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KDE Edition Beta Released For Linux Mint 18 'Sarah' (fossbytes.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the speaking-of-KDE dept.

An anonymous Slashdot reader quotes a report from fossBytes: Linux Mint 18 'Sarah' KDE Edition Beta is now available for download and testing. This release is based on the long-term supported Linux 4.4 kernel and KDE Plasma 5.6 desktop environment. The final release of this widely popular distro is expected to arrive in September... Just like MATE, Cinnamon, and Xfce releases, the KDE release is a long term release that will remain supported until 2021.

Linux Mint 18 'Sarah' KDE Edition ships with Mozilla Firefox as default web browser and LibreOffice as the default office suite. The Linux distro also features a wide range of popular KDE apps like Kontact, Dolphin, Gwenview, KMail, digiKam, KTorrent, Skanlite, Konversation, K3b, Konsole, Amarok, Ark, Kate, Okular, and Dragon Player.
"Unlike other Linux Mint editions, the KDE edition will ship with the SDDM display manager," reports the Linux Mint blog. Distrowatch notes that it's based on Ubuntu 16.04, and suggests "Mint's 'KDE' flavour might turn out to be the most interesting of the bunch, especially if the project's usually excellent quality assurance is applied to this edition in the same manner as in its 'MATE' and 'Cinnamon' variants."

36 comments

  1. KDE is dead so sayeth Slashdot. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Why bother? Don't they know that Slashdot already declared KDE to be dead?

    1. Re:KDE is dead so sayeth Slashdot. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Sorry, Netcraft has not yet confirmed it. Fake.

  2. KDE again? by anchovy_chekov · · Score: 3, Funny

    First time we hear about KDE in ages.. then we get a second story on the same day.

    Konspiracy?

    1. Re:KDE again? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It is simply not dead. Far from it. Kontrary to what some retarded idiots say.

    2. Re:KDE again? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      Says the guy who was balls deep in a pug earlier.

    3. Re:KDE again? by silentcoder · · Score: 1

      Says the pug.

      --
      Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
  3. Shut it down!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    KDE is dead. So sayeth Slashdot. Just shut the project down now before they embarrass themselves.

    1. Re: Shut it down!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Damn you guys beat me to it!

      But yeah, if KDE is dying, then why is Mint releasing a KDE version?

    2. Re: Shut it down!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You can talk about KDE all you want, but seriously, there's nothing better in the Linux world. KDE apps are second to none (dolphin, konsole, Kate, k3b, rekonq the list goes on) and as far as a highly customizable graphical environment, there is no competition. Sure it's buggy from time to time and KDE 4 was a mess at the start, but plasma 5 is much improved and continues to be the only graphical option for anyone with a brain. And qt is the best toolkit, hands down.

      KDE gets a bad rap because many people try Kubuntu and blame KDE, when the problem is Kubuntu. Try open suse or especially arch and experience the wonder that is a fully integrated, powerful, customizable desktop environment.

    3. Re: Shut it down!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      Or quit fucking around with hobbyist bullshit and just get Windows 10... problems go bye-bye.

    4. Re: Shut it down!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      Being the best of the Linux world is like being the least retarded participant in the Special Olympics. Either way, you're still retarded.

    5. Re: Shut it down!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      This. People, we're not in the '80s anymore. Computers are tools and nothing more. You don't need to learn programming. You only have to use them to achieve your ends. Period. If you're encountering problems along the way that can't be solved through a couple of mouse clicks, it's the supplier who failed, not you, no matter what a bunch of neckbeards may say. We do not live for machines, unlike them. Our lives are not to be wasted on a pile of silicon transistors. The linux community has been unhelpful and arrogant in the extreme and as a consequence linux will never, ever be a viable desktop alternative. Period. Geeks never learn and ostracism is the only way to deal with them.

    6. Re: Shut it down!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      Unfortunately freetarded neckbeards will never get this. Computers exist to run applications. Only the nerd wanks over the OS and its kernel and application toolkits. Everyone else cares about applications to do their work.

