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KDE 3.2.0 Released
Quique writes "KDE 3.2 has just been released. The official announcement is available at the KDE site and the source tarballs are being replicated to the mirrors. There are already binary packages for a few distributions. Besides the usual bugfixes and new features, this release has been highly optimized and runs way faster than previous versions. This is a good opportunity for Windows users to migrate to a free desktop."
Great Job !!
so be kind, and delay it from the 'hords of slashdot' ... atleast for a few hours...
I don't claim I know more than I know, and if you know you know more than I know, then by all means, let me know.
How often do you have to start it? Shouldn't you be more concerned about performance once it's running? And what's another 15 seconds on top of a linux boot anyway?
:)
Not to diss your choice of XFCE4, though - that's my choice, albeit on 1997-era hardware
L
If it still takes some 15 secs to startup even on high-end machines, it'll not be faster enough for me.
XFCE for me...
Being that KDE (GNOME, etc) have different aims than that of XFCE, I think its totally resonable that KDE and friends take a bit longer to load.
Sunny Dubey
I see a lot of foolish comments about not being able to do anything useful with a KDE desktop. the only thing you cannot do just as well with kde3.2 compared to winXP is play games. thats it people, nothing more no arguements accepted. so in the corperate areana windows can put it's head between it's knees and kiss it's ass goodbye
If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
It's included for free with the Windows kernel.
Correction, [windows desktop] is included at no extra cost with the Windows kernel. It's not free, you have to pay for it if you plan on acquiring it legitimately.
Your 'bastardisation' of the word free shows that the world of advertising has been a complete success. "Buy one get one free!" No, you get two for the price of one, but one is not free. You still have to pay. Anything which requires an exchange of something is not free.
So, technically, you're using a bastardised definition of the word "free".
Also, it's worth noting that Free Software is a term (note the capitalisation) used in relation to, well, Free Software. So the usage of the word Free in the context of Free Software like KDE makes perfect sense and is not a bastardisation of the word "free", but more alike the usage of a word describing a product. Like Windows: I have lots of windows but I never use Windows.
Free Gamer - Free games list and commentary
How about a shout-out to everyone who contributed to the development of KDE! Thanks for your fine work guys, keep it up!
Maybe your purpose in using a computer is running Windows apps, most people want to get their work done.
Let's face it, the only value of an OS or computer is running the software _I_ want to run. And the desktop is little more than a very superficial interface to the OS.
The value of an OS is letting you do what you want to do. That may or may not involve running specific software.
The whole thing is like saying "now, see, we can give you a dashboard for your car that looks exactly like an airplane dashboard." Uh. And the point is? It's still a car, and it still can't do what an airplane does. Nor viceversa.
Huh? KDE is not trying to be Windows, its trying to be a useful desktop. One factor in being a good desktop is being able to look like Windows, so that many people will find it less difficult to switch - but its not its purpose.
The same applies to Linux vs Windows. Repeat after me: putting a Windows desktop manager on Linux, doesn't make it a Windows substitute. And viceversa, putting CDE (or a clone thereof) on Windows, doesn't make it a Unix workstation.
KDE is not a Windows(TM) desktop manager.
A good desktop is a substitute for Windows.
;) That'll do Linux a world of good.
But even if we're discussing desktop makeups: does Linux now have CUA guidelines? Did people start actually sticking to the same behaviour for their widgets? Did people actually start testing their interfaces with 100 dpi fonts? Etc.
In the Free Software/Open Source world - such tests come for free. People use the software with all sorts of configurations and report problems.
Not to mention Qt (And other modern toolkits), unlike Windows, uses pure logical layouts and handles font sizes/etc very well.
Because changing the desktop means very little, when Joe Average's day still involves dealing with 10 different programs, using 6 fundamentally different widget sets, 8 fundamentally different keyboard shortcut sets, and 4 different ways of even persisting his preferences.
That's exactly the purpose of KDE. Creating a consistent GUI to do all those things. KDE is slowly getting rid of the GUI concept of "application", integrating capabilities to run software in contexts of all apps and windows (KPart/IOSlave technologies). KDE also has a very consistent default keyboard shortcut setup.
