Slashdot Mirror


KDE 3.0 Beta 2 is out

Subject says all - the next beta of KDE 3.0 is out, after a short delay. You can find the downloads at this announcement. Click below to read more details about this version. One of the most important things that the Konqueror teams wants from people are test cases of your regulary visited pages, where Konqueror either fails to render or render things incorrectly, and submit it using KDE's Bug Tracking system. URL's will not be helpful as it takes lots of time to strip a page from all the HTML code in order to find the actual problematic part of the web page.

Just to save the search for some people: Mandrake, SuSE, Slackware and Tru-64 binary packages are available now. Others will be available soon. Source code is of course available also.

34 of 316 comments (clear)

  1. KDE - Beta is stable by lemonhed · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Ive tried the KDE Beta 2. And I must say... Its a very very very stable pre-release. Hats off to the KDE developres.

    The only problem is that some of the older KDE apps wont run correctly with the new KDE and they must be upgraded to work with the new QT packages.

    Everyone should D/L it and check it out.

  2. I demand to see the source! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I want proof that Konqueror cannot be removed from KDE without causing severe damage to the OS!

    1. Re:I demand to see the source! by reflexreaction · · Score: 5, Funny

      And I want to be charged $20 less for KDE when and if Konquerer can be removed.

      --

      We had to destroy the sig to save the sig.
    2. Re:I demand to see the source! by IceFox · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Actually what I would like is clear simply instructions on how to have the kde call openBrowser(url) open in something other then Konq. This is one of the major reasons why Kinkatta (kinkatta.sourceforge.net) isn't in KDE. Kinkatta gives the user the option to select what browser to use because I can't answer the e-mails on how to have openBrowser(url) use Galian or Mozzila, Opera, etc. I have many non-kde users that use Kinkatta, but giving users options is "not the kde way" acording to *someone* in kde.

      --
      Do you changes clothes while making the "chee-chee-cha-cha-choh" transformation sound?
    3. Re:I demand to see the source! by 7-Vodka · · Score: 5, Informative

      Actually what I would like is clear simply instructions on how to have the kde call openBrowser(url) open in something other then Konq.

      Ok, your wish is granted.

      1. Click on the kcontrol icon.
      2. Click on file browsing tab.
      3. Click on the file asociations tab.
      4. Enter .html in the text box.
      5. Change the order of the browsers.

      Each user to his own browser. Just how I like it. Very easy to change.
      Simple enough? I think so.
      What peope don't seem to realize is that kde is more customizable than any other DE/WM. It's also scriptable. Type dcop in a term.

      --

      Liberty.

    4. Re:I demand to see the source! by Arandir · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You wanted "clear simply instructions on how to have the kde call openBrowser(url) open in something other then Konq". That's what you got. Clear simple instructions on how to have the browser of your choice called in place of konqueror. No, it's not a perfect scheme, but then again, nothing in life is perfect.

      But I'll let you in on a little secret just so you can sleep better at night. The file associations are used by the file manager to associate file types with applications. Something else handles URLs. And you know what that is? The file manager itself. The name of that file manager is Konqueror. And that's the reason why the file manager doesn't need to be told which URL scheme goes with which URL handler. The file manager IS the URL handler.

      --
      A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned
  3. what about FreeBSD binaries? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It turns out that a large silent number of
    people are running KDE (and GNOME) desktops
    under not *linux, but under FreeBSD. It would
    be nice if more FreeBSD binary packages were
    built.

    1. Re:what about FreeBSD binaries? by Henry+V+.009 · · Score: 3, Funny
      I get a nice, warm, fuzzy feeling knowing that everything on my computer was built from source by my computer.

      Where did you get your compiler? It could be putting in a trojan every time you compile. Have you checked your binaries?

    2. Re:what about FreeBSD binaries? by JabberWokky · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Why does KDE produce binaries for a few selected Linux distros, but not for other distros or other operating systems?

      KDE does not produce any binaries.

      Let me say that again: KDE DOES NOT PRODUCE BINARIES... they ONLY release source. Any binaries that are available at a version release were created by the distros themselves. It's in just about every single FAQ that KDE produces.

      KDE aims for portability against just about every X and *nix out there, including AIX, Solaris, BSD and Linux. I mention those in particular because there are KDE developers who use each as their primary platform. About the only drawback to the "source only" policy is the occasional distro that releases a binary with all the debugging turned on, or gif support turned off, etc. But that has gotten more rare with better documentation.

      --
      Evan

      --
      "$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
  4. Slackware support! by OpCode42 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Hurrah, they've provided slakpacks!

