Just remember KDE 4 is a work in progress, KDE 3 is a finished product. I'd stick with 3.5 if I wasn't so attracted to the new interface.

I'm with tommcd.
I have 12.2 KDE installed on one box and 13 XFCE installed on another.
I use both of them regularly with no problems.
I configured XFCE so that it's hard to tell it's XFCE and not KDE on the surface.
Right clicking would be the only fast way to know.
If you think the newer KDE is frustrating consider this.
My g/f is tired of fighting with her antivirus on windows along with her lack of patience when I have to clean the tracking cookies, trojans and occasional virus from her system every month and has asked me to see if I can find something she can handle without to much of me having to look over her shoulder.
I'm on day 4 and haven't found anything whatsoever that would fill her requirements,, and this isn't a slam at any distro, just the truth of what I've found so far.
Whatever has to be KDE 3.5 or XFCE to get the XP "look" and navigating she's used to.
For stability, of course I would have to choose Slack, specifically 12.2.
But, it also requires I be around for updates, installing, removing etc. so it's out.
OpenSUSE?
Seemed stable but to much to learn as well as the amount of change for her all at once and her words were exactly,,,"Oh hell no!!!"
PCLOS?
It was fine until I tried to transfer files with a usb stick.
If it doesn't work ootb even with current updates......
Linux XP.
Very XP looking and could have been a winner for her.
The problem was the dev's overlooked allowing one to have a root password on the install in order to do anything at all with the system and I haven't had a reply for the help post in 3 days on their forum.
There were other's I've tried with no success and their problems were all vbox related such as Mint.
I spent 3-4 hours googling and tinkering with all the ones that could have worked but it comes back to the same thing as PCLOS.
If it doesn't work ootb like Slack always has for me.....
Vbox is a requirement as it allows me to install xp to run some of the apps she wants that flat cannot be run in Linux in any form or fashion at this point in time.
I can copy the xp image, store it and if anything happens to the image she is running I can simply delete it and replace it with the back up.

KDE 3.5.10 is available ..

ftp://ftp.heanet.ie/mirrors/ftp.slac...13.0/packages/

I prefer Xfce over every other DE.

I am building a Debian Squeeze (testing) with Xfce.

Just installed the new release of LinuxMint-8 RC1 and modified it with Xfce already.
Not too bad . . . fast and pretty (kinda like the women I know) and a little complicated.

I tested KDE 4.3.3 from current yesterday. It greeted me with a nice sound. When I started Dragon Player it reported it cannot open USB audio device and falls back to default (GStreamer backend). This was UNFORGIVABLE since another order of preferences was configured in the Multimedia configuration. The default fails. This is also unforgivable, but all Linux is like that, so we better forget it. After "fall back", the Dragon Player just hanged and showed black screen while any NORMAL player would just show the video. To get some insight, I tried Test in the Multimedia configuration; the applet played a nice sound and CRASHED.

I noticed that KDE makes me hysterical, but did not quit it until I tested that another backend works better.

I agree with the original post. A KDE distro cannot be called great at this time. Same with GNOME. The easy way for Slackware to get back to greatness is to do nothing and wait for KDE to recover. Considering the NATURE of the bugs I do not expect that to happen any time soon, though. If somebody proposes the hard way of switching to XFCE as the main or only DE, count my voice.

Some are not available or not synchronized anymore. Just try the Australian mirrors for example.

I don't understand what you're trying to say here...
Probably shouldn't use KDE, then. ;^)
Slackware is not a "KDE distro"...when you do a fresh install, you see a console login on bootup. Where you go from there is up to you. I don't like the new KDE either(or KDE3, and won't touch GNOME with a 10-inch pole), so...I don't use it(them). Opinions regarding desktops haven't much to do with Slackware, or its "greatness".
"Hard way"? XFCE's pretty decent, as DEs go, and it is part of the Slackware distribution; what's hard about using it?

Does anyone get this problem?

