Replace Elogind with ConsoleKit2?

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brocashelm
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Replace Elogind with ConsoleKit2?

Post by brocashelm »

Is there a way I can do that and still keep Xfce? I am aware that Salix 15.0 follows Slackware's decision to drop ConsoleKit2 in favor of Elogind, plus adding more Wayland and other Freedesktop.org components in the dependencies. I would simply like to omit those kinds of things, if it's possible to build without them. Upon checking the repository, all I see is Nologind, but I have no idea on how to use that (I tried running it as a command, but nothing worked).

Plus, I am not a fan of the newer versions of Xfce, and would prefer to go back to 4.12 (GTK2) if possible. Can you not add the 14.2 repositories, install those Xfce components, and then exclude them from being updated via 15.0? Or, better to just build it straight from source? I noticed this repository exists, but I haven't tried it yet.
djemos
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Re: Replace Elogind with ConsoleKit2?

Post by djemos »

While technically possible in a manual setup, dropping elogind in favor of ConsoleKit2 in Slackware 15.0 is not recommended. In Slackware 15.0, elogind is considered the "standard" for session management without systemd. Removing it will make the system "incompatible" with most of the current package repository. You have to recompile hundreds of packages.
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brocashelm
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Re: Replace Elogind with ConsoleKit2?

Post by brocashelm »

Not even with a "dummy" package for a build workaround? A few other distros have that, and I was able to get ConsoleKit2 and Seatd working splendidly with software like KDE and Network Manager. Perhaps I'll do a reinstall of Salix 14.2 and try to exclude Elogind and the rest of them as much as possible.
djemos
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Re: Replace Elogind with ConsoleKit2?

Post by djemos »

You can build a package.
Download all from here in a folder consolekit2.
Enter the folder and type

Code: Select all

fakeroot sh ConsoleKit2.SlackBuild
install the package

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sudo spkg /tmp/ConsoleKit2-1.0.0-x86_64-3.txz
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brocashelm
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Re: Replace Elogind with ConsoleKit2?

Post by brocashelm »

Thanks. I'm currently having limited Internet, but the files have been downloaded for offline experimentation. I will update this thread as soon as possible. Thanks again.
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brocashelm
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Re: Replace Elogind with ConsoleKit2?

Post by brocashelm »

djemos wrote: 20. Mar 2026, 08:26You can build a package.
Download all from here in a folder consolekit2.
Enter the folder and type

Code: Select all

fakeroot sh ConsoleKit2.SlackBuild
install the package

Code: Select all

sudo spkg /tmp/ConsoleKit2-1.0.0-x86_64-3.txz
Just wanting to update you on that. I only needed to install one package:

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linuxdoc-tools
...and it successfully built and installed with your instructions. I also went ahead and disabled Elogind in two config files referencing it in this directory to disable a running Elogind process in any way:

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/usr/share/dbus-1/system-services
Moreover, I installed Seatd and now append it using this when I have no graphical session:

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seatd-launch startx
It now shows as part of the running processes.

Nologind was also installed, and it conveniently became a part of the D-Bus system service files referenced earlier (and it is actively running).

Also, I ripped out PulseAudio and placed a dummy version (as directed in this guide). Doing this all accordingly (PulseAudio is also a part of the package manager's excludes), I have had no system conflicts.

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su
mv /etc/asound.conf /etc/asound.conf.disabled
removepkg pulseaudio

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git clone https://github.com/i-rinat/apulse
cd apulse
mkdir build
cd build
cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release ..
make
su
mv libpulse* /usr/lib64 #or /usr/lib if you are on a 32-bit machine
I also compiled this fork of YAD which maintains the GTK2 UI (which I highly prefer over GTK3). Afterwards, I used a simple script to replace the original GKSu that came with Salix:

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#!/bin/sh
set -e

if [ $(id -un) = root ] ; then
    exec "$@"
fi

if [ "$SUDO_ASKPASS" = "$0" ] ; then
    exec yad --entry --title="PASSWORD" --entry-label="$*" --hide-text
fi

exec env SUDO_ASKPASS="$0" sudo -A "$@"
After all of this, the experience has been much smoother. The only thing now is I'd like to get back the 4.10 and 4.12 versions of Xfce that are GTK2 at the latest (Thunar and the Xfce panel went GTK3 in 4.12). It's probably better to just recompile from the official tarballs, right?
djemos
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Re: Replace Elogind with ConsoleKit2?

Post by djemos »

Try to see if gtk3 version of xfce is working. Of course you can try build it from source. I do not use xfce. I use openbox.
Be aware that you might will end up compiling a lot of packages.
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brocashelm
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Re: Replace Elogind with ConsoleKit2?

Post by brocashelm »

I spent the last two hours chasing down specific source versions of Xfce that I thought were on the right track, but eventual library conflicts within the system were creeping up, making it very unusable in the end. Good thing I made a system backup right before that.

On a slightly unrelated note, is there a way I can get GTK2 instead of GTK3 for the Qt5 platform themes? This doesn't work at all for things like KolourPaint or other Qt programs, and I've checked the repositories:

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QT_QPA_PLATFORMTHEME=gtk2
djemos
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Re: Replace Elogind with ConsoleKit2?

Post by djemos »

What you are trying to do it doesn't worth the effort and time. Since salix is based on slackware and slackware use elogind and gtk3 you will end up with an unusable system. Kde, KolourPaint or other Qt programs will not work. Also what about updates happened on slackware for security reasons? And i do not think can be compiled using gtk2 since system use gtk3 for all programs.
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brocashelm
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Re: Replace Elogind with ConsoleKit2?

Post by brocashelm »

I can see your point. At least CSD isn't an issue that I've seen. I miss the traditional look and feel of GTK2 themes, but using one with adequate GTK3 and Qt5 support is better than nothing. Won't be happy at all once GTK4 comes for us all. As for Elogind, simply not having it running (ConsoleKit2 as the process replacing it, along with Seatd and Nologind supplementing it) is acceptable. With what I was able to work into my Salix install, it's looking and running a lot better than the stock install in my experience.
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