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KDE Launches Monthly Updates For Version 4.10

Posted by timothy on from the releasing-often dept.

jrepin writes "Today KDE released updates for its Workspaces, Applications and Development Platform. These updates are the first in a series of monthly stabilization updates to the 4.10 series. Over 100 recorded bugfixes include improvements to the Personal Information Management suite Kontact, the Window Manager KWin, and others. KDE's Development Platform has received a number of updates that affect multiple applications."

30 comments

  1. Better than software as a service by concealment · · Score: 1

    This seems to be part of this software-as-a-subscription trend that's sweeping the OS world.

    In general, this means software will be more frequently patched.

    I trust that our corporate overlords will find some way to spin it into a cost roughly commensurate to that of car insurance, however...

    It's nice to know that KDE/Linux will be an option.

  2. Aren't most OSS programs rolling release? by pecosdave · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I've been a KDE user since 1.x and a little piece here, a little piece there, it's the way it's always worked, like most OSS programs. What's the difference between that and a monthly version number?

    If they get around to fixing KIO and not forcing Akondai and Nepomuk on us KDE would be completely awesome.

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    1. Re:Aren't most OSS programs rolling release? by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 4, Informative

      "What's the difference between that and a monthly version number?"

      From the Article:

      "As this release only contains bugfixes and translation updates, it will be a safe and pleasant update for everyone."

      That is the difference. (Of course they mean it "contains only", not it "only contains")

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    2. Re:Aren't most OSS programs rolling release? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What kde really needs is an easy way to configure the desktop for performance, rather than features. It could be similar to the windows xp model of "adjust for best appearance" vs. "adjust for best performance", complete with checkboxes for each individual option as well as a "disable all" button. I want a one-stop solution to disable all of the features that go "above and beyond" the traditional desktop. I'm just not interested in those things, no matter how revolutionary or cutting-edge. If there was a way to make kde as light and simple as xfce, no questions asked, I'd be all over it. Alas, it seems like kde just no longer caters to the old-school crowd.

    3. Re:Aren't most OSS programs rolling release? by jones_supa · · Score: 2

      Desktop effects can be disabled or enabled any time by pressing Alt+Shift+F12.

    4. Re:Aren't most OSS programs rolling release? by jareth-0205 · · Score: 0

      Desktop effects can be disabled or enabled any time by pressing Alt+Shift+F12.

      CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE works even better.

    5. Re:Aren't most OSS programs rolling release? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I'm sorry, but how are even the brightest eye candies going to significantly and annoyingly slow down your desktop on your quadcore CPU with any of today's GPUs? I'm all for performance, but at some point it really is "fast enough", after which I welcome the wobbly windows.

    6. Re:Aren't most OSS programs rolling release? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Now there's a typical slashdot non-answer: "your question is invalid". Guess I'll be sticking with xfce then -- exactly as I expected.

    7. Re:Aren't most OSS programs rolling release? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      a) Compositing doesn't always make things slower. The basic "use the GPU to move 2D surfaces"-idea is sane, though the effects layered on top might not be.
      b) Ctrl-Alt-Backspace is disabled by default on annoyingly many distros these days.

    8. Re:Aren't most OSS programs rolling release? by pecosdave · · Score: 4, Interesting

      On my netbook I just disable all effects, on my desktop I leave most of them. Not hard, only have to do it once, so rare I don't even really recall what I did, I just recall that I did it and it worked. I'm on my netbook now, and without a doubt it performs better than my work Windows 7 machine that's supposed to be more powerful.

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    9. Re:Aren't most OSS programs rolling release? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How do you know he's not running a dual- or single-core CPU with an integrated GPU?

    10. Re:Aren't most OSS programs rolling release? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm on my netbook now, and without a doubt it performs better than my work Windows 7 machine that's supposed to be more powerful.

      That'a bullshit. The only way that's even remotely possible is if your IT department loaded your Win7 workstation with a ton of crapware. Even the fastest dual core Atoms can't even outperform Core i3s.

    11. Re:Aren't most OSS programs rolling release? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Meh. I don't even bother to disable effects. on my netbook.

    12. Re:Aren't most OSS programs rolling release? by pecosdave · · Score: 1

      Who said I had an i3s?

      But yes, it is loaded with crap, I'll tell you which dual core it is here in a few when I get there, and it's only got 2GB or RAM, just like my netbook. Unlike my netbook it takes 15 to 20 minutes to become useful once I start the thing up.

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    13. Re:Aren't most OSS programs rolling release? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No one. The point is that the only way your workstation could be slower is because either it's a piece of junk, since even a 1st-gen i3 is faster than anything in the fastest netbook, or it's loaded with shit by your IT department. Thus invalidating your attempt to claim that Windows 7 is slower than KDE.

    14. Re:Aren't most OSS programs rolling release? by pecosdave · · Score: 1

      It is slower than KDE, even in a clean state. This thing came with WIndows 7 starter, KDE is still faster.

      BTW, my Atom is a dual core 1.8 Ghz 32 Bit, the work system is 3 Ghz Core 2 Duo E8400. Yes the IT department loads it down with crap, but in all fairness if you don't load a Windows system down with crap, like virus scanners and firewalls, Windows harasses you with popups until you do. My KDE install is fine without the crap. I've even disabled the pieces of junk I called out, like Nepomuk and Akonadi, it's just a pain to keep it off considering they have to be installed for dependency reasons an updates to them tend to re-enable them.

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    15. Re:Aren't most OSS programs rolling release? by ChunderDownunder · · Score: 3, Insightful

      KDE runs adequately fast on my single core P4 with intel graphics, albeit with not alll eye-candy enabled.

