I have installed Debian Woody with the 2.4.18-bf2.4 kernel. My /etc/apt/sources.list now has stable, testing, and unstable. I have upgraded the dist to testing (Sarge).

Now, how in the world do I get the whole KDE desktop environment? I have it on another computer from a Knoppix v3.3 install, and it also works good on this comp running the Knoppix CD. My comp has an Intel P4 2.4 GHz processor and 1GB of DDR333, so I don't care if KDE is slower than fluxbox, blackbox, window maker, or whatever. I want KDE for all it's features, not it's speed. I'd really like the latest version, which I assume is in unstable (Sid).

What do I actually do to get the KDE desktop environment and KMail, which I will use until I can use exim and some form of mail transfer agent or whatever?

Previously I used dselect to get KDE, but I had to answer a ton of questions and didn't know what to get and thought I'd never get out of dselect. I got it from testing that time, and then later, since it wasn't there already, I got KMail, but from unstable. It worked really good, until I rebooted the machine. Then KDE wasn't a desktop choice, and I couldn't get it fixed - even with a How-To from another post. After many hours of trying, I couldn't get anything after login except twm - not acceptable. So today I've reinstalled the system and I'm at it again. I'd really like to do it right this time.

And btw, apt-get install kde is not the correct answer.

down load @ http://kde.org/mirrors/ftp.php

and install it

Thanks for replying, rakriege. However, installing for Debian is different than for most other distros.


Stephen, that's the correct link to get it done the Debian way. I'll post back an update when it's installed and working correctly.



Do you use KDE, and if so, which version? Are there any tips you can give me from your experience, that may keep me from breaking something along the way?

And, since KDE detects hardware and does such things as putting nice little mount icons on the dekstop, should I first recompile with a new kernel version that will detect all my hardware? The 2.4.18-bf2.4 doesn't have support for my gigabit lan, USB mouse, USB flash, Radeon 9000, sound (needs Alsa driver), etc.

It seems as if a new kernel would really be beneficial before actually installing KDE - reason being, that maybe with all the hardware detected, KDE would be setup better, as it is with the Knoppix Live CD.

Any suggestions?

btw - what is Tux?