# Installing KDE, taking a LONG time



## sysop1911 (Jul 27, 2011)

I started installing KDE4 on my machine last night.  That thing was taking FOREVER!!  It would run for a long time, then stop and give me some options, so I selected what I wanted, hit 'ok', then it would run another 10 minutes, then it would stop and ask me for more options.  This happened over and over.  I'm a work today and I'm still not done installing it.  Is this normal?

To install, first I installed the Xorg.  Then I went to the /usr/ports/x11/kde4 directory and ran `# make install clean`


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## phoenix (Jul 27, 2011)

Yes, this is normal, when doing things the manual, pure-ports tree way.  Each port is compiled in series, down the dependency chain, and each port will pop up its own OPTIONS screen.

There are several ways around this:

don't use the meta-ports like x11/kde; instead, manually install each of the kde* ports manually, one after the other, only installing what you need.  That way, you get the OPTIONS screens when you need them.
read the ports(7) man page to see how the various *-recursive* commands (like *make config-recursive*) work, which allow you to do all the OPTIONS screens at once, before the compiles start.
use an automated ports management tool like ports-mgmt/portmaster, which shows you all the OPTIONS screens before starting the compile.  These also handle dependencies better, and can be configured to use binary packages as well.
use pkg_add(1) to install pre-compiled binary packages instead of compiling things from the ports tree


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## sysop1911 (Jul 27, 2011)

Ok, thanks. Options 3 and 4 look the best.  Learning something every day.


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## LateNiteTV (Jul 27, 2011)

Also, if you're going to compile a giant meta port like kde4, run 
	
	



```
make config-recursive
```
 to set all the options at one time, that way compilation doesn't stop every so often to ask about options.


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## sysop1911 (Jul 27, 2011)

That command will just make the package, not run the install, correct?


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## phoenix (Jul 27, 2011)

No, it will figure out all the dependencies for the port, and then run "make config" for each of those ports.  So you get a continuous stream of OPTIONS screens.  After that, you can run "make install clean" and it will compile all the ports, using the OPTIONS you set.


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