    Ive been using it today, its very nice. I wasnt a fan of KDE2, and at first glance this is just kde2 with bells and whistles. However, there are subtle changes and integrations that make it much nicer to work with on a daily basis.

    Konquerer is a little buggy though (crashes every time i press the Back button)

    Cant wait for the final release!

  5. As CmdrTaco says... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    "You get what you pay for after all."

    -Rob Malda

    How useful can KDE be?

    1. Re:As CmdrTaco says... by Sj0 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Slightly more useful than a pirated copy of windows, aparantly... :)

      --
      It's been a long time.
  6. Who Really Needs 3.0? by 4of12 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I was pretty happy with KDE 1 and remain happy with KDE 2.0

    I'm sure to get Troll -1'd into oblivion for this, but

    Why is KDE 3.0 so good that it's worth getting excited about from the standpoint of the end user?
    --
    "Provided by the management for your protection."
    1. Re:Who Really Needs 3.0? by PeterClark · · Score: 5, Informative
      Well, you've already been moderated as flamebait, but I don't think that's the case, so I'll respond.


      First of all, the major reason for KDE3 is QT3. QT3 has several advantages over QT2 for developers, and the KDE project want to use these to their advantage. As an end user, you probably won't be aware immediately of the changes, but developers will, which means that better programs will be coming your way.


      Also, look at http://developer.kde.org/development-versions/kde- 3.0-features.html to get an idea of what's being added in KDE3. Then you can decide for yourself whether KDE3 is worth it. :)


      :Peter

    2. Re:Who Really Needs 3.0? by stilborne · · Score: 5, Informative
      besides Qt3 (which others have pointed out) there are a number of new features and general improvements. for example the javascript and html engines are both much better/faster than what was in kde2. directory listing is much faster, the file dialog has been spiffed up a bit more, there is support for file information plugins that appear on mouse over (not to mention animated icons), improved imap and gpg support in kmail, dcop has been improved tremendously from the viewpoint of scripting, aRts is much improved with the new GSL engine (cooperation with GNOME!), some new eye-candy like animated window decorations and new thumbnail types, tons of bug fixes and speed ups etc.. etc.. etc...

      this is very much an evolutionary release as opposed to a revolutionary one (as KDE2.0 was), but the changes are quite noticeable. they make the general kde experience smoother and more useful IMO. one nice thing about it being evolutionary is that it is immediately stable and familiar ...

  7. What I'm looking forward to... by PeterClark · · Score: 4, Interesting
    I have been a KDE fan ever since last summer, when I finally got the hardware to support it. :) It's been my primary desktop environment ever since, although (probably due to something getting borked upstream) I'm having to use Fluxbox until the memory and performance issues in the current Debian Sid KDE go away.

    Anywho, the feature that I've been most looking forward to is tabbed browsing in Konqueror, due to appear in KDE 3.1. Galeon is the one constantly used app that isn't a part of KDE, and I use it because a.) it has tabbed support and b.) a smart bookmarks toolbar. Plus, it's a web browser. Nothing more, nothing less. Konqueror has various view settings (such as "file manager", "web browser", and whatnot, but in my experience, the different view settings don't always play nice. But since tabs are at the top of my wishlist, I will definitely reconsider Konqueror in the near future.

    So, what are all you other KDE fans looking forward to?

    :Peter

    1. Re:What I'm looking forward to... by brunes69 · · Score: 5, Informative

      I agree with the tabbed browsing, I can't wait for t to appear in 3.1. But the smart bookmarks toolbar; I find that vastly inferior to Konqueror's web shortcuts feature, mainly because it is so much simpler to use. Why do I need a bulky toolbar cluttering up my screen when I can just type "php:fopen" to search the php manual, or "rf:gaim" to search freshmeat? It's very cool. if you've never tried this feature, go into your konqueror settings under "Enhanced Browsing". It's very easy to add your own sites.

    2. Re:What I'm looking forward to... by xanadu-xtroot.com · · Score: 3

      or "rf:gaim" to search freshmeat?

      I just thought I'd make a correction for people who are not familiar with this (totally freakin' awesome) feature.

      rf:gaim - The "rf" is for searching RPMFind.net
      fm:gaim - The "fm" is for searching FreshMeat

      You can see many more things available to you by going to:

      Control Center --> Web Browsing --> Enhanced Browsing

      Very cool stuff...

