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KDE Running on Mac OS X

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the back-on-the-mac dept.

GeoffP writes "AppleTalk Australia is running a story on running KDE on Mac OS X. For those that don't know, KDE is a graphical desktop environment used to access your computer's files. Finally, Mac users have a free (as in speech) approach to their filesystem."

18 of 393 comments (clear)

  1. Good article by huwr · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A neat article.

    However, I can't think really why you'd want to be running KDE on Mac OS X when you already have such a neat (IMHO) interface. I suppose it's good for a laugh, too.

    1. Re:Good article by Guy+Harris · · Score: 5, Insightful
      I haven't bought the replacement iBook (yet?) mainly because now I can't live without KDE's network protocol integration (sftp , webdav, smb, ftp, ... everything is supported!). I can transparently access folders with the (file browser, editor, image viewer, etc. etc. ) in multiple servers, seamlessly. OS/X is seriously lacking in this area.

      Yeah, it really sucks that OS X lets you transparently access folders over FTP with ls. It'd be much better if it did it with ioslaves, so only KDE applications could transparently access them.

      (Yes, I know that ftpfs is read-only. Implementing it as an NFS server, so that the FTP back-end has no way of knowing when an application is finished writing to the file, makes it difficult to support read/write access. And, yes, I really have accessed an FTP server with ls, egrep, etc., and yes, it was convenient.)

      And the same goes for WebDAV and SMB (although WebDAV uses a gateway VFS rather than using NFS, so it does know when a file is closed and can upload its contents if it was written to, and smbfs is implemented as a kernel-level VFS and supports reading and writing). Unfortunately, there's no sftpfs, but, if there were, that'd be a lot more UN*Xy than doing it with an ioslave.

      BTW, your Linux box probably has an smbfs, too, so you can access SMB servers from the command line as well as from KDE apps. (Or does KDE do the right thing on systems with smbfs/cifsfs, and just mount the damn server and let the underlying UN*X do the work?) Somebody might have implemented ftpfs, etc. with userfs, so you might have them as well.

      Better yet would be OS X itself natively supporting the most widely used network protocols. Tiger was a big dissapointment in this respect...

      Which ones are missing? (Other than read/write FTP, and sftp, which are already known to be missing.)

  2. Goody? by SultanCemil · · Score: 5, Informative
    Honestly, this is just a silly post.

    Does the poster even realize this is simply the X server with KDE running as a client app? its not like they've replaced the nice, flashy GUI with KDE. They've just compiled and run it! Look, I can run Ethereal on OS X. Look, I can run *name unix app* on OS X. Good grief.

    --
    Cemil.
    1. Re:Goody? by KiloByte · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Hey, many many years ago I've ran Quake on ancient IRIX workstations. Oh wait... it was over X with the actual binaries running on a Linux x86 box. Oh, and I'm running KDE on Windows right now (Cygwin X server, of course, on a machine at work)! Hey, come, lookie, KDE for Windows!

      How exactly running an X program over X can be considered a port? It just works as it should, but there is nothing special to it.

      --
      The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
  3. This is not news by spiralscratch · · Score: 5, Informative

    This has been possible for a while now. It's quite easy to set up if you use Fink. You can even set it to use apple's own built-in X11 instead of installing XFree86.

    http://fink.sourceforge.net/news/kde.php

  4. {app} Running on {platform} by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    {magazine} {country} is running a story on running {app} on {platform}. For those that don't know, {app} is a {category} used to {verb} your {noun}. Finally, {platform} users have a {adjective} approach to their {noun}.

  5. Lower Low Coming Soon... by CaptainPinko · · Score: 5, Funny

    Is this an all-time low for a slashdot article? I can't imagine how it can be beaten.

    Simple, it'll be duped shortly.

    --
    Your CPU is not doing anything else, at least do something.
  6. That's totally awesome by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    BTW, in other news, you may want to check out this neat page (with pics!) where I describe how I retrofitted my Toyota Camry to be drawn by horses. The gas mileage I get now is astounding!

  7. Re:STUNNED! by nihilogos · · Score: 5, Funny

    I believe it was Feynmann who said

    "That's not right. It's not even wrong"

    Some statements are so bizarre that they defy comment.

    --
    :wq
  8. Re:news ? by SpectreBinary · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I guess I should write up my tutorial on how to run fluxbox on OS X, and my follow up, setting environment variables to allow Terminal.app to interact with the X server.

    Do it. Don't put down documentation on any process that others might not have done - there are many MANY people who might not have the experience to come up with the solution on their own, but who may benefit from it.

    The attitude that writing documentation on the simple stuff is pointless is the reason so many man pages, web pages, FAQs and howtos on open source software sucks dog nuts.

    Not everyone is geek enough to know how to do some of the cool things - that knowledge comes about for those of us who are geeky enough to enjoy learning the ins and outs of everything for its own sake. Other people, the majority, need to see how something can work when set up well before they'll accept it.

  9. Exactly what was missing by EachLennyAPenny · · Score: 5, Funny

    AT LAST a userfriendly GUI on Apple plattforms.

    Sorry, could not resist.

  10. Talk about old news... by God+of+Lemmings · · Score: 5, Informative

    A native KDE port for OS X has existed since the end of 2003.... http://dot.kde.org/1073009304/

    --
    Non sequitur: Your facts are uncoordinated.
  11. Introducing our new format... by NMerriam · · Score: 5, Funny

    Slashdot: News for PHB and Marketing Drones.

    Slashdot: Buzzwords arranged in an almost sensible order.

    Slashdot: Computer News for People New to Computers

    --
    Recursive: Adj. See Recursive.
  12. Free (as in speech) doesn't mean better... by node+3 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Finally, Mac users have a free (as in speech) approach to their filesystem.

    1. KDE has been running on OS X for many years now.
    2. cp, ls, mv, etc are open source, and have been available on OS X since the beginning.
    3. KDE is nice, but I didn't buy a Mac so I could run KDE, I bought it so I could run OS X.

    Which isn't to say it's not good to be able to run KDE if you want, just that I've never heard someone lament, "oh, that only there were some form of free (as in speech) approach to the filesystem on my Mac".

  13. Amazing! by msormune · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now you have a possibility to change your already unified and quite well designed Mac user interface with KDE! Now you have the freedom to make a really bad choice!

  14. Re:Erm... Why? by rlanctot · · Score: 5, Funny

    /puts on flame retardent suit

    This just in! Mac OS X users can now poke themselves in the eye with a fork. When contacted for comment, the fork manufacturers said "We got no idea why anyone would want to poke themselves in the eye with a fork, but we're all for it! Anything that increases fork sales is a plus for us. Vive la Liberte!"

  15. Re:STUNNED! by qubex · · Score: 5, Informative

    It was Wolfgang Pauli: "This isn't right, this isn't even wrong."

    Reference: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/w/wolfga ng_pauli.html

    --
    "Place me in the company of those who seek Truth, but deliver me from those who believe to have found it."
  16. Re:Reasons for using KDE/Gnome on OS X w/Finder by elfasi · · Score: 5, Informative

    Actually with Finder and the 'alt-tab' issue, this too drove me mad, until a kind soul told me about the Apple+` shortcut, that's the Apple key and the grave accent key (just below the ESC key on my PC keyboard and on the bottom left of my Mac keyboard). This switches between multiple windows of a single application and saved me much gnashing of teeth.