This is a text-only version of the following page on https://raymii.org: --- Title : The Common Desktop Environment (CDE) is still developed and modern in 2021 Author : Remy van Elst Date : 28-01-2021 URL : https://raymii.org/s/blog/The_Common_Desktop_Environment_CDE_is_still_developed_in_2021.html Format : Markdown/HTML --- ![CDE on Debian 10][1] > CDE on Debian 10 with Firefox open While playing around with [the GUI on OpenVMS][3] I was looking for CDE documentation and I found out CDE is still being developed and can be installed on modern linux. This quick post shows you how to install CDE on Debian 10 and includes a bit on compiling GENERIC TETRIS, the same program I installed [on OpenVMS][3].

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Really cool to compile and run a game from 1992 on a retro/modern desktop environment. Makes you wonder how the world could look, if everyone was on CDE still. Resource usage is low and everything is so snappy and quick, it feels amazing. I might even consider switching to CDE fulltime. ![GENERIC TETRIS][10] > Tetris from 1992 on CDE on Debian 10 in 2021 ### Preparation and dependencies [The CDE project page has great documentation][2] on installing on modern linux. This guide is specific for Debian 10 and does not use the `dtlogin` session manager, but integrates `CDE` in the "regular" login manager, either `lightdm`, `gdm` or `sddm`. [This guide][4] by mike632t (Mike?) was very helpful, but I didn't have any problems with locales. He also adds a service for `dtlogin`, which I won't, I'll be using the regular login manager. I assume all steps are run as root, in root's home folder (`/root/`). There's a whole bunch of packages you'll need to build CDE. Here's the entire bunch: apt install xserver-xorg xserver-xorg-core xfonts-base xinit lightdm git build-essential libxt-dev libxmu-dev libxft-dev libxinerama-dev libxpm-dev libmotif-common libmotif-dev libxaw7-dev libx11-dev libxss-dev libtirpc-dev x11-xserver-utils libjpeg62-turbo-dev libfreetype6-dev tcl-dev ksh m4 ncompress xfonts-100dpi xfonts-100dpi-transcoded xfonts-75dpi xfonts-75dpi-transcoded rpcbind bison xbitmaps libjpeg-dev libssl-dev x11proto-fonts-dev The [CDE documentation][2] has information on locales, but my debian 10 XFCE install did not require any of those steps. ### Get the CDE source code with git Use `git` to get the source code for CDE: git clone http://git.code.sf.net/p/cdesktopenv/code cdesktopenv-code Go into the new folder and continue on to the next section. cd cdesktopenv-code/cde/ ### Compile CDE Execute the `make` command to build the desktop environment. This will take a long time, on my virtual machine with 4 cores and 4 GB RAM it took almost an hour. You can edit the `Makefile` and add `-j4` at the beginning of the `MAKE_OPTS` line, which will then use more cores. Still takes long though. # pre 2.4.0: make World make When the build finishes, use the following command to install CDE: # pre 2.4.0: ./admin/IntegTools/dbTools/installCDE -s /root/cdesktopenv-code/cde/ sudo make install Finally, copy the session file for your regular login manager. If you do this, you will be able to select CDE next to XFCE, GNOME or whatever you currently use. cp /root/cdesktopenv-code/cde/contrib/desktopentry/cde.desktop /usr/share/xsessions/ Reboot to make this active. Why not use `dtlogin`? That will probably mess with your current settings so much that you will have difficulty going back. Also, in my case, `dtlogin` sets the resolution to `800x600`, `lightdm` uses the regular resolution. You can use `xrandr` or `arandr` to change the resolution in CDE, but if it works right away that's just easier. #### checkinstall This is optional, but if you want to keep your system clean and be able to remove CDE afterwards, you can use `checkinstall` to build `.deb` packages for easy installation and removal. When building `.deb` packages for other people, `checkinstall` is not recommended but for your own system, it helps keep things tidy. `checkinstall` is not in the [main repo's for Debian Buster][7], but is in the backports. Add the following line to `/etc/apt/sources.list`: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian buster-backports main Do an update and then install `checkinstall` from `backports`: apt update apt install checkinstall/buster-backports Execute `checkinstall` instead of `make install` after the `make`: checkinstall --pkgname=local-cde -s /root/cdesktopenv-code/cde/ Afterwards install the `.deb` package created by `checkinstall`: dpkg -i *.deb ### Using CDE If you do follow [Mike's guide][4], then you can use `dtlogin` as login manager. It looks like this: ![dtlogin debian][6] If you follow this guide, you'll use your regular login manager, select the CDE session in there to login. After logging in the first time, a big blue screen with some version information is shown: ![version info][5] The desktop is nice, clear and clean, with a help window popping up, just like on OpenVMS. The below screenshot shows a few open programs, like firefox and the Application Starter: ![cde][1] Go play around with all the programs, like the file manager, terminal, style manager and the dock. If you use local mail, there is a mail client and also a print program. Works with CUPS so if you've got a printer setup, it should be usable right away. Resource usage is low and everything is so snappy and quick, amazing. #### Autostart programs on CDE login If you want to auto-start applications on CDE when logging in, you can simply open them and not close them before logging out, it will remember them. You can also put them in a file: mkdir -p ~/.dt/sessions/ vim ~/.dt/sessions/sessionetc Add one command per line, ending with an `ampersand` (`&`): firefox & Afterwards don't forget to make the file executable: chmod +x ~/.dt/sessions/sessionetc Now onto the fun part, gaming! ### GENERIC-TETRIS After posting the [OpenVMS CDE article][3] on Lobsters, user kidon replied [on the tetris part][8]. It's written by Qiang Alex Zhao and although the `Makefile` being outdated, you can manually compile and run it. First download the source, I mirrored it on this site: wget https://raymii.org/s/inc/downloads/tetris-312.zip Unzip and go into the folder: unzip tetris-312.zip cd tetris_3_1_2 Compile it manually: cc -o tetris tetris.c utils.c playing.c -lX11 -lXaw (You do need all the CDE development package dependencies as installed in the above paragraph) There should now be a binary in the folder which you can execute: remy@debian:~/tetris_3_1_2$ \ls -la ./tetris -rwxr-xr-x 1 remy remy 67064 Jan 28 15:35 ./tetris Running it pops up a graphical window with the game: ./tetris ![tetris][10] Use the arrow keys to move the piece around, `space` to plop it down instantly, `k` to rotate and `n` to see the next piece. Afterwards your score is shown: GENERIC TETRIS V3.1.2 Copyright (C) 1992-93 Q. Alex Zhao, azhao@cc.gatech.edu GENERIC TETRIS comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY. - Thu Jan 28 15:37:48 2021 - Your final score is 333, at level 3 with 1 rows. [1]: /s/inc/img/CDE-debian-2021.png [2]: http://web.archive.org/web/20210128121747/https://sourceforge.net/p/cdesktopenv/wiki/LinuxBuild/ [3]: /s/blog/OpenVMS_CDE_Desktop_remote_x_axpbox.html [4]: http://web.archive.org/web/20210128132330/https://mike632t.wordpress.com/2020/11/05/compiling-cde-on-debian-10-jessie/ [5]: /s/inc/img/CDE-debian-2021-2.png [6]: /s/inc/img/CDE-debian-2021-3.png [7]: https://serverfault.com/a/974654 [8]: https://lobste.rs/s/gzadez/openvms_cde_desktop_remote_x_session_gui#c_2indqm [9]: https://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/people/qiang.a.zhao/Games.html [10]: /s/inc/img/CDE-debian-2021-4.png --- License: All the text on this website is free as in freedom unless stated otherwise. This means you can use it in any way you want, you can copy it, change it the way you like and republish it, as long as you release the (modified) content under the same license to give others the same freedoms you've got and place my name and a link to this site with the article as source. 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