      --
      I'm not a prophet or a stone-age man,
      I'm just a mortal with potential of a super man.
  8. The greatest feature about KDE3... by rseuhs · · Score: 4, Informative
    Is that it's quite the same as KDE2 and NOT a major rewrite.

    I know a lot of people who were scared away from KDE2.0's unstability and bugs.

    It's a marketing-thing. People tend to only try out .0 releases, so a 3.0 release that is in reality a 2.3 is the best thing that can happen to KDE :-)

    The second-best feature of KDE 3.0 is the configuration of animated pics, BTW ;-)

    1. Re:The greatest feature about KDE3... by bero-rh · · Score: 3, Informative

      It's a marketing-thing.

      No, it's a "we may change the API and ABI in major releases" thing.

      One of the main points of KDE 3.0 is the switch to Qt 3.0, which brings many advantages, but also breaks the existing ABI (and to a small extent, API).

      --
      This message is provided under the terms outlined at http://www.bero.org/terms.html
  9. No jumbo packages please by 2Bits · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This applies to KDE as well as Gnome.

    These two environments tend to come with huge packages (e.g. gnome-applets, kdenetwork, kdemultimedia, kdegraphics, koffice, ...).

    Sometimes, you just need one or two in the packages, and you are forced to install the whole jumbo packages. Why? Why can't we pick and choose?

    E.g. I use Kword sometimes for simple word processing, but I never use the spreadsheet and the presentation app. Same for kdenetwork. I use KMail and KNode, but I don't need korn,ktalkd,ksirc,.... And kdemultimedia, I don't do MIDI stuff, and I don't want to waste 10MB for timidity++ and other junks.

    Oh yeah, same for Gnome. Why do I need to install the whole gnome-applet package if I only need one applet? Same for other jumbo packages.

    I'm on RPM-based distro. How about apt-get-based?
    I don't know the internal details of the code, but isn't there a way to separate them out?

    1. Re:No jumbo packages please by proxima · · Score: 3, Informative

      To my knowledge, Debian KDE packages are separated. To install KWord, the dependency koffice-libs (to my recollection) is installed with it. I could be wrong (I'm not at my comp right now to check how apt-get handles everything), but when you do apt-get install koffice it installs all of the individual components quite nicely. Check out this page to see the list of KDE application packages. I also checked the library page and confirmed koffice-libs.

      Granted, you get a small amount of bloat if you just want KWord (compared to a more standalone wordprocessor), but it beats the RPM distributions easily. The quality and ease with which KDE is handled in Debian was one of the major deciding factors in me switching to Debian from Red Hat.

      --
      "The universe seems neither benign nor hostile, merely indifferent." --Carl Sagan
  10. Tips for SuSE users by Geek+Boy · · Score: 5, Informative

    The suse packages have a few minor installation conflicts. Make sure you have the prereqs installed and just --force and it will work. They use a separate .kde dir (.kde3-testing) so that you don't lose your old kde2 environment. However they don't migrate up your old settings. You can do this by copying the .kde2/share/config and .kde2/share/apps directories into .kde3-testing/share before your launch kde after you update. kconf_update will migrate your settings forward.

    I was unable to get the lisa package or kdevelop to install due to dependency problems, and I didn't try. Make sure you install the mesaglut-devel package. It's needed.

    The packages install into /opt/kde3 and you have to log in with the kde3 session entry in kdm if you use that.

    Known bugs so far:

    - Browser identification doesn't always work correctly.

    - Greek keyboard setting is giving me Russian characters instead for some reason. (this may or may not be a bug)

    1. Re:Tips for SuSE users by psocccer · · Score: 5, Funny
      Make sure you install the mesaglut-devel package. It's needed.
      Good to see they've finally included one of the most-needed functions ever for a geek, the megaslut package. I know I've been asking for it for a long time, I can't wait to see what kind of development stuff is in the devel- package...

      looks again

      Crap... Oh, mesaglut... well, I guess it's back to autopr0n...
  11. Re:KDE - Beta is stable by Geek+Boy · · Score: 3, Informative

    Just make sure you keep KDE2 libraries around and your old KDE2 apps will still work. They just won't directly interoperate with KDE3 apps. For instance, you can't embed old modules/plugins into new applications.

  12. KDE 3 by Satai · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm really looking forward to KDE 3.

    No, not because of the move to QT3.

    No, not because of the improvements in Konq, KFM, or any of those - not even the multi-key shortcuts.

    I just want to be able to use KMail for my Maildir mailboxes. I know there are hacks, workarounds, all that - but I don't want those. I just want to be able to plug in and go. Right now I use Mutt, but sometime in the future I'd like to be able to do some of the things it doesn't - like inline HTML viewing. KMail won't be for regular use, I guarantee it, but it will certainly be a nice complement to mutt.