    7. Re: Shut it down!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Windows 10? Are you fucking serious? Every hour it's another restart, or leave something running overnight and it restarts for you. Then there's the 'your data isnt really your data' option, and telemetry, and really you should be fucking jumping up and down at the orwellian horseshit being pushed down your throat.

    8. Re: Shut it down!! by chipschap · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Everyone else cares about applications to do their work.

      I shouldn't reply to a trolling AC, but I want to state that I run Linux precisely because I care about having the applications and tools I need to do my work, and on Linux I have everything I need, while retaining full control over my environment. I'm less vulnerable to exploits, I don't have telemetry sending back my every move, I install updates when I wish and not when they are forced on me, and I don't have to deal with or get rid of crappy "apps" and crappier live tiles.

      I don't get excited over the kernel or the toolkits any further than their being open-source, free, of good quality, and all in all enablers of doing my work freely and on my own terms.

      When you say that "everyone" cares about applications to do their work, you push aside one of the biggest objections I hear about Linux, which comes from the gaming community who can't run their favorite new games on Linux. To me that says Windows is as much about games as it is about doing work. Not that that's a bad thing, but it's contrary to your statement.

    9. Re: Shut it down!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Don't waste your keystrokes on these douche lords. They don't deserve Linux.
      Personally I couldn't care less if the year of the Linux desktop never comes...Linux isn't going to disappear because average Joe doesn't start using it.
      Linux is by the enthusiast, for the enthusiast. End of story.

    10. Re: Shut it down!! by PrimaryConsult · · Score: 1

      Yes, it's not the 80s anymore and a Linux desktop (*especially* Mint) is perfectly usable without programming. If given a plain vanilla Mint install, I can get it set up and able to do what I need it to do in the same amount of time as a vanilla Windows 10 install. Here's pretty much how it would go:
      1. Install Mint
      2. Install proprietary Nvidia drivers from their website. While it's a command line wizard, it's nothing more complex than the Windows version of the same. There's a stupid script provided by Mint which is intended to always fail (I think it has one line "return false" or something to that nature) that gets in the way, so there is a -1 there.
      3. Install latest wine from Wine Repos. Minor tweaking from Winecfg (which is technically a windows GUI application) and all games I care to play work
      4. Install vmware-view from VMware package, as the Mint/Ubuntu provided one is out of date. This would have been another -1, except I would need to download an installer for Windows anyway, so it's a wash.
      5. Install Chrome, same effort as installing it on Windows.
      Everything else I could possibly need is an apt-get away at this point.

      But,

    11. Re: Shut it down!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > You can talk about KDE all you want, but seriously, there's nothing better in the Linux world.

      You are 100% right. Nothing comes close when one considers the many minute things which work right all over the DE. Heck, I used to complain about how rubber-band selection works correctly only in KDE's Dolphin and Konqueror, but then I saw it doesn't work well even in Windows. I have yet to test a Mac (not many of them over here), so I cannot talk about that, but being the best looks like an apt description for KDE.

      The problem is how can one distribute KDE4 when they say it has reached EOL on December '15? The only possible decision is to ship Plasma 5, which works well enough to be used as desktop, but in my experience (OK, it was Kubuntu), some edges remain to be trimmed. It is not as ready as KDE4. OK, we can use LTS distros for a while (e.g. Mint 17.3), so no big problem.

      But I have machines on which Qt5 won't run unless it is recompiled. Can I do it? Sure, it would even be interesting (from an old coder point of view). Will I do it? Frankly: no. I'm too old for that -- (TM), (C) the owners of that slogan.

      Will distributors do it? Maybe one or two will... (who? Slackware?) But the vast majority won't -- and certainly not Ubuntu derivatives. And I'm betting Debian won't, too. Arch will explain how to do it in a rather detailed way, but probably will assume its users will be wanting to do it.

      I'm starting to look for alternatives for such machines, which happen to run very well for a number of tasks. Will I deploy Plasma 5? Sure, it's too good to pass by... but right now, only in a machine I keep very close to me, because I want to minimize problems with other people finding some insurmountable bug.

      > Try open suse or especially arch

      I'll admit my opinion is based on Kubuntu and thus I must test other distributions as you suggest (though probably not exactly those) before reaching a conclusion. Thanks for the advice, BTW.

