[Solved] Trying to compile dwm from source in Debian

cog · 2020-01-11 16:32:17

^ that’s how I use to do it.

Colonel Panic · 2020-01-11 19:27:54

Thanks for the advice (and Pack Rat and Cluster F too). I'll get onto it soon. I hadn't even heard of build-dep but it sounds like a very useful option.

Last edited by Colonel Panic (2020-01-11 19:39:52)

Colonel Panic · 2020-01-14 17:54:16

Success at last! I followed the instructions given and finally managed to compile dwm, which I'm running now (in Crunchbang++). Thanks again to everyone who contributed.

For the status bar I'm using Joe Standring's utility dwm-bar, which I downloaded using github (to which I'm still quite new).

Last edited by Colonel Panic (2020-01-14 17:55:23)

PackRat · 2020-01-14 18:13:07

Screenshot or it didn't happen. monkey

iMBeCil · 2020-01-14 20:09:53

^ big_smile

Colonel Panic wrote:

I followed the instructions given and finally managed to compile dwm, which I'm running now (in Crunchbang++). Thanks again to everyone who contributed.

Which instructions in particular? It is always nice to explain how you solved your problem, for people visiting this topic ... for reference, and as a sort of give-back to other people who spend time to answer your questions.

Colonel Panic · 2020-01-16 20:05:39

Sure, this is what I did. I'm not sure all these steps are necessary but they worked.

First off, I got into the root account;

sudo su root [password]

Then, I installed all these libraries in turn;

apt-get install libx11-dev libxft-dev libxinerama-dev build-essential

Then the source file for dwm itself;

apt-get source dwm

and finally the freetype 6 library, and the build dependencies for dwm;

apt-get install libfreetype6-dev

apt-get build-dep dwm

Then I switched to the dwm build directory and changed the auxiliary key in the config.h file from Alt;

#define MODKEY Mod1Mask

to Win;

#define MODKEY Mod4Mask

and then finally, I compiled the window manager;

cd / home/user/dwm-6.1
make install

Job done.

Last edited by Colonel Panic (2020-01-16 20:12:25)

iMBeCil · 2020-01-16 20:11:50

^Excellent, thanks. This basically what is written on DebianDwm. It is good to know those instructions (still) works as expected.

Colonel Panic · 2021-05-25 11:15:25

A quick update; this also works in MX (based on Debian, of course) and if instead of getting the Debian source file, you download the dwm source file from the suckless website. One problem I've found is that the key command sequence for launching a terminal in dwm (Mod-Shift-Return) doesn't seem to work in MX so you have to use dmenu instead.

Last edited by Colonel Panic (2021-05-25 20:46:56)

Colonel Panic · 2021-06-06 15:29:15

Another update; this also works in Ubuntu 18, although I had to add some 'source' URIs to my sources.list before build-dep would compile.

I solved this by installing software-properties-gtk and then checking the "Source code" box.

https://askubuntu.com/questions/496549/ … urces-list

Last edited by Colonel Panic (2021-06-06 22:10:15)

Colonel Panic · 2021-10-24 14:56:15

Yet another update; I mentioned above that I was having trouble getting the terminal to launch in dwm when I used the expected key combination (Mod - Shift - Enter).

I checked the configuration file and found it was set up to use st (suckless's own terminal) as the default terminal, which isn't installed in the system; so I changed this to xterm, which is already installed in the system, and recompiled and now all is fine.

(Another option of course is to download st from the suckless website and install that, instead of updating the configuration file).

Also, by default dwm opens a new Firefox window in the #9 workspace. If you want to open it in #1 as normal, delete the line in the config file which contains Firefox. This one;

{ "Firefox", NULL, NULL, 1 << 8, 0, -1 },

The only problem I have with dwm now is that Softmaker Free Office (and probably Office too) doesn't play well with it and you can't use the menus in Free Office although the key bindings (Ctrl-S to save a file, etc.) still work.

Last edited by Colonel Panic (2021-10-26 18:53:38)

Colonel Panic · 2022-06-03 14:44:59

I don't know why, but this thread didn't show up in "Search results" when I looked for it just now. Could it be because it has been marked "Solved?"

Anyway, I managed to get it compiled and running in MX-19 despite the fact I couldn't get software-properties-gtk to complete and work properly and update the list of Debian repos. When I've got more time I intend to list all the tweaks I make to it in order to get it running the way I want.

Last edited by Colonel Panic (2022-06-03 16:00:20)

johnraff · 2022-06-06 05:21:19

Colonel Panic wrote:

I don't know why, but this thread didn't show up in "Search results" when I looked for it just now. Could it be because it has been marked "Solved?"

Having [Solved] in the topic title should make no difference to whether posts show up in a search or not. I just tried a search with 'dwm' and this thread came up.

#21 2020-01-11 16:32:17

Re: [Solved] Trying to compile dwm from source in Debian

#22 2020-01-11 19:27:54

Re: [Solved] Trying to compile dwm from source in Debian

#23 2020-01-14 17:54:16

Re: [Solved] Trying to compile dwm from source in Debian

#24 2020-01-14 18:13:07

Re: [Solved] Trying to compile dwm from source in Debian

#25 2020-01-14 20:09:53

Re: [Solved] Trying to compile dwm from source in Debian

#26 2020-01-16 20:05:39

Re: [Solved] Trying to compile dwm from source in Debian

#27 2020-01-16 20:11:50

Re: [Solved] Trying to compile dwm from source in Debian

#28 2021-05-25 11:15:25

Re: [Solved] Trying to compile dwm from source in Debian

#29 2021-06-06 15:29:15

Re: [Solved] Trying to compile dwm from source in Debian

#30 2021-10-24 14:56:15

Re: [Solved] Trying to compile dwm from source in Debian

#31 2022-06-03 14:44:59

Re: [Solved] Trying to compile dwm from source in Debian

#32 2022-06-06 05:21:19

Re: [Solved] Trying to compile dwm from source in Debian

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