1. How to get the XFree86 4.2.1 source

There are a few starting points for getting the XFree86 source. One option is to start directly with the XFree86 4.2.0 source distribution and updating it to 4.2.1 with a source patch. In this case, the procedure is as follows:

• The XFree86 source is contained in files X420src-1.tgz, X420src-2.tgz and X420src-3.tgz. These can be found at ftp://ftp.xfree86.org/pub/XFree86/4.2.0/source/ and similar locations on XFree86 mirror sites. X420src-2.tgz contains the fonts and documentation source. X420src-3.tgz contains the hardcopy documentation. X420src-1.tgz contains everything else. If you don't need the docs or fonts you can get by with only X420src-1.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, and a similar amount is required in addition to this for the compiled binaries):

  gzip -d < X420src-1.tgz | tar vxf -
gzip -d < X420src-2.tgz | tar vxf -
gzip -d < X420src-3.tgz | tar vxf -


• A patch relative to 4.2.0 is available at ftp://ftp.xfree86.org/pub/XFree86/4.2.1/patches/. The patch file is 4.2.0-4.2.1.diff.gz. The patch can be applied by running:

  cd the directory containing the xc directory
gzip -d < 4.2.0-4.2.1.diff.gz | patch -s -p0 -E

  Look for special patching instructions in the Release Notes.

Another option is to get the source by anonymous CVS or CVSup. See http://www.xfree86.org/cvs/ for details on the different procedure available.

All methods will produce one main source directory called xc.