The following is the outline for the KDE 3.1 release schedule. KDE 3.1 is the first feature release in the KDE 3.x series. The list of planned features can be found in a separate document. All dates given there are subject to revision.
KDE 3.1 Release Schedule & Feature Plan Available
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Eugenia Loli
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Those KDE developers are dedicated to say the least, I wish them well. I will have to give kde a look when I get the time to compile it, I had it on my gentoo system awhile back and konqueror made the entire environment unstable.
I had the exact same problem with Konqueror under Gentoo, crashing on almost everything I was browsing to. The problem was a new kpart that was integrated to Konqueror after you had emerged Kemerge and kBuildpart and another one as well (I am talking about the suite of these apps here: http://kemerge.sf.net ). Since then, the author has updated his 3 .ebuilds to work with the newer versions of KDE, so please unmerge them and emerge the new ones if you need them.
Konqueror will become stable again, it was that Kpart that was crashing it.
The problem was reported here too (back then I thought it was qt’s fault):
http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=390
I use and love fluxbox, but thanks for the information and I will give kde another go soon.
There is still no application in KDE which lets me change the screen resolution very easily. What’s up with that?
As there is no kcontrol module to let you change the sound card option, or your mouse type, or the netwrok card drivers or add/remove other drivers etc
These are distribution and OS-specific, so it would require more coding than you may think it needs. The way you deal with drivers is different from one OS to another, and even from distribution to distribution.
Of course, this is one of the reasons why Linux is not ready for the desktop, but on the other hand, if you are using something like SuSE, or Mandrake or Lycoris, these distros are coming with their own tools to deal with drivers, tools specific to their distribution.
BTW, personally, I just edit the XF86Config-4 file by hand and then restart the X server… Works fine this way too…
And please don’t tell me that this file is full of “jibberish”, as a friend of mine told me recently, it is pretty easy to understand after you get the hang of it.
You can also switch your resolution easily with a key combination… So it’s not that magical. There is a gnome applet that can switch between resolutions. Games can also switch the resolution. You need to have valid modelines for every resolution though.
But I usually don’t change my screen resolution all the time…
I used this Gnome applet when I played some emulator games because they looked better in a low resolution like 320×240 (and this emulator had no fullscreen mode).
With just a simple “ctrl+alt+’+'” and “ctrl+alt+-” you can switch between the resolutions defined in XF86Config.
Exactly, that’s what I meant… My problem though is, that my current keyboard has no numpad and so it has no numpad+ and numpad-.
The other + and – don’t work.
Yes, but this trick will create a virtual screen, not a real resolution of the one you asked. Completely useless if you want to truly test how a web page renders under different resolutions…
Aah right. Hell I can’t wait until this problems are all over with a vertex based windowing system like Fresco.
“With just a simple “ctrl+alt+’+'” and “ctrl+alt+-” you can switch between the resolutions defined in XF86Config.”
I tried this the other day, and it just witched between 640 and 320, so looks like those of us who are unlukcky enough to experience this get to go hack the XF86Config file, and while we’re trying to make sense out of the config options, we should keep repeating to ourselves “Linux is ready for Joe User … Linux is ready for the desktop.”
Why not use the XFree configuration tool included with your distribution? For example I know that changing the resolutions is a piece of cake with the Debian X configurator (dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86) that is automatically launched when installing this package.
For XFree3 you could just do XF86Setup. :/ Now it depends mostly on your distribution, I think the only included configuration tool for XFree4 is xf86config and that is awefull.
Anyone having trouble editing his XF86Config(-4) file, send it over to me, and I will add the resolutions you want, so you can switch to the ones you need to by Cntrl+alt++.
Just make sure that your monitor supports these resolutions, so please send me the *brand* and *model* of the monitor, just to make sure we won’t fry anything.
>Why not use the XFree configuration tool included with your distribution?
Bad idea.
“Why not use the XFree configuration tool included with your distribution?”
I just download Slackware 8.1 because I wanted to check out KDE 3 without having to actually install it
It was either that or download the 3 disc set for Redhat 7.3. Anyway …
* xf86config: you’re right, it’s horrible – ‘Fatal Error: No Screens found.’
* XF86Setup (I think this was the command): Just launches the X server with a mouse pointer, that’s all I get
* XFree86Setup -configure: This one created a config file for me, but launches KDE in 640×480.
My take is that with a supposedly modern operating system that is ‘ready for the desktop’, truly it shouldn’t be this damn difficult to get f**king GUI up and running, even without distros having to write frontends for this god-awful setup.
