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KDE 3.4 RC1 Released
twener writes "The KDE project has announced the first release candidate of KDE 3.4 which brings many new features targeted for release at 16th March. Sources (requirements list, build script), an i486 GNU/Linux Live-CD (375MB) and SUSE 9.2 binary packages are available currently.
OSdir.com and tuxmachines.org have screenshots of this release. Source Code and a Live CD are available."
been running kde 3.4 beta1 for a few weeks now. my personal favorites are the improvements to kdvi and kpdf. things are rendered a lot better in each, and the sidebar page previews really help navigating for us needing to edit long latex documents... too bad the bug that doesnt show >1 images in kdvi on the same page when it's supposed to is still there.
the best thing now is that they're no longer using that hideous keramick theme as the default...
unfortunately, everything in kde is a little too self contained. as in it doesn't launch the 'default' browser (sensible-browser) that you set. there's not even a simple config/dialog where you can choose to run firefox/mozilla instead of konqueror whenever you click on links on other "K" apps.
my blog
Consistency is good, but I think the KDE team is looking more at trying to make the 'perfect package'. In other words, their desktop system basically tries to include everything, from mp3s to cdburning to smb managing to instant messaging, all things that could be done with third party software as well. But KDE's programs are often the most newbie-friendly, and for people new to linux, KDE makes a nice manager because it includes all those things. But I guess the KDE team doesn't think they've really got everything the way they want it, so they're expanding and changing. As long as the changes aren't detrimental (except for having to learn them), I say keep innovating.
But, for many linux users who use the desktop as a place to hold terminal windows, we'll take fluxbox.
For example, this 486+ instruction speeds up TCP communication:
... use rorw $8, %w0; "rorl $16, %0; rorw $8, %w0 ...
... bswap %0 ...
Byte Swap (bswap) [486]
bswapreg[16|32]
Example
Convert little/big endian to big/little endian by swapping bytes.
bswap %ebx
The equivalent 386 code would take 3 times as many cycles even on modern hardware:
simplified excerpt from a GNU C library header file:
/* To swap the bytes in a word the i486 processors and up provide the
`bswap' opcode. On i386 we have to use three instructions. */
# if !defined __i486__ && !defined __pentium__ && !defined __pentiumpro__
#else
#endif
They create inconsistancy across systems
Ok, but if you want to prevent this, you use Kiosk to lock everything down, no problem.
a high overhead of setting up a new box
No, defaults are defaults. Install a KDE box and it's set up.
and lots of support trouble
Perhaps, but not if you use Kiosk.
That's why Apple's GUI often feels so constrained
Bingo. This may be good for a lot of people, but it is NOT good for me. The OS X GUI drives me nuts (yes I use it quite a bit), it doesn't work the way I want it to work, the animations slow me down, there are not enough options for keyboard navigation, and I can't get things like focus follows mouse (I'd trade this for menu on top any day). Oh yeah, and I can't move or resize windows by holding down a button, clicking anywhere in the window, and dragging.
Not only do they choose a poor, inconsistant model for their GUI
Your opinion. Actually I find KDE apps quite consistant wrt keyboard shortcuts and style.
they also let you change it in a bunch of different ways that increase inconsistancy
Which makes me more productive, so I'm happy.