      OT:

      Regarding those idiots suggesting the use of Windows 10 below, I think they're like Gollum, ready to die clinging to it while sinking in a sea of growing inconveniences. It's as M$ wanted to get rid of them and doesn't know what dirty trick remains to be used to shoo them away... and they still won't go! Lately, when I start to talk about Linux, some folks -- even young ones -- feel irritated, eyes get red as if they know they're talking BS by defending Windows. I don't really argue any more, it's really a sad thing.

      One day, they will be forced to run Linux (or whatever succeeds it), after Windows has died, and of course they'll be proud they never tried Linux. Good thing burning sorcerers got outmoded...

    12. Re: Shut it down!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's funny, because it's Windows that's rapidly turning into a 'toy' locked down operating system rather than a professional quality tool that does what you want, no more, no less.

  4. Finally, a distro that doesn't use GDM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I'm going to use this one on principle.

  5. ^ OP is a faggot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Do you also shove pineapples into your rectum?

    1. Re:^ OP is a faggot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes. Don't you?

  6. What's new and release notes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    What's new: https://www.linuxmint.com/rel_sarah_kde_whatsnew.php
    Release notes: https://www.linuxmint.com/rel_sarah_kde.php

    Why post a set of irrelevant links when you can post links to the summary documents?

    1. Re:What's new and release notes by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Because the "anonymous" reader is driving page hits and ads impressions for their blog.

  7. Customize Gnome to look like KDE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It seems that would be better and require less effort than to continue developing KDE at all.

  8. Bah, already passe by fustakrakich · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'm running Plasma 5.7, live... You can't go wrong with Slackware..

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    1. Re:Bah, already passe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      You also loving having sex with your harem of labradoodles and pugs.

  9. ouch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    That sounds... Um... Painful. Lol.

  10. Maybe KDE bought this slashvertisement by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    To counter the negative attention in the previous article sponsored by GNOME

    1. Re: Maybe KDE bought this slashvertisement by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      If GNOME had sponsored it, it would have been a blank page and you'd be on stack overflow trying to build gnome-tweak-tools to make it show up.

  11. gold poo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    A Santos-alike retarded pays with pussy to have her dog to take dumps on my frontyard. Still prefer my cats (yeaz! they're all mine!). Don't forget my medium punch can break bones.

  12. SDDM, you should have said, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    They have dumped plasma, for [insert random code here]. This will be useful, I was getting around to updating an old kde system. Was thinking of dumping kde for anything else after seeing what the current version (kubuntu flavored) runs like. Maybe i will grab onto linux mint kde style.

    In other news don't just drop in acronyms (even if you include what it expands out too). Cause in the world of computing, ambiguous names abound, please provide a small context.
    FTFY, "will ship with SDDM manager, instead of plasma." Sadly this is because slashdot /submitters/ editors fail to digest what is being fed into the frontpage. maybe i set the bar to high. shrug...

  13. Prefer Ubuntu's update policy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Securitywise, Mint's way-too-conservative update policy doesn't work for me, ymmv. Went back to pure Ubuntu (and UbuntuMate) to get continuous updates, then bolted on a favorite desktop like Cinnamon. It's super rare to have to roll back a kernel update as a desktop user.

    Oh, and call me lazy but I don't have to type my password every damn time a pure user-level package gets updated (only use trusted repos/PPAs, of course).

  14. Switched to Manjaro by dexotaku · · Score: 2

    and don't regret it, but .. it's not superior, it just does things [Arch-based rather than Debian or Debian/Ubuntu] differently. I kinda like KDE5.

  15. Completely misread the summary by ausekilis · · Score: 1

    KDE Edition Beta Released For Linux Mint 18 'Sarah'

    I completely thought that KDE released a special beta version for Linux Mint 18. Maybe this would be better said as "Linux Mint 18 Sara KDE Beta Edition Released"?

    I'm not going crazy, are we?

  16. Why are we still talking about Mint? by kruug · · Score: 1

    It's a security/administrative nightmare...
    https://lwn.net/Articles/67666...
    Please, read what's below the headline...I know that the site's compromise has been fixed and has nothing to do with the OS.