Even worse (at least with KDE), if you are unlucky enough to get it up and running, the opening wizard shows up with its buttons hanging off the bottom of the screen.
I mean, who the hell actually tested this thing? This little quirk and dozens like it makes the whole interface feel like it was written by a bunch of amateurs.
This is what I get for not proof-reading ..
“Even worse (at least with KDE), if you are unlucky enough to get it up and running”
should read …
“Even worse (at least with KDE), if you are unlucky enough to get it up and running in anything below 800×600”
>Why not use the XFree configuration tool included with your distribution?
Bad idea.
Why not? I normally use XConfigurator; and have no problems. (The one included in DrakConf crashes X and never change the resolution 🙁 )
“Even worse (at least with KDE), if you are unlucky enough to get it up and running in anything below 800×600”
For a very long time I use KDE 2.2.2 with 640×480. But then I got a new second hand monitor at around $25 and used 800×600. Now, I’m saving for a even bigger monitor.
> Bad idea.
Why that? I know that dexter (debian X configurator) is pretty convenient, I wouldn’t want to live without it anymore. It never produced a bad config for me and I usually edit it manually when I want to make quick changes.
Of course X still sucks ;P and it’s true, it shouldn’t _depend_ on ditribution specific configurators.
This is, of course, an XF86 issue. X (the protocol) and XF86 are still bound up by horrible legacy issues. The inability to easily manipulate the display resolution is just one in a whole slew of deficiencies that make XF86 the crappiest display server to see popular use.
Give it a rest with all the ‘Linux is ready for the desktop’ stuff. As is obvious to anyone who has used Linux recently it isn’t just a simple yes/no thing.
If your computer experience only is with GUIs and point and click configuration, then you will have a really hard time using Linux.
If you know Unix-ish systems, it is generally not a problem using Linux as a desktop machine. Unless you absolutely need some software which isn’t available (programs like Photoshop and FrameMaker springs to mind).
It is utterly pointless to rant about missing GUI configuration tools over and over again. Noone whose opinion matter have proclaimed that ‘Linux is ready for Joe Sixpack’ (or whatever that poor guy’s name is). Lots of fanatics scream it all the time just as lots of anti-Linux fanatics yell about deficiencies in the OS and related applications.
If you don’t like Linux, don’t use it. But please stop turning a perfectly sensible discussion about the development of a desktop GUI for Linux into the endless discussion of Linux vs <insert your favourite OS here>. It is pointless, not to mention extremely boring.
Most “average users” don’t even know what the term “screen resolution” means. Just knowing the meaning to such esoteric terms qualifies one to be a computing guru in the minds of the general public. Scary.
Slackware & ‘ready for the desktop’ are not normally heard in the same sentence.
Slack 8.1 comes with a XF86Config file already set up to use, that works with most systems. No need to configure it at all.
Here we go with the “Linux isn’t ready for the desktop” posts again. Yesterday, I just spent a whole day trying to reinstall Windows 2000 on one of my machines. Long story short, I found out two things: 1) Windows is much less fault-tolerant than any version of Linux. 2) The much touted “Microsoft Recovery Console” is nothing more than a simple DOS prompt with NTFS support. Absolutely no match at all for my Debian rescue CD with full XFS, VFAT and networking support. Then, I tried setting up Windows XP on the same machine (decided to upgrade while I was reinstalling anyway). At every turn, Microsoft’s “handholding” features got in the way. I set up the IP addresses in the networking setup just the way I wanted. Then, when I wanted to share a folder (which was a simple click of a box back in Windows 2000) it ran “Home network setup wizard” which reconigured (without telling me) my IP address to 165.XXX.XXX.XXX. I spent half an hour trying to figure out why the hell I suddenly couldn’t access the network anymore. Wheras setting up a Linux machine just involes editing some files in /etc and /etc/X11, setting up a windows machine involves going through the maze that is the WinXP control panel. Did you know that fdisk is buried under Control Panel->Classic View->Administrative Tools->Computer Management->Disk Management? And people say that typing ‘fdisk’ is harder? The real problem is that Linux exposes the great weakness of most people. The absolute inability to read manuals. Granted, most Linux software could make their manuals easier to find. /usr/share/doc is a great idea, but it *does* need to be more all-encompassing. But Google is your friend, so “I can’t find the manual” isn’t as valid an excuse as it once was. The nice thing is that for 5 minutes spent reading the manual, you’ll know how to configure the software on any Linux machine for years to come. Unlike Windows, the format and location of the Linux config files doesn’t change every release. I learned how to configure Linux over a week or so of using Slack 3.5. Every once in awhile, something really big comes out (like kernel 2.2) which requires me to spend a few hours learning something new. But overall, I probably spend less time configuring my UNIX machines that most Windows admins spend reading the latest 800-page tome about configuring Windows XXXX.
