• gtk+ 1.2.* (although gwatch has only been tried with 1.2.5 and 1.2.6)
  
  
• A working c compiler, and development environment (standard with most linux distributions)

• Unpack the distribution with the command, "tar xfz gwatch-xx.xx.tar.gz"
  
  
• 'cd' into the distribution directory, with the command "cd gwatch-xx.xx"
  
  
• Configure the package, run "./configure". For more information on compile time configuration options, consult the output of "./configure --help".
  
  
• Compile the program, with the the command "make".
  
  
• Install the package. Use the "su" command to become root, and install with the command "make install" which will install the binary (called gwatch) in /usr/local/bin (unless an alternate prefix was specified to configure).
  
  
• Add a line to your .xinit, or .xsession file (depending on wether or not you use xdm, or the like) to start gwatch. It will look something like "gwatch &" (the '&' is important, otherwise gwatch will not return, and your window manager will not start). Gwatch can also be started from the WindowMaker dock. To start gwatch this way, start it manually (i.e. in an xterm type "gwatch"). Once gwatch has created it's window to display new messages, it will create an appicon, which can be docked into the dock, and configured to start when WindowMaker starts.

Gwatch will look for mail in the spool pointed at by the $GWATCH_MAIL environment variable. Useing $GWATCH_MAIL may be usefull for those using procmail, who would like to be notified only if new mail arrives in a specific folder. If the $GWATCH_MAIL environment variable is not set, gwatch will try to use the $MAIL environment variable. When $MAIL is not set, it will look for the correct mail spool in a compile time configurable directory (by default /var/spool/mail/, see the Makefile for details). If gwatch does not see your mail spool, try setting the $MAIL environment variable (i.e. in bash, "export $MAIL=/var/spool/mail/user"). If you continue having problems, define _DEBUG_ in the Makefile, and rebuild, then run gwatch from an xterm, and it will print out the name of the spool it is looking at (along with alot of other debugging information).

If you encounter a problem with gwatch seg faulting, you've almost cerntainly encountered a parser bug. If possible when you encounter a problem such as this, it would be extreemly helpfull to send a copy of the mail spool (with any personal/sensative information removed of course). If you would prefer not to send a complete mail spool, please email me, and I will send you detailed instructions on how to determine were the segfault is occuring, so just the offending message (or at least the full header) can be sent. One such bug has likely been seen (in the currenty development version, 0.0.4), although not tracked down yet, and the more (well described) instances I'm aware of, the easier it will be to get things fixed quickly. If you encounter any other type of problem, please email me with a detaild description of your system, and email configuration (i.e. what platform your using, if your mail spool is in the default location, any relivant environment variables, etc.), the version of gwatch your using, and a detailed description of the problem, including how to reproduce it (if possible).

If you are having problems with Gwatch, and weren't able to resolve them with the above information, or would like to report a bug (as mentioned above) please send an email to the Gwatch mailing list. If you beieve you have found a bug it may also be helpfull to try the current CVS version, and try to reproduce the bug with it. See the download page for instructions.