    A very close second is the switching of desktops when dragging a window - that's on the "KDE 3 List" and it's definitely something I miss from E. I don't know if it's going to be in 3, but I also really miss the ability to "walk off the edges" of the desktop and switch to a different virtual desktop. I've got the keyboard shortcuts set up, but it just isn't the same.

  13. Re:KDE - Beta is stable by Geek+Boy · · Score: 3, Informative

    KDE1 was not even close to binary compatible with KDE2. Anyways, KDE3 broken binary compatibility because Qt broke it with Qt3 so it was a good opportunity. The transition shouldn't take too long before you have all KDE 3.0 applications though. Don't worry, it won't be that painful.

    Part of the job of the beta is to get people porting their apps to KDE3 too.

  14. KDE 3.0 by saintlupus · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I haven't had any luck getting the 2.x family of KDE to build on an OpenBSD box, whether the hardware was x86 or PPC. Which sucks, because I really want to use Konq, and Mozilla won't build at all under Open.

    Urg.

    Anyhow, has anyone managed to build one of the 3.0 betas under OpenBSD?

    --saint

  15. Re:FONTS!!!! by alanwj · · Score: 3, Informative

    Try the Font Deuglification HOWTO.

    You might find a more recent copy on linuxdoc.org, but they seem to be down at the moment.

    Alan

  16. Re:Redhat? by MSG · · Score: 5, Interesting

    *cough*bullshit*cough*

    "Red Hat" doesn't hate KDE. Bero is a big KDE advocate, and maintains daily builds here:
    http://www.linux-easy.com/daily/

    Red Hat probably doesn't provide packages through other channels because they aren't going to support them. The KDE people are free to use the packages that Bero's put up, and they have in the past.

  17. Screenshot by Isle · · Score: 5, Informative

    Since noone else has.
    Here is the secret link to the new
    KDE 3.0 Beta2 screenshots

    1. Re:Screenshot by Rob+Kaper · · Score: 3, Funny
      I originally wanted to update them a bit before linking and announcing them. The link is no longer secret, it is now linked from the main screenshots page.


      Damn, it's harder to keep a secret in KDE CVS / Dot / Slashdot than in a high school full of giggling Olsen twins.

  18. Re:Redhat? by bero-rh · · Score: 5, Informative

    This has nothing to do with likes or dislikes of a particular desktop (you'll notice there are no RPMs for the recent GNOME 2.0 alpha either).

    There will be packages for beta2 later (probably some time tomorrow); the problem is sheer lack of time. I've tried, but still haven't found a way to work more than 24 hours a day.

    And generally, building alpha/beta packages for previous releases is pretty low on my priority list (if you look at rawhide, you'll see KDE 3.0 post-beta2 has been in there for a couple of days).

    Getting the next release (7.3, 8.0, Linux XP or whatever it will be called ;) ) right is much more important (especially because next release + KDE 3.0 will be an officially supported configuration, 7.2 + KDE 3.0 isn't and probably won't be, releasing such a large errata that even breaks binary compatibility is not very likely to happen).

    But FYI, I'm currently building the beta2 packages for 7.2 on x86, ia64 and alpha in a different tty.

    kdelibs, kdebase, kdeadmin and kdemultimedia are done, kdegraphics requires some more work because of different gphoto versions, and I haven't started on the others.

    --
    This message is provided under the terms outlined at http://www.bero.org/terms.html
  19. Re:Redhat? by bero-rh · · Score: 3, Insightful

    One of the reasons, I believe, for RH to sport such an aggressive testing strategy is, that the next RH release will be build entirely with the GCC 3.x compiler

    That, and the fact that I don't think it makes sense to leave a version with known bugs in there for too long. A week from now, most of the commonly noticed problems with beta2 will be fixed in CVS, while possibly introducing new ones. Those new ones are the ones we need to know about. (We aren't planning to ship anything official with beta2 - so bugs specific to that version don't matter much - getting bug reports about things that are already fixed is not very useful).

    If KDE 3.0 is stable when RH 8.0* hits the market, you can be sure they will include it.

    That's the plan (no comment on the version number though). We generally don't throw stuff into rawhide that we aren't planning to ship.

    And yes! cups (www.cups.org) look like it is going in too.

    It's going in, and Qt, KDE and wine are built with cups support.

    --
    This message is provided under the terms outlined at http://www.bero.org/terms.html