There might be an XFree86 configuration tool in KDE 3.1. See: http://lists.kde.org/?l=kde-usability&m=102443904532562&w=2
Since noone else have mentioned it yet i guess i will highlight a few of the most hyped up new features:
Tabbed browsing in konqueror.
A totally new default look using the Keramik style and window decoration.
Possibly (i cant remember if it was decided or only discussed) a new default icon set.
A few new games
But in general lots of small improvements overall.
You can find a screenshot here:
http://www.kde-look.org/content/files/1986-snapshot1.png
It show the new style, window decoration and icon set. It does show an incorrect color scheme though but it was the best screenshot i could find.
1) Windows is much less fault-tolerant than any version of Linux.
Weirdly, many Linux distributions like Gentoo and Debian are much more fault intolerant than Windows 2k setup.
2) The much touted “Microsoft Recovery Console” is nothing more than a simple DOS prompt with NTFS support.]
Windows NT doesn’t have any DOS code. What you see is NT with the same commands as DOS.
Absolutely no match at all for my Debian rescue CD with full XFS, VFAT and networking support.
Wow, are you recovering your machine, or using the recovery disk as your OS? the Recovery Console is for you to fix Windows; not to use as your networking workstation.
Then, I tried setting up Windows XP on the same machine (decided to upgrade while I was reinstalling anyway). At every turn, Microsoft’s “handholding” features got in the way. I set up the IP addresses in the networking setup just the way I wanted. Then, when I wanted to share a folder (which was a simple click of a box back in Windows 2000) it ran “Home network setup wizard” which reconigured (without telling me) my IP address to 165.XXX.XXX.XXX. I spent half an hour trying to figure out why the hell I suddenly couldn’t access the network anymore.
Hmmm, you should have just installed Windows XP straight. Plus it seems you are using the Home Edition; which is made for previously Windows 9x users, not Windows NT users.
Wheras setting up a Linux machine just involes editing some files in /etc and /etc/X11, setting up a windows machine involves going through the maze that is the WinXP control panel.
Wow, editing files in some unknown language really sounds easy for a normal consumer. (Besides, unlike Linux, Windows wasn’t made for users to edit its files. But if you like, there are guides out there for you to edit the files yourself like in Linux).
Did you know that fdisk is buried under Control Panel->Classic View->Administrative Tools->Computer Management->Disk Management?
But then again, anything console on Windows is hard. If you are planing to use the console, wouldn’t Windows seem like a bad choice?
Granted, most Linux software could make their manuals easier to find. /usr/share/doc is a great idea, but it *does* need to be more all-encompassing. But Google is your friend, so “I can’t find the manual” isn’t as valid an excuse as it once was. The nice thing is that for 5 minutes spent reading the manual, you’ll know how to configure the software on any Linux machine for years to come.
Most manuals are written in a way which could easily bore a normal average consumer. The best manual is from SuSE; but even that it has jargon which normal average consumers wouldn’t guess. For those who are adventureous; like me, find Linux and other *BSDs fun. But to normal consumers, it is overwhelming.
But anyway, from your complaints, it seems that you also haven’t read Windows XP boring manual..
Unlike Windows, the format and location of the Linux config files doesn’t change every release.
Firstly, it changes from distribution to distribution. And also, for most software (like XFree and QT), config files changes a lot every major release. Besides, I haven’t notice config files changing from Windows 2k to Windows XP. It does change if you are moving from Windows 9x; which is a totally different OS altogether.
Tabbed browsing in konqueror.
Nothing like Opera’s MDI…
A totally new default look using the Keramik style and window decoration.
Actually, I heard the default look would be the same but Keramik would be bundled together.
Possibly (i cant remember if it was decided or only discussed) a new default icon set.
If the URL you posted contain that new icon set, you are wrong. The icon set in the screenshot is Crystal, and is only default in Connectiva Linux. Personally, I don’t find it that attractive.
Personally I HATE wizards & such trying to do everything for you. I have no problem with editing textfiles to change my system configuration. But in Windows 2k/XP you have to go thru wizards for damn near EVERYTHING. That’s why my only remaining Windows box runs NT 4.0.
Most of my machines use Gentoo, and I love how it’s set up. Currently I also use KDE3, but if they start filling it full of ‘usability features’ I will ditch it. Why is it that ‘easy to use’ software always assumes that the user is an idiot?!?
