Search Results for kde
Stripped down KDE
Robert volunteers for a St. Louis organization called ByteWorks, which takes old PCs & refurbs them, then teaches kids how to use 'em. At that point, the kids get to keep the PCs. Pretty cool program. Robert is helping them move from old versions of Windows to Linux, which is great. Unfortunately, these machines are so old that "modern" Linux desktops like GNOME and KDE are too much. Here's what I suggested:
<begin my email to Robert>
If this was for "normal" users we were trying to wean away from Windows, I would push KDE, but that's impossible with this ancient, underpowered hardware. Ice [a window manager] is way too different & weird. Actually, so is KFCE, since it's based on GNOME's ideas about desktops (which are quite bizarre).
Have you looked at this?
http://www.simplekde.org
It's a stripped-down KDE.
Or this?
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/8239
Another stripped-down KDE.
Interestingly, Auditor - one of the absolute best Live CDs for security - switched from ICEwm to a ...
Move the mouse with your keyboard in KDE
File this under "I should have known about this but didn't." Let's say you don't have a mouse, or your mouse is having problems, yet you still need to somehow move your pointer from A to B. It's easy in KDE: press Alt-F12. You can now move the pointer with your arrow keys. When you're finished, press Alt-F12 again, & you're back to the mouse. Easy peasy. How do you do this in GNOME? Let us know!
(Check out all of our posts on KDE and the mouse.) ...
What's comin' up with KDE 4
I'm using KDE 3.5, & it's great. Bein' a bleeding edge sort of guy, I can't wait, though, for KDE 4! The O'Reilly
Network has a new interview up with KDE developer Aaron Seigo about what's coming up with the new KDE, which we'll
(hopefully) see in the Fall of this year. The interview - "Previewing KDE 4" - has tons of bullet
points detailing what we're going to see in KDE 4, & there's some doozies in there. One that worries me:
"streamlining Konqueror's file management and web browsing interfaces". I really hope that this doesn't mean
that KDE is going down the GNOME path and over-simplifying. Please, noooooooo! (Check out all of our
posts on KDE.) ...
The future of KDE multimedia
LinuxTag 2005 is over, and a lot of cool stuff came out of it, as always. One thing I want to point you towards is a
presentation available on the Web about the future of KDE multimedia; in other words, stuff we'll see in KDE 4.0.
Titled "KDE Multimedia Roadmap", these are slides from a
presentation at LinuxTag (created using KPresenter, btw) that give the history & new directions for audio, video,
& other fun things in the next big KDE. Worth running through - and it won't take ya long anyway.
(Check out all of my posts on KDE
multimedia.) ...
Kubuntu: Ubuntu with KDE
Man, Ubuntu is really hot in the Linux world. Buzz buzz buzz. One lil' problem: it doesn't support KDE out of the
box. Sure, you can add it in, but let's be honest: Ubuntu is all about GNOME. It's GNOME through and through. That's
fine for some folks, but not for me. If I can't use KDE, forget it.
Well, guess what? Now there's Kubuntu, a version of Ubuntu with KDE. Yup. Very cool. And now we've got a beta
release to play with. Read the press
release. Download the Live CD
ISO (Warning! 535 MB ISO!) or
get it with BitTorrent.
Or download it for non-i386 architectures. Or heck,
try out the upcoming KDE 3.4 packages with Kubuntu!
Wheeee!
Wanna see what it is you're going to install? Then go to OSDir & check out the
43 screenshots of Kubuntu they
have available.
Finally, for a review of the original Ubuntu, read
"Ubuntu 4.10 Warty Warthog; The Linux Desktop IS
ready". It ain't long - heck, the user comments are waaay longer - but it's worth a quick read. ...
Some cool KDE servicemenus
If you're using KDE, open the Konqueror file manager & find a text file. Right-click on it & pay attention
to the Actions menu. Go check that one out. You may have only one or two things in the Action menu, or you may have
several. I have the following:
Rename with KRename
Sign file
Encyrypt file
Create Data CD with K3b
Print
That list is generated by KDE servicemenus. Basically, servicemenus pay attention to the file you click on, &
then offer actions possible for that particular file. See what happens when you right-click on an MP3 file, an
OpenOffice.org doc, or a JPG. Many of the choices in the Action submenu will be the same, but you will always get
unique actions for each different file type.
It's really easy to install a new servicemenu: just download it and then copy the file to this location:
~/.kde/share/apps/konqueror/servicemenus/
Let's say you download the fantastic "print
openoffice ...
What's coming up with KDE 4?
We're at least a year away from KDE 4, but already developers are floating balloons about what's going to be
included in what is going to be both a huge leap forward and a big overhaul of KDE. NewsForge is running an article
titled "KDE 4 promises radical changes to the
free desktop" that covers some of the new changes afoot. Take a look at the piece - it's short, & it's full of
interesting ideas that I can't wait to see on my Linux box!
(Check out all of my posts on KDE.) ...
