librsvg
• libxml2
• libxslt
• mozilla-firefox and thunderbird
• pango

As already stated, for running GTK+ apps you really don't need to install it. If there is an urge to use GNOME desktop I would recommend less intrusive builds like Freerock or Gware or simply pick another distro with stock GNOME packages.