Installing XDarwin using Fink under Darwin by Steven Molloy

Installing XDarwin on Mac OS X 10.1.3 is not as painful and complex as you may think. This tutorial will walk you through the installation of X-Darwin so you can start using your Unix/Linux applications side by side with MacOS X.

First thing you need to do is go to Apple's Developer site and download and install the December 2001 Developer Tools for Mac OS 10.1 from Apple. Then download the latest version of Fink, a package manager for OS X. Pay attention to the instructions on the download page (you may be able to skip step 4).

Before following the instructions on the Fink website you will need to enable root access. Launch "Netinfo Manager" (/Applications/Utilities/) and do the following:

1. Click "Domain" on the toolbar
2. then select "Security"
3. and click "Authenticate..."

Type in your Administrator Name and Password, then repeat 1 & 2. Then click "Enable Root User". I recommend the password be different then your Administrator password. Now you can start the instructions from the Fink download page (remember to skip step 4).

Once you have installed Fink and followed steps 1 through 3 from their download page, open the MacOS X Terminal and switch to root by typing the following:

> su
Password? xxxxxx
> cd /sw/etc
> pico fink.conf

Add "unstable/main" at the end of your trees line so that it looks like this:

Trees: local/main stable/main stable/crypto local/bootstrap unstable/main

Save the file (Control-O), quit pico (Control-X) and exit root access by typing:

> logout

As a regular user in the Terminal window, you need to update your Fink install with the following command:

>fink selfupdate-cvs

When that is finished enter:

>fink list

In the list you will see xfree86-rootless. Now you need to install XFree86 by typing the following:

>fink install xfree86-rootless

It will ask to install additional packages, so hit yes for all additional packages. It may take between 45 minutes to 3 hours to compile depending on the speed of your computer!

When it is finished, you will find X-Darwin in your /Applications folder.

Now you need to install a window manager; I recommend Black Box. So in the Terminal type:

>fink install blackbox

When that is finished you will need to create a .xinitrc file in your home directory (note the file name begins with a dot). Do this by typing:

> pico .xinitrc

Then add the following lines to this new text document:

source /sw/bin/init.sh
exec blackbox"

Again, save the file (Control-O), quit pico (Control-X).

I recommend you subscribe to the fink-beginners mailing list to learn what is new and get any additional help you may need. I also recommend getting on a variety of "MacOS X" and "Darwin" irc chat servers (even "Linux" and "Unix" chat rooms could be a source of help). If you have any questions about this tutorial please e-mail me. I hoped this helped you and enjoy!