Condescending software pisses me off. This is why I think Linux has an advantage. There will always be ‘pro’ distros, and others like SuSE and Mandrake will fill theirs full of bloat to please Joe Dumbass. Meanwhile M$ insisted on merging their pro & home OS. They should have kept them seperate, and made a true XP Pro edition without all the moron features.
What do some of you want to see in post 3.0 Kde? I don’t use Kde anymore because the resource requirements are too steep but I may give it another try after installing a memory upgrade. It’s unrealistic to expect Kde 3 to run well in 32 MB ram. Too much swapping.
Since I compile Qt and Kde myself what compile options does one use to get the much touted pre-linking? I assume certaing flags are set in configure but which ones. Kde 3 works just fine on my box, it’s just too slow, expecially slow to start. Performance of Qt apps, without Kde, is acceptable, though.
However, the resource requirements for Kde are a lot less steep than for Windows XP. In my opinion Kde is a much nicer desktop than Windows XP, which doesn’t give you half of what Kde + Linux gives you not to mention all the Kde apps that aren’t in the standard installation packages. Kde is prettier than Windows, faster than Windows and more configurable.
I think what Kde needs most is for Koffice to be brought up to par. Most of the Koffice components are unfinished and in need of more thorough testing before another release to the pubic.
The Os2 news readership seems to be immature, fickle people who just want the latest gimmick in an OS and don’t stick with any one OS or desktop long enough to discover its potential. Today I like Gnome, tomorrow I like Kde, etc. I bet most of you never used either, and only use Microsoft Windows preinstalled on a new computer. Obviously you’ve nevery installed ANY OS and envy those with the initiative to try something different.
>Tabbed browsing in konqueror.
Nothing like Opera’s MDI…
I dont recall reading anywhere that it was trying to be an opera clone. All i personally really need is “middle mouse button opens in new tab” and “ctrl-w closes the current tab”
Actually, I heard the default look would be the same but Keramik would be bundled together.
Keramik is default right now in CVS, and as far as i can tell from the discussion on kde-core-devel it will be default while the old (high color default) will still be available.
If the URL you posted contain that new icon set, you are wrong. The icon set in the screenshot is Crystal, and is only default in Connectiva Linux. Personally, I don’t find it that attractive.
Crystal is in the kdeartwork cvs module right now. I think the overall consensus was that it have some problems, but if they were fixed then they should be made default. Basically the attitude was that the old default icon set didnt match keramik very well.
This is at least how i read the long thread on the subject on the kde-core-devel mailing list.
Most of my machines use Gentoo, and I love how it’s set up. Currently I also use KDE3, but if they start filling it full of ‘usability features’ I will ditch it. Why is it that ‘easy to use’ software always assumes that the user is an idiot?!?
Glad to hear that you are having fun tweaking config files. But im sorry to say that you are a dinosaur
I personally don’t mind it much either (i am running linux from scratch) but im sure for every person you can find who want to edit config files by hand i can find 100 who dont want to do that.
I think usability is underrated and there will be more usability features in KDE, there is no doubt about that. i personally think this is a good thing, and im even trying to help add them. Mind you, i cant stand wizards personally and think you should always have a way turn them off, but that doesn’t mean that the many users who likes them shouldnt have them.
Wheras setting up a Linux machine just involes editing some files in /etc and /etc/X11, setting up a windows machine involves going through the maze that is the WinXP control panel.
I don’t know which linux version you run, but i can’t remember the last time i had to edit a config file by hand when using redhat, mandrake, or suse. Sure if you want a custom apache.conf or something similarly advanced you might have edit a config file, but else you dont. I dont know why this myth lives on.
Firstly, it changes from distribution to distribution. And also, for most software (like XFree and QT), config files changes a lot every major release. Besides, I haven’t notice config files changing from Windows 2k to Windows XP. It does change if you are moving from Windows 9x; which is a totally different OS altogether
I can remember XFree having a major release once in the about 4 years that i have been using linux, and the changes in syntax were not huge. And i dont even think QT has a config file, at least not one you are supossed to edit. While you might have a point, i think your example is poor.
I think what Kde needs most is for Koffice to be brought up to par. Most of the Koffice components are unfinished and in need of more thorough testing before another release to the pubic.
Unfortunately this part of KDE seems to have problems attracting developers. So if anyone would like help improve koffice then you should visit koffice.kde.org
I do think it is improving nicely however and i like the fact that it is fairly lightweight compared to both openoffice and especially ms office. And i really do like how well the different koffice applications integrate with eachtoher.