KDE and Wikipedia to work closely together
I'm really pumped about this one, since I have very fond places in my heart for both KDE and Wikipedia - after all,
I use both virtually every day! Basically, KDE and Wikipedia are going to integrate the fantastic wealth of info
available at Wikipedia into more and more KDE apps, as seamlessly as possible. For instance: playing a tune in Amarok,
the great music player. Now info about the artist & the album will appear, courtesy of Wikipedia. If there's
nothin' there, then enter something! Other programs mentioned: KStars (of course!), Kalzium, Scribus, Screensaver,
& more. This is so cool! Read about it at KDE.News and (duh)
Wikipedia.
(Check out all of my posts on KDE,
Wikipedia, &
Amarok.) ...
KDE 3.5 released!
Yesterday saw a big announcement: KDE 3.5 has been released! Want to know what's new & cool? Read
"KDE 3.5 Feature Plan". Want pictures
along with your description of new stuff? Check out "KDE
3.5: A Visual Guide to New Features". It's an excellent list, with some awesome items that really come clear thanks
to that Visual Guide. This is a VERY nice release of KDE.
Want to download it? Binaries are available for Arch Linux, Kubuntu, Slackware, & SuSE. In particular, since I'm
using Kubuntu, I went to "KDE 3.5 Released with Kubuntu
Packages" and followed the quite simple instructions there. Afterwards, a simple sudo apt-get update
&& sudo apt-get upgrade, a reboot, & I was running the lastest KDE 3.5!
(Check out all of our posts on KDE,
Kubuntu,
Slackware, &
SUSE.) ...
KDE 3.4 is out!
Well, by the time you're reading this, I'll be on an airplane flying to my brother-in-law's wedding (congrats, Mark
& Vicki!) in Denver. But I couldn't let the day pass without mentioning the really big news: KDE 3.4 has been
released. Read more at KDE.news, which covers the whole story.
I've downloaded & installed it on my Debian box, & it's pretty sweet. If you're running Debian, add this
line to your sources.list file:
deb http://pkg-kde.alioth.debian.org/kde-3.4.0/ ./
Then use the usual apt-get update && apt-get upgrade, & away you go!
(Now, you are aware that if this completely borks your system, it's not my fault, right? Good.)
If you're a bit nervous, & want to check out KDE 3.4 first, well then, why not
download & test the new Kubuntu Live CD, which is Ubuntu, but with KDE
3.4? Sounds nice, doesn't it? And since it's a Live CD, you can't cause any problems on your main rig. Ah, innovation -
it's so nice. ...
Kubuntu, a KDE version of Ubuntu
The word I'm getting is that Ubuntu is really good. Really, really, really good. But - and this is a big but - it's
currently GNOME only, and since I don't do much GNOME, and in fact rely on several KDE apps, I can't do Ubuntu.
Nonetheless, I've downloaded it, & I'm going to give it a whirl soon. In the meantime, some folks have gotten
together & started the Kubuntu project, to create "a great
integrated distro with all the great features of Ubuntu, but based on the KDE desktop". It's a young project, and
there's a ton to do, so if you are interested & willing to help, jump in. I'm looking forward to this one! ...
Huge list of KDE & QT apps
In an effort to get more info out to the world about KDE, the KDE Wiki now features a
humongous list of KDE & QT-based apps,
sorted by category. There's a lot of stuff here, but since it's a wiki, you can, of course, add more. There's a lot
missing, so be sure to submit your suggestions. Let's make this a majorly comprehensive list!
(Check out all of our posts on KDE.) ...
Screenshots of KDE 3.4 beta 1
The next version of KDE - and the last one before the next really biggie, KDE 4.0 - is going to be KDE 3.4, which
just came out in beta recently. Curious about what the next point release of KDE holds? Well then, b'gosh, view
"Screenshots from KDE 3.4 Beta 1" and its 14
pictures. I wish there were more, but hey, I'll take those 14. Man, KDE 3.4 sure looks nice! Can't wait!
Oh, and btw: if you want to know more about QT 4.0, the base
for KDE 4.0, then read KDE News' "Qt 4.0 Beta 1 Released", which contains
some good info about what to expect in the next version of the QT toolkit. And if you're a programmer, then
"The Qt 4 Resource Center", a tutorial with examples, might be your
bag. ...
KTorrent: BitTorrent the KDE way
As long time readers know, I prefer Azureus when it comes to BitTorrent GUIs, or I just use the command line. If I
know the URL of a torrent, I use:
btdownloadcurses --max_upload_rate 350 --url http://[URL of BitTorrent file]
If I've downloaded the torrent file, I use this instead:
btdownloadcurses --max_upload_rate 350 --responsefile /path/to/bittorrent/file.torrent
Another GUI you might want to check out, especially if you're a KDE fan, is KTorrent. It's BitTorrent with a yummy
pretty KDE intereface. There's nothing really remarkably innovative about it, except that it integrates with KDE, which
may be enough for many of you out there.
(Check out all of our posts on BitTorrent,
Azureus, &
KDE.) ...
KDE 3.5 beta available
My fave desktop environment is getting closer 'n closer to 3.5, & the latest milestone has been reached: the
beta release. eWeek has a nice article about the
release, or you can skip straight to the horse's mouth at
kde.org. Wanna test it? The easiest way is to download binaries for
SUSE or
Kubuntu, or build it yerself using
Konstruct - it ain't hard.
(Check out all of my posts on KDE.) ...
