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First KDE 4 Snapshot Released
Rich writes "KDE has just released the first developer snapshot of KDE 4. This release isn't for end users, but should help developers who want to begin writing applications for the KDE 4 desktop. This release already includes a new CMake based build system, a change from DCOP to DBUS and of course a port to Qt 4. If you're interested in desktop development, check it out."
Snapshots? I thought you meant screenshots. Show me the screenshots!!!!
(Bye bye karma. We will miss you).
But I guess, it is a good thing KDE and gnome are converging ... for the linux desktop, at least in the short term.
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur
Seconds out; round 328!
In the blue corner, weighing in at 205 pounds - GNOME! He's certainly the more agile of the two, with considerably greater speed. There have been doubts about whether he has enough tools and power to stay competitive with his opponent, though. He is certainly the promoters favourite, however, and has consequently attracted more in the way of sponsorship. The main power brokers in the business are certainly getting behind this one. Preferred taunt of opponent: 'Bloaty Man'.
In the red corner, the crowd favourite, weighing in at 325 pounds - KDE! He clearly has the weight advantage, but of course he isn't the speediest in the ring and may get caught wrong-footed if he's not careful. He also has more tricks up his sleeve than his opponent - but how many of them are really useful and how many are just for showing off? Many have remarked on his resemblance to the former champion from Redmond (who was sadly stripped of his title for match-fixing), but he claims to be no relation. A lot of the old hands in the business say he is the one to beat. Preferred taunt of opponent: 'Pretty Boy'.
Well, it's certainly been a tedious and in many ways pointless fight! Just when it seemed that someone was gaining the upper hand, the other fought back and it still seems to be pretty much level overall. It may have to be decided on points, but there has been much controversy over the alleged bias of the judges, with both fighters' supporters accusing them of siding with their opponent.
Well, it's time to cut to a commercial break, but don't worry as there is no doubt that this fight is going to run and run.
First Development Snapshot of KDE4 "Krash" released. Before anyone goes ahead and compiles/runs this, please be aware that it will look exactly like KDE 3.5 - except for being broken in lots of places.
If there is one thing preventing me from installing Xgl is the horrible experience I witnessed using KDE with compiz.
Definitely DBUS over DCOP, I just got a ticket for 3 miles over the limit.
In general, the developers and users all seem to say; eh, whatever. The simple answer is, there is no real battle. When GNOME had a late start into this, then yeah, there was a bit of a battle, That was years ago. These days, both sets of developers are trying to make everything interoperable (witness dbus and multimedia).
For some odd reasons, there is a group of A.C.s that seem bent on starting a battle between these groups and making them focus on each other rather than focusing on beating others groups.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
I'm really glad to see CMake finally getting used by a high-profile project. I hated CMake at first sight -- having to install it first before I could build a project seemed strange after the autoconf ./configure; make routine. But it really is a nice system and has meant no longer having to support and keep in sync parallel make files, Visual Studio projects, XCode projects, etc. like I used to. Configure scripts failing on native Windows builds, for example, was always a pain. It's been a lot easier to build cross-platform projects now that I'm using CMake for everything.
Seeing KDE adopting it has been great news for me, since it means that I may be able to start releasing my own small projects with CMakeList.txt files without getting funny looks. I love that it's looking like KDE will blaze the trail for us little guys who prefer CMake over the autoconf tool chain.
That comment was directly stolen from the KDE 4 snapshot topic today at OSNews. Unfortunately, they took it seriously over there.
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The original comment is at: http://osnews.com/permalink.php?news_id=15547&com
Have a looksee! http://www.kdedevelopers.org/node/2201
Personally I prefer Enlightenment (e17) as nothing on the Windows or GNU/Linux platforms touches it in terms of smooth operation and beauty as well as lightness and simplicity with tons of complexity and flexibility. I spent the entire Winter using KDE 3.4 and it just never struck me as having any worthy eye candy that makes it much different from Windows XP. It has the same chunky/clunky icons, buttons and fonts that XP does. At least Gnome is a Mac OS (preX) wannabe with plenty of innovation (ie. lots of stuff it does in truly different and not readily apparent ways). But e17 really just kicks them all aside. It looks like Xgl and Compiss might give e17 a run for the money. But what they don't get that Raster does is the actual purpose behind the features. It's nice to have a 3D cube that you can rotate to move from one virtual desktop to another. But, besides making the virtual desktops readily apparent to stupid users who don't get them, how does it serve anyone? Raster's e17 does a nicer job with its pager. And wobbly windows? Come on! That's neither useful, nor attractive. With the power of Xgl and Compiss, they could do something way cooler... like MY idea from 1992 of closing a window and having it blow off the screen like wind blowing grains of sand off of a surface. Now THAT's at least visually interesting. (If you have the mind to picture it the right way) So... my Winter with KDE. I really only grew fond of one thing in KDE and that was the Konsole terminal app. That's the best written terminal emulator I've ever seen for any desktop environment ever. Tabs, multiple tab synced typing, etc... Just too cool. But that's it. KDM is kinda boring. The "Switch User" feature lacks the polish of Windows XP's, not to mention I've been using Ctrl-Alt-F7-F12 to do this at home for years now. Kontact is fucking ugly. Sorry, but if you need fonts that chunky, you need to go see an eye doctor. Uggh. Give me 10 or 12 point fonts on a 1600x1200 or 1920x1080 screen any day puleez! There is nothing that KDE does that Gnome can't do (and do with more style). And I'm not a fan of Gnome really other than it's much easier to customize than KDE. So I can at least set my systems up so they're easy enough for anyone to use. Can't really do that with KDE now can you...
-"...bad old ideas look confusingly fresh when they are packaged as technology" - Jaron Lanier (Digital Maoism on Edge.o