Building XFree86® from a Source Distribution : How to get the XFree86 4.8.0 source
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## 1. How to get the XFree86 4.8.0 source

The recommended way of getting the XFree86 4.8.0 source is to obtain it directly from the XFree86 CVS repository. There are several ways of doing that, and they are described at our CVS web page.

The CVS tag for this release is "`xf-4_8_0`". The tag for the maintenance branch for this release is "`xf-4_8-branch`".

Another method of getting the XFree86 4.8.0 source is to either download the 4.8.0 source tarballs from the XFree86 ftp site. The procedure for this is as follows:

- The XFree86 4.8.0 source is contained in the files:

  > `XFree86-4.8.0-src-1.tgz
  > XFree86-4.8.0-src-2.tgz
  > XFree86-4.8.0-src-3.tgz
  > XFree86-4.8.0-src-4.tgz
  > XFree86-4.8.0-src-5.tgz
  > XFree86-4.8.0-src-6.tgz
  > XFree86-4.8.0-src-7.tgz
  > `

  These can be found at ftp://ftp.xfree86.org/pub/XFree86/4.8.0/source/. `XFree86-4.8.0-src-4.tgz` and `XFree86-4.8.0-src-5.tgz` contains the fonts. `XFree86-4.8.0-src-6.tgz` contains the documentation source. `XFree86-4.8.0-src-7.tgz` contains the hardcopy documentation. `XFree86-4.8.0-src-1.tgz`, `XFree86-4.8.0-src-2.tgz` and `XFree86-4.8.0-src-3.tgz` contains everything else. If you do not need either the documentation or the fonts, then you need only `XFree86-4.8.0-src-1.tgz`, `XFree86-4.8.0-src-2.tgz` and `XFree86-4.8.0-src-3.tgz`.
- Extract each of these files by running the following from a directory on a filesystem containing enough space (the full source requires around 270MB, with a similar amount being required for the compiled binaries):

  > `gzip -d < XFree86-4.8.0-src-1.tgz | tar vxf -
  > gzip -d < XFree86-4.8.0-src-2.tgz | tar vxf -
  > gzip -d < XFree86-4.8.0-src-3.tgz | tar vxf -
  > gzip -d < XFree86-4.8.0-src-4.tgz | tar vxf -
  > gzip -d < XFree86-4.8.0-src-5.tgz | tar vxf -
  > gzip -d < XFree86-4.8.0-src-6.tgz | tar vxf -
  > gzip -d < XFree86-4.8.0-src-7.tgz | tar vxf -
  > `

Alternatively, if you already have a pristine copy of the XFree86 4.7.0 source, you can download patches from ftp://ftp.xfree86.org/pub/XFree86/4.8.0/patches/ that will allow you to convert it to 4.8.0. Information about which patch files to download and how to apply them can be found in the "How to get XFree86" section of the README for this release.

Each of the methods outlined above will produce one main source directory called `xc`.

Building XFree86® from a Source Distribution : How to get the XFree86 4.8.0 source
Previous: Building XFree86® from a Source Distribution
Next: Configuring the source before building