The Trinity Desktop Environment, a fork of the last release in the KDE 3.x series, has just released their latest version, R14.1.3. Despite its rather small version number change, it contains some very welcome new features.
TDE started the process of integrating the XDG Desktop Portal API, which will bring a lot of welcome integration with applications from the wider ecosystem. There’s also a brand new touchpad settings module, which was something I was sorely missing when I tried out TDE a few months ago. Furthermore, there’s of course a ton of bugfixes and improvements, but also things like support for tiling windows, some new theme and colour scheme options, and a lot more.
Not too long ago, when KDE’s Akademy 2024 took place, a really fun impromptu event happened. A number of KDE developers got together – I think in a restaurant or coffee place – and ended up organising an unplanned TDE installation party. Several photos floated around Mastodon of KDE developers using TDE, and after a few fun interactions between KDE and TDE developers on Mastodon, TDE developers ended up being invited to next year’s Akademy. We’ll have to wait and see if the schedules line up, but if any of this can lead to both projects benefiting from some jolly cooperation, it can only be seen as a good thing.
Regardless, TDE is an excellent project with a very clear goal, and they’re making steady progress all the time. It’s not a fast-paced environment chasing the latest and greatest technologies, but instead builds upon a solid foundation, bringing it into modern world where it makes sense. If you like KDE 3.x, TDE is going to be perfect for you.
I’m planning to create Luddite GNU/Linux. No systemd, X11, based on Slackware. Supported desktop environments: Trinity, MATE, and CDE.
“Luddite GNU/Linux” made me laugh.
You should market it for the Amish 🙂
https://www.grunge.com/608956/this-computer-was-created-specifically-for-the-amish/
Are you going to name it Ludditix?
Lunix!
So in other words you are going to create Slackware which already has all these things? You do realize Slackware already exists I’m assuming?
Yes, but I am strong believer that the number of distros should not be smaller than the number of Linux users.
edit: you made me check on repology, actually Slackware doesn’t have Trinity, Mate nor CDE in the official repo. Slackbuilds, if they exist, don’t count.
j0scher,
There are so many linux distros, but this has to be sarcasm or a joke, right? We hear lots of people saying there’s too many distros, this rebuttal is hilarious, haha.
I also built a distro custom tailored to my own needs and I wouldn’t tell others not to 🙂 It’s a good learning experience and gives you a better understanding of what goes into the process. Are you starting from an existing distro or starting from scratch? If you are serious about making your own, my advice would be to find ways to automate absolutely everything you can from day 1. You’ll be rebuilding & packaging the OS many times, so look into optimizing this bit early on. From building kernels, patching & building source code, etc. A lot of if not most of these will be 3rd party sources with a myriad of build procedures, so plan on supporting custom build instructions/scripts for every package. Automate this so it can be kicked off and allowed to build while you go do something else. In addition to actually building the OS, you should automate actually installing it into a qemu VM because you’re going to end up doing that a lot too. Automation will save time and save you from having to perform the same steps over and over again every time you need to make a small adjustment.
>”edit: you made me check on repology, actually Slackware doesn’t have Trinity, Mate nor CDE in the official repo. Slackbuilds, if they exist, don’t count.”
OK, well then I can’t wait to try your amazing new SlackTriMaCDE distro! Which I will of course fork immediately to replace CDE with DWM and make the new SlackTriMaDaWM distro.