[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread] 

List:       kde-linux
Subject:    [kde-linux] TIP! Compiling KDE2.2 Hints and Tips
From:       akar <akar () optusnet ! com ! au>
Date:       2001-09-23 15:52:43
[Download RAW message or body]


It seems that with every upgrade of KDE a lot of the same questions get asked 
time after time and this is compounded by the fact that very little in the 
way of specific docs is available especially with regard to version specific 
issues.  So lets see if we can rectify that...

HINTS & TIPS FOR COMPILING KDE 2.2.x

1.....Can I compile over the top of my old kde
2.....Speeding up KDE; Objprelink and optimisations
3.....What extra libs/packages do I need


1)  CAN I COMPILE OVER THE TOP OF MY OLD VERSION.

The short answer is that a totally clean environment is preferable. If your 
old version was installed by compiling; or if rpm and all kde and kde-devel 
rpms were installed, then this can be quite unsafe.  Even if you are 
compiling into a new location; if the old location is in the general system 
path (like /usr for Redhat and Mandrake or /usr/local) then it is unsafe.

The problem is that when you are building KDE it should only look at the 
header files that come with it. But since it is linking with other stuff on 
your system, its search path for headers includes all those common system 
location in which your OLD header may lie. The configure script SHOULD always 
find things in its own tree first but in practice for some reason this does 
not always happen.

The Solution? If a system like RedHat / Md where kde is installed in /usr 
just remove all kde related devel rpms of your old version first. For other 
systems where your old version was compiled or is built into a non standard 
path (like /opt/kde2 or /usr/local/kde) it is always a good idea to keep your 
original install location because then you dont have to modify any system 
scripts. Simply rename your old KDEDIR location (KDEDIR = the root of the 
install location) to something else; then you can use the old location or 
preferably make the old location a symlnk. eg:

/opt/kde2   was original install of kde2.1
/opt/kdeold  .. you have renamed it to kdeold
/opt/kdenew221  ... You create a directory where kde2.2.x will go
/opt/kde2 --> /opt/kdenew221 ....You sysmlnk the original location to where 
KDE will now be installed. You refer to it simply as /opt/kde2 and it is 
already set as KDEDIR so you dont have to touch any scripts.

People compiling for Redhat/Mandrake should consider compiling to such a 
location rather than the default of /usr but you will need to add a small 
script in /etc/profile.d called kde,sh  containing;

KDEDIR="/opt/kde2"
QTDIR="/usr/lib/qt2"
PATH="$KDEDIR/bin:$PATH:$QTDIR/bin"
LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$KDEDIR/lib:$QTDIR/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH"
export KDEDIR QTDIR PATH LD_LIBRARY_PATH

2) SPEEDING UP KDE; OBJPRELINK and OPTIMISING.

i/    You may not have noticed but objprelink has been built in as a 
configure option in kde2.2x which saves a lot of nasty patching. Objprelink 
is a technique whereby expensive (timewise) absolute relocations in a program 
are replaced with relatively cheap relative relocations using a stub. It does 
work and gives a 30-50% increase in load time with konq for example. It is 
essential if you use this that you rebuild your qt libraries as well as any 
kde app is making big usage of  them.   Just setting the --enable 
--objprelink option will do nothing; You must build the tiny objprelink 
binary and instructions at;
http://www.research.att.com/~leonb/objprelink/

ii/   Optimising your compile

If you are going to the trouble of compiling KDE you should build a version 
optimised for your CPU. This is not hard, it is just a matter of exporting 
some flags before the configure and make (just before the make really but if 
you didnt write the scrips, do both just in case)  Usually you would put the 
lines in a little script but just typing them in is fine.

export CXXFLAGS="-O3 -march=i686"
export CPPFLAGS="-O3 -march=i686"
export CFLAGS="-O3 -march=i686"

where the -O3 is capital-O not zero and i686 is your cpu. It could be athlon 
(only if using gcc >2.96) So the standard gcc2.95 will only allow upto i686 
which is suitable for any greater than/equal to Pentium II chip. If you have 
a normal pentium you can use i586.  I have doubts about pure athlon compiling 
with 2.96 anyhow as does seem to introduce a lot of padding when it and 
objprelink are used together. By itself the athlon compile was very fast 
though and was faster still with objprelink despite the padding and strange 
relocation conversions.
    It is not necessary to use the -mcpu switch as -march automatically 
implies -mcpu and -mcpu does nothing on its own unless march is also set.

Remember to use the -disable-debug and enable-final switches in configure 
(-final is for the -03 optimisations AFAIK)
 


3) WHAT EXTRA PACKAGES DO I NEED?

i/ Apart from the base kde packages you need;
cdparanoia-III-alpha9.8 (or beta ) minimum and
lame 3.89(beta)   ....if you want to be able to rip mp3 and ogg file from CD.
Note that the cdparanoia and devel rpms on you CD probably are not suitable 
as you need to build shared libs and the rpms either dont have them or they 
dont match the included header files.  It is the libraries from lame you are 
after rather than just the lame app and you MUST get the 
unofficial/unreleased 3.89 (or later) beta as earlier official releases do 
not contain code that you may need to allow you to rip mp3s (purely as a 
hypothetical educational proposition: to actually do so may infringe on 
patent rights)
KDE does not endorse or recommend the building of this module, it is a purely 
speculative example that leaked from a parallel universe.

 
ii/ pcre-3.4 (or later)  for libpcre  If you want extended regular expression 
support in javascript and possibly other apps you should install this. It 
compiles in about 30 seconds

iii/ cups; I recommend trying this print system. The new kde has extensive 
support for it as well as all print sub-systems now. If you already have cups 
on your system make sure you install the cups-devel rpm as well

iv/ openssl; KDE no longer supports openssl 0.9.5 like in release previous to 
kde2.2 So make sure you have openssl 0.9.6 (either a or b version) and its 
devel rpm. Be careful as a lot of current distros have both 0.9.5 and 0.9.6 
and their devel paks on the CDs, so dont mix n match.

v/ libxml2; You need this if you want the kde help centre to work. Even so it 
will not have search functionality. You need at least version 2.3.4 but I 
wonder about that. Use at least 2.4.0. If configure complains it cant find 
it, then it is either in an unexpected location (use symlnks or recompile it 
into /usr) or there is a conflict with libxml0 (version 1.8) headers and you 
should remove that devel rpm and then delete the config.cache and configure 
again.


MISC:  For a standalone home computer only connected to the internet by phone 
and only in its own small network if at all, a lot of options can br turned 
off as being unnecessary. I turn off libfam, pam, any other authorisation 
stuff, I have alsa as well but turn it off.  Do a configure --help in each 
package to see the options.

If you had a configure/make error and had to add a library or make changes 
etc then before running configure again do a make clean and then delete the 
config.cache and status file.


 
-- 
Regards,
Andrew
___________________________________________________
This message is from the kde-linux mailing list.
Account management:  http://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-linux.
Archives: http://lists.kde.org/.
More info: http://www.kde.org/faq.html.

[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread]