20 Nov
2024
20 Nov
'24
5:49 p.m.
On Tue, Nov 19, 2024 at 18:24 (-0600), Darrell Anderson via tde-users wrote:
On 11/18/24 4:38 PM, Jim via tde-users wrote:
> Hi,
> I have TDE 14.1.1 installed on Slackware64 15.0.
> Firefox keeps spitting out error messages like
this:
> Unable to open /opt/trinity/share/dconf/profile/user: Permission denied: 'glib
warning', file /tmp/firefox-128.4.0/toolkit/xre/nsSigHandlers.cpp:187
>
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1410879 seems to indicate that
> firefox is looking in /opt/trinity/share/... because /opt/trinity/share is
> in the XDG_DATA_DIRS environment variable.
> In my Slackware version of TDE, there is no
directory
> /opt/trinity/share/dconf at all, which (partially) explains why firefox is
> whining.
> But it got me wondering... can someone (or
multiple people) who use another
> distro let me know if you have anything in /opt/trinity/share/dconf, and,
> if so, would you mind sending me a listing of what files are in there?
> Thanks.
> Jim
Hi Jim,
Long time Slacker here and part of the original team
of malcontents :) who
contributed to TDE.
Hi Darrell, I'm always happy to hear from another malcontent. :-)
I'm running TDE 14.1.2 on Slackware 15.0.
The described problem goes back to the original TDE
fork days. The root
cause is TDE is installed in what I call /opt hell. This is necessary
because the 900 pound gorilla KDE is installed in /usr and that is never
going to change. Despite improvements in TDE, there remains many binaries
with the same name as the KDE commands. Installing TDE in /usr would
cause many conflicts. No other DE is designed this way, all being
presumed to be installed in /usr. There are related bug reports, both in
the old bugzilla and in the gitea thingie.
The result is some confusion with XDG environment
variables and paths.
If the TDE paths are placed before the standard paths, then external
software looks for files and libraries in the TDE paths before looking in
the standard /usr paths. Not doing this results in other software not
knowing where to find anything related to TDE.
I have tinkered to find a happy half-way point, but
there is a point of
diminishing returns. The question is whether to enable TDE paths and
environment variables when using other DEs. One way to attack the
problem in Slackware is with a custom /etc/profile.d script. Another
method is write custom shell script wrappers for specific TDE tools
desired when using other DEs.
I use TDE but primarily use KDE. Two TDE tools I use
within KDE are
KAlarm and KMail. For both I use shell script wrappers to avoid XDG and
path issues when using KDE. When I use TDE these same script wrappers
adjust the paths and variables.
Michele and I have discussed the issue, but moving TDE
to install in /usr
is on the back table. There was a related discussion in this mail list
not too long ago.
Thanks for the XDG lesson.
Rather than using a DE, I use fvwm3, and most programs I use seem to exist
quite happily without the full complement of XDG variables set up. Why
firefox (or some program it uses) is upset about not finding that directory
is currently a mystery to me.
I'm guessing many TDE users do not experience this
issue because they do
not use multiple DEs.
This sentence confuses me. If ffx is whining about the TDE entry in
XDG_DATA_DIRS, then what does multiple DEs have to do with this? Is it not
the case that everyone with TDE installed will have that TDE dir in their
XDG_DATA_DIRS variable? (Not that everyone uses ffx, but that is
orthogonal to how many DEs one uses).
(Having said that, as pointed out by deloptes, the version of ffx comes
into play.)
With many people only using TDE they are unlikely to
experience issues
related to installing TDE to /opt/trinity. I suspect many TDE users do
not have KDE installed at all and as can be learned from the mail list
discussion, really don't care that TDE is installed in /opt/trinity.
That is the case here for me on one system where I only use TDE.
Another glitch is the /opt/trinity/bin/starttde script
is missing some
checks with respect to XDG variables. TDM was patched to address some of
that but not starttde. Search the gitea thingie for the respective bug
report.
As it turns out, I use neither tdm nor starttde.
I don't know what your scripting skills are like.
I've been writing shell scripts since 1979 or 1980, and continue to do so
regularly. I wouldn't be Olympic champion shell scripter, but I'm
reasonably competent.
While there is a nominal package build environment
found at github, the
scripts are unorthodox and incomplete. I can't manage or lead such a
project, but I would volunteer to help build a full SBo compatible
collection of TDE build scripts. I don't know if that kind project might
attract you.
Are you familiar with Ray V's slackbuild scripts
(https://github.com/Ray-V/tde-slackbuilds) ? Or are these the ones that
you are referring to above?
I recognize these are unorthodox SlackBuild scripts (since, for example,
they have the unmitigated gall to download the source themselves :-), but I
wasn't / aren't aware that these are incomplete. Having said that, since I
don't use the DE, but just some of the programs supplied with TDE, perhaps
I am missing things I don't need or don't know I'm missing.
I have blabbered too much, but I hope something here
helps you.
I appreciate the response, some of the historical details fill in spots in
the puzzle.
Cheers.
Jim