KDE is not about Gtk+ integration and consistency, but about internal integration and consistency (even though some projects to similarize do exist).
A lot of Windows's or a Mac's appeal doesn't come just from the way the desktop looks, nor from their particular flavour of widgets. It comes from the fact that everything running on it has the same standardized interface.
KDE is now more uniform and consistent than Windows and the vast amounts of inconsistent 3rd party apps. As for Macs, I haven't tried - but its probably hard to force UI guidelines/etc on 3rd party companies as you can force them with Free Software (simply modify any inconsistent application to follow the guidelines).
The way a Windows scroll bar or file open dialog works isn't perfect. (I actually prefer the Motif scroll bars.) But you can learn to use it _once_ and then apply that knowledge instinctively in all programs, from now until kingdom come.
Oh, I haven't seen my KDE scrollbar changing across applications.
Basically what I'm saying is: KDE is good and fine, and optimizing it doesn't hurt, but... IMHO what would really do Linux a world of good is enforcing a consistent interface across _all_ widget sets. Drag the good Qt, KDE, Gnome, Motif/Lesstif, GTK, etc people into a room, and don't let them out until they can aggree on a common interface standard
You can always use themes and such to make Gtk+/KDE look and behave similar. However, you're really supposed to be able to get along with just one of the toolkits - not having to worry about such inter-toolkit consistency.
Wouldn't Windows users have to migrate to Linux first? Unless I missed something, KDE is not a desktop environment that replaces the Windows GUI on Windows boxen.
Considering that the vast majority of computer users are going to barf at the thought of reinstalling their OS & that most are doing very well just to apply a "recovery disk" to restore their system to its original, store-bought state, I don't think that a pretty new desktop for Linux will do much to encourage the average Windows user to migrate to Linux.
"Obviously, I'm not an IBM computer any more than I'm an ashtray" (Bob Dylan)
Your points are entirely realistic. If there is no reason to switch an existing computer from Windows (if the switch will inconvenience the user more than Windows already does), then it shouldn't be done.
;-)
For many here, the effort is the reward itself. This is not an argument that will win many converts from Windows. For others, who have the ability and attitude to accept change very quickly and not be locked into a set way of doing things, making the change may very well be worth it, as they may find (at least I do) that I get things done faster using Linux. No, not the tweaking part (that can consume days at a time!), but the everyday tasks that I use my computer for. But this is STILL a very small cross section of the total desktop users out there.
The fact remains, however, that Linux, KDE, etc. provide a very good desktop experience once installed properly, and it is free. These may not be good enough reasons for virtually anyone to convert over an existing machine, but it sure sounds like a recipe that will lead to pre-installations on new computers. THIS is where all this effort will eventually bear fruit. Corporate environments (where security, customizability, and lack of vendor lock-in are becoming big pluses) are where Free software will certainly continue getting more wins. Plus, a fully functional PC that can be sold without the Windows tax can start to look attractive to home users, too.
Think new PCs, not existing ones. Still, this won't be common anytime soon (I'd say at least a couple more years) before your average computer user will seriously be comfortable buying a new machine with something other than Windows on it. But it will come in due time.
In the meantime, don't let the trolls bother you. For your needs (and frankly most people's needs), Windows is still the correct OS for your computer. Thankfully, this will not be the case for much longer
Look at the tomato! Isn't it sad? He can't dance! Poor tomato!
Right....sure thing. I pity the poor fools who modded this "insightful."
1)It is true that a "typical user" is not ready to install, configure, and administrate a Linux computer. However, they aren't ready to install, configure, and administrate a Windows computer either. Now...given a properly installed/configured Windows system as it arrives from Dell, most users will be fine. And given a properly installed/configured Linux system as it arrives from one of the Linux hardware vendors, or from your local geek (assuming he/she's good) most users will be similarly fine.
I know this because I have set up several "typical users" on Linux systems, and they are fine.
2)Also, Mr. Insight, did you pause to consider the audience for the statement that now might be a good time to try a free desktop? You know, the slashdot audience?! This was not a statement directed at "typical users."
Given a choice between free speech and free beer, most people will take the beer.