      Processor speed is less an issue than the amount of RAM.

    16. Re:Aren't most OSS programs rolling release? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is slower than KDE, even in a clean state. This thing came with WIndows 7 starter, KDE is still faster.

      Emperical evidence please.

      BTW, my Atom is a dual core 1.8 Ghz 32 Bit, the work system is 3 Ghz Core 2 Duo E8400.

      Thanks for confirming that you were making shit up. That Atom has about 1/4th the performance of an E8400 in every benchmark.

      Yes the IT department loads it down with crap, but in all fairness if you don't load a Windows system down with crap, like virus scanners and firewalls, Windows harasses you with popups until you do.

      Or you just disable all the popups. Takes about 5 seconds.

    17. Re:Aren't most OSS programs rolling release? by pecosdave · · Score: 1

      Yeah, just disable the popups - become nothing but a infestation machine.

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    18. Re:Aren't most OSS programs rolling release? by BadCam · · Score: 1

      I thought that's what System Settings/Desktop Effects were for. Under General you have "Animation Speed" from Instant to Extremely Slow. Under the Andvanced Tab you have Scale Method of Crisp, Smooth, or Accurate. There is a difference to be seen.Also, under System Settings/Style/Fine Tuning you can set Graphical Effects to depending upon Resolution and CPU. A little experimentation often brings about quite dramatic results.

    19. Re:Aren't most OSS programs rolling release? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, just disable the popups - become nothing but a infestation machine.

      Only if you're an idiot. Which you clearly are.

      Want to prove yet with actual evidence thay your Atom is faster than a processor that has 4 times the performance in every benchmark?

    20. Re:Aren't most OSS programs rolling release? by pecosdave · · Score: 2

      Well, I promise it boots this version of Linux faster than it does Windows 7.

      If you really want me to put Windows back on this system just to satisfy your jealous undersized Windows boner you can forget it. As far as the work systems concerned I don't want the Secret Service showing up so I've given as much info on that as I intend to.

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    21. Re:Aren't most OSS programs rolling release? by pecosdave · · Score: 2

      Just using the netbook interface does quite a bit to make things smooth, and really works well for me.

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  3. KFE should focus on security, perf, and bug fixes by elucido · · Score: 1, Insightful

    No UI changes. The UI is perfect as it is. It still is very sluggish and could benefit from performance tweaks. It still has security issues all over the place. It still is buggy. But for the most part its now the main interface to Linux and that comes with a certain level of responsibility.

    Make the most stable KDE possible. Follow the Mozilla model. Release often.

  4. Re:KFE should focus on security, perf, and bug fix by Narishma · · Score: 2

    Isn't that exactly what this update provides? It doesn't have any new features, just bug fixes and stability improvements.

    --
    Mada mada dane.
  5. Fuck Them All by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Here's a simple bug in a simple and core component of KDE. It's been filed several times. This bug has been languishing unaddressed since 2006 or earlier!

    Do you really think that Microsoft or Apple would let a simple bug screw up remote desktop access for 7+ years? Would you not be laughing your ass off at them and taunting them?

    Meanwhile KDE is now doing monthly updates to push out the latest Plasma-esque brainchild that will screw up God-knows-what again.

    And, don't even get me started on Gnome3!

  6. Fix Konqueror? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How about fixing konqueror so it doesn't crash so often?

    How about fixing its crash recovery so you can exclude some tabs from recovery (select which tabs/windows to reopen) so that the tab(s) that took out all the konqueror open windows can be de-selected so they don't all crash all over again every recovery attempt?

    How about recovery that spawns a new process for each window opened so that a crashed tab/window doesn't crash all opened tabs/windows, or a recovery that crashes doesn't take out all the open tabs/windows all over again?

    How about opening konqueror windows that automatically assign a new name or number, unless specified to the contrary by a flag, so that individual windows can ALL be identified in top/htop without a user having to remember to open konqueror on the command line with a flag?

    How about fixing konqueror so that if opened via icon or automatically via a url, it applies "settings, toolbars shown, HTML toolbar" to all subsequent opened tabs instead of having to set that for every tab (and no, setting a different profile doesn't fix this, as the automatically opened url doesn't retain this setting, nor other instances that are opened without selecting the profile that automatically turns on the html toolbar, this feature or "bug" makes it hell to surf with images off by default and turned on via icon in the html toolbar.

    /end rant

    Thanks for konqueror and kde btw. I just need more hair on my head from all the hair pulling with konqueror and krashes.

  7. Re:KFE should focus on security, perf, and bug fix by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What a troll. What security issues? By the time average KDE setup could become point of exploit, there already would be far more likely and rewarding targets like the usual privilege escalation ways. And sadly it's not the main interface for GNU/Linux (for Linux that would be CLI, you troll). Ah, performance, sure, it could slim down yet more but it has always had better performance than Windows with or without Aero and as Phoronix and others have tested KDE actually has the least perofrmance hit for games and other OpenGL programs outperforming even LMDE so apart from RAM consumption KDE is already the best performing and fasted DE (and arguably the only real DE left as DE is defined by it having its own well integrated applications and GNOME lost them with the move from 2 to 3, on the other hand GTK 3 is the new DE as it's more and more integrated with GNOME 3 and hence GTK 3 applications get integrated into GNOME 3 by force).
    And as already was pointed out, a release per month is exactly how Mozilla works. And having a major relese ever 3 or 4 months (i forgot) is a lot like how Linux kernel rolls.