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KDE 3.x Installation On Solaris Discussed
Jim Hall writes " A recent Sun-hosted article looks at installing and running KDE 3.x on Solaris Operating System (Solaris OS) -based workstations. Author Corey Liu tries to shy away from the debate over GNOME vs. KDE, and focuses on how KDE is installed on Sun workstations and the Solaris OS.
Both GNOME and KDE are available at freeware Web sites for users of the Solaris OS. While Sun recently began to favor GNOME as the default desktop environment on the Solaris OS, some people still enjoy using KDE."
... I must say for one thing, that was probably one of the worst articles I've ever seen... A monkey could figure out how to stick the Solaris Companion CD in the drive and install KDE.
That aside, I would personally recommend not installing the sun provided KDE, but rather, the packages assembled by Stefan Teleman, available through ftp.kde.org. This is version 3.1.4, whereas the Sun provided version is 3.1.1a.
KDE 3.x comes shipped with Solaris 8 or 9 on the Software Companion CD. I highly recommend installing all of this software, and you'll get a fully functional compiled version of KDE that is provided by Sun and supported by Sun. There is also a readme under your /opt/sfw folder that is placed there by the installer and tells you how to add KDE to your desktop selection at the Solaris login screen.
"When the president does it, that means it's not illegal." - Richard M. Nixon
I've been using the two together since kde 1.1, and it always works just fine. Now and again you might have to tweak a header file or Makefile, but usually the core and 95% of the apps work right out of the box. (Sometimes the early betas just won't build, but I can live with that.)
I'll never understand why Sun went with GNOME over KDE, cos, in terms of stability at least, that's *always* sucked on Solaris. The only shame is that you can't, at least without *major* patching, build KDE with Forte.
Well written software requires very little effort to port from Unix to Unix. It's very rare I find anything written primarily for Linux that won't build on Solaris.
This makes it very frustrating when (usually linux) people can't see further than their own OS and fail to write portable code. It's not much more work really, and people will love you for it.
The Linux version of QT being pseudo-gpl'e is a very common misconception. Trolltech's marketing speak is a bit confusing in regards to this... You will notice that on their site, they state:
"Any software produced with QT under the GPL license, and any derivatives of this software, must also be released under the GPL."
Which is true of ANY GPL'ed software. (Although, software based on a GPL library, is still a gray issue.) You can still sell your software in any way you see fit. However, you are obligated to release the source code for your software, under the GPL... to the people you SELL your software to. (Which brings us to a big misconception people have with the GPL. You ONLY have to release source code to people who obtain a binary from you. Regardless if this is from a free download, or a purchased copy. )
But following that, they state:
"As before, any user who wishes to create proprietary or closed source software must first purchase a development license from Trolltech."
Which means that due to the fact that QT is duel licensed, you have the OPTION of purchasing a non GPL version of the QT library from Trolltech, if you wish your derivative to remain preparatory. (Because Trolltech owns the copyright to QT, they reserve the right to duel license, or even stop using the GPL all together for future versions of their software. Which is something you CAN'T do as a third party, who does not control the copyright.)
Luke
Need to check your facts, last time I looked QT was not GPL you cant do anything you want..
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>&g t;
When was the last time you looked? Qt was GPL'ed more than three years ago, starting with version 2.2
A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
KDE already runs on OS X thanks to the Fink folks.