If I use KDE, will I be stuck with KDE-specific apps?

^ topic.

I guess I'm kind of bored of GNOME, and want to see what KDE has to offer (thinking of downloading the KDE version of Fedora right now, but will gladly accept suggestions on this as well). I just don't want to be stuck with, say, Konqueror instead of Firefox... or at least be given a choice.

Thanks in advance.

 

You can use Gnome appas in KDE and vice versa. No problem.

 

Hello,
if you already have fedora installed just open up a terminal type su type in your root password. then type "yum install @kde-desktop"
without the speech marks

 

You know, that set me thinking, and after some googling apparently you can install a KDE frontend for Ubuntu as well without having to switch distros or reinstall.

Thanks for the tip!

 

your welcome

 

Yes, just install the metapackage kubuntu-desktop if you want the standard KDE apps included, or kde-core without the standard apps.

 

Just finished the install 10 minutes ago. It's feeling like a whole new adventure right now.

 

Congratulations Just forgot to add that it might be necessary to add language-pack-kde-* and language-pack-kde-*-base (replace * with your language code).

Another hint: Kubuntu 8.10 uses KDE 4.1 as default. If you want to use KDE 4.2 you should add

##intrepid-backports
deb http://de.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ intrepid-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://de.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ intrepid-backports main restricted universe multiverse

to your repositories. If you want to use KDE 4.2.1 you should add

##experimental PPA
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/kubuntu-experimental/ubuntu intrepid main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/kubuntu-experimental/ubuntu intrepid main

But, as the name implies, the latter packages are not necessarily 100% stable (although I'm not having any problems).

In any case before upgrading from one KDE version to another it is recommended to

1. log out from KDE
2. switch with Ctrl-Alt-F1 to the console
3. stop the X-server with
   sudo /etc/init.d/kdm stop
4. perform the upgrade with
   sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
   
   (provided that you had made the changes above in your sources.list - otherwise edit it with sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list accordingly)
5. restart the system with
   sudo init 6

 

In terms of looks, KDE blows GNOME out of the water. But there seems to be some places where it falls short in my two hours of toying around with it: no Adobe Flash plugin for Konqueror, poor multi-language support, no Compiz settings, and I really, really hate Kopete.

Guess I'm shelving KDE until next weekend until I have time to explore around, and it's back to GNOME for now. GNOME may look like Windows XP with a bit too much makeup, but at least I know my way around it fairly well.

 

If I remember right, you have to download the flash file from Adobe and extract it, then tell Konqueror where to look for it in the options... Just takes a little extra work.

 

btw KDE4 has its own desktop effects in the control panel.
you would need to install compiz manually if you want it. plently of tutorials around.

 

Haven't tried KDE yet, except for several apps. like K3B and Kshowmail.
But Gnome can be nice too. There are literally hundreds of themes, icons and
icon themes available to change the look to what you are happy with.
For instance I have just changed my icon theme and wall paper - got bored
with the previous one - to this one (simple and only takes a few minutes)...
http://files.myopera.com/ocky/files/B&W New.jpg

Scroll down the image to see what I think about Wilders.

 

I guess aesthetics are up to one's own tastes. What caught my eye in Kubuntu was the "taskbar", desktop widgets, and the glass-like desktop folder view. Vista-ish without looking like it's trying too hard to be Vista (yes, I like how Vista looks). The search box in the KDE "start menu" was a nice touch as well, it was one of the things I really liked in Vista.

As far as GNOME themes go, I've tried quite a few in my one month of using Ubuntu so far, and sadly none of them really feel "right", so to speak. I was a stickler for visual styles too when I used XP, and spent a considerable amount of time looking and discarding until I finally learned how to make my own.

 

KDE uses Adept as its package management software. I suggest installing Synaptic package and dumping the use of Adept - it could not even find g++, whereas it was available with Synaptic using the same /etc/apt/sources.list file.

-- Tom

P.S. Does anyone know how to make the background image funtion as the Desktop, i.e. like in Gnome for /home/ubuntu/Desktop folder. The current Desktop is a transparent window of that folder which I know how to get to not display, but I do not know how to make the background image function like a Desktop - i.e. display icons for the files.

 

you can only have a traditional desktop in KDE 4.2
just right click on the desktop ,properties or something like that and then find the option "desktop view or folder view"