I too have to chime in here with a vote of support for Xfce. I could not use KDE4 on my Slack64 system... too buggy, too bloated, too... just too. I've been a Slacker for most of my GNU/Linux lifetime. It's wonderful, sleek, and fast with Xfce! Enjoy!

Screenshots:

http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/2...xfceshot03.png

http://img513.yfrog.com/img513/8349/...hemeshot03.png

Xfce is MUCH BETTER than KDE4... but If you want speed... :-) better switch to FluxBox....

Compare an Honda CBR 1100 xx Blackbird to an Suzuki Hayabusa...

I mean, both are very fast, but... one is outstandingly and unearthly faster than the other... :-)

Alex

I run LXDE w/ OpenBox in Sidux64. That's about as "boxed" as I wanna' be right now.

I've always admired and touted the virtues of Patrick's (and the rest of the team's) careful approach to new releases. Slackware has always been, for me, the most stable and reliable distribution I've used. That one factor is the primary facet of the distribution that has most endeared it to me and garnered my undying loyalty. I have no qualms about installing new slackware versions on test machines and even production machines because I trust that they will just work.

That being said, I do have to say that if I were pressed to list my favorite versions of past releases, none of them would end in dot-zero. I suppose it is the complex nature of the beast that not all things can be anticipated, and that the universe rarely lines itself up well enough such that all of the elements that are assembled into a linux distribution have a dependable stability at release time.

So far, I've not encountered any show-stopping problems with 13. It hasn't been perfect for me, some older VIA hardware chokes on the new KDE but I only installed it on that platform to see if I could -- I didn't expect it to work at all, frankly, and I was pleasantly surprised. Xfce performs well in 13 on that machine so it will probably remain a 13 box (even though I have no use for it, currently).

I've been a harsh critic of KDE4, but to be fair, I don't think KDE 4.2.4 is unstable. It is buggy, some features aren't working correctly, and customization is not what is was with KDE3. But it's not like KDE 4.2.4 is crashing and freezing up all the time (at least from my experience). The only thing really unstable about it is Akonadi.

Of course, there are always minor glitches with major version upgrades, but I think KDE4 has way too many. The end result: many less than impressed users. It seems all the refinement and wonderfully designed aspects of KDE3 were just thrown out the window. We have something new and shiny, but lacking in sophistication. I would have been nice if somehow the "wisdom" of KDE3 could have been carried forward into 4. It just feels to me (and many others) that everything in KDE4 is new but broken/immature/glitchy.

There is a good reason why defaults in Linux are never right: all systems are different and nobody puts the "average user" needs above personal comfort and habits. Consider RPATH problem in packaging or media player setup. The latter may have a bunch of options ideal for crashing the system or just no options like Dragon Player and its black rectangle video.

I do not use KDE, but I feel the advice is flawed. The next step is to advice not to use Linux. The usability and good design principles are universal and I believe a common feeling of what is acceptable exists. Thus, bad design of one project harms all the rest.
Slackware is a KDE distro since nobody considers Linux a command line OS any more. Thus, either a distro chooses what it is or people do that for it. Slackware is KDE, Ubuntu is GNOME. Ubuntu user rants I see in the Net suggest that KUbuntu is GNOME too (due to some missing features/polish KUbuntu looks like a GNOME distro where GNOME has been replaced with KDE).

If I recall correctly, it was well explained why Slackware dropped GNOME. If Slackware decides to stop being a KDE distro, it can be achieved easily: move KDE to pasture and comment on it.
Nothing. However, Slackware recommends full install and I believe that there are good reasons for it. For example, if I do not install KDE what a GUI CD burner will I have?

There are XFCE goodies that are not included. Personally I do not bother to install them, but without them Slackware cannot be called an XFCE distro.

Originally posted by titopoquito:
mirror.pacific.net.au was down from 12/11/2009 for server upgrade/improvement and is now back on line and working just fine.