[Lilux-help] guide to compiling, "autostart" dockapps

compiling: does anyone know about a good guide on how to compile from source? problems i have: - what programs and libs are considered to be standard, so they are not mentioned in any install instructions? (default suse doesn't even have gcc installed) - how to tell if a problem is a missing package/distribution specific/broken code/wrong compiler version/ ..., so you know where to ask for help? dockapps: i'm trying fluxbox, and i quite like it because it's easy to configure. now i would like to start some dockapps when fluxbox starts. i read in an faq that you need to put them in your .xinitrc, after starting the windowmanager. i wonder if this applies for suse, as there is a graphical login, where you can chose your windowmanager. so there would have to be a different .xinitrc for each windowmanager? i'm clueless... if someone knows what to do, or where i could read about how suse handles such things, i'd be grateful. kymon