# Building XFree86 from a Source Distribution

## David Dawes, Matthieu Herrb

27 May 2001

This document describes how to build XFree86 from the source distribution. It is designed to be used in conjunction with the OS-specific README files.

> NOTE: Refer to the appropriate OS-specific README file before attempting to build XFree86. These files contain additional information that you may need to successfully build under your OS.

We highly recommend using gcc to build XFree86, but it generally also builds with the native compiler for each platform;

### 1. How to get the XFree86 4.2.0 source

### 2. Configuring the source before building

### 3. Using a shadow directory of symbolic links for the build

### 4. Building and installing the distribution

### 5. Reconfiguring the server (source distribution)

### 6. Other useful make targets