If programs are programs where ever they are run as long as the libraries exist... why doesn't Trinity focus on first porting to QT4, then focus on improoving the important parts? That is, the system tools to configure the window manager and what not. Large sub projects like konqueror, k3b, an office programs should completly be dropped as these would just be outdated clones and never get improoved. This is the problem with a monolithic build structure. Things that should be independent of eachother are built together at the cost of a little extra work on the OS developers.

Those same issues have been raised in the discussion list.

A while back most of the packagers noticed that Trinity no longer built on more recent systems using the automake tools. The developers had little choice but to shift focus to converting to cmake. That is why I have not been heavily involved of late. The short-term result has been bug quashing is in a holding pattern. I think the cmake conversion is getting closer to completion and bugs are slowly again receiving attention. The good news is the project leader stated that major bugs and "paper cut" bugs will receive attention before the next version is officially released (tentatively 3.5.13).

Regarding which apps should be retained or dropped has been discussed much too. Many developers want to drop Koffice and instead ensure LibreOffice has full support for KDE3/Trinity (dialog boxes). Some people want to keep some of the secondary apps packaged with Koffice, such as Krita. Krita has been renamed to Chalk. So some package renaming is taking place. Packages like Konqueror and K3B are too valuable to drop. Konqueror 3.x is still regarded by many people as a top file manager although many people have only a passing interest in the app as a web browser.

There is an effort underway to make Trinity compatible with QT4. That is a long-term goal.

There has been talk about splitting the Trinity packages into smaller units to avoid the all-or-none approach of the past. Krita is an example.

The best place to raise these issues is in the discussion lists or forum. I'm not involved in any cmake conversions so I have not paid significant attention to all of that work. I plan this autumn to start working on the package making process, therefore I participate in the discussions as much as possible.

Last I looked the project plan was to release the next official version late this year. That means pieces of the plan are falling in place.

The Trinity developers are not interested in competing directly with KDE 4. The primary focus is to keep the spirit of KDE 3.5.10 alive. That goal means continual improvements, bug quashing, etc.

The conversion to cmake and patches to be compatible with the latest releases of gcc shows the developers are serious about the long-term viability of the project.

There remains a lot of user interest in Trinity. I would like to see more people get involved one way or another. A user who submits bug reports provides a lot of help. Any person who submits enhancement ideas helps.

If you want a snapshot glance of the development work, simply browse the list of patches.

Woodsman, have any of the developers considered using Clementine? As far as I know, they have been trying to do the very same thing regarding the previous Amarok. I can't judge how successful they are because I came to Linux after KDE 4 so I never used it, but Clementine is, in my opinion, a fantastic player and is already compatible with QT 4.

The libraries and some of the programs from KDE as those you mentioned, could easily be kept for usage with XFce or any other desktop environment for that matter. Many of them could be ported over to SlackBuilds or XAPs for easier maintenance.

In reality you could get rid of Dolphin, remove KDE from the listings of Desktops, and keep everything else such as headers, libraries, and applications without penalty to the system or the user, even then find out what works well even with XFce's Thunar, and redundant packages that have no purpose could be dropped.

Many of GNOME's packages were kept maintained by SlackBuild's except for a few key ones, meaning you can install most of the GNOME packages for functionality purposes with other desktop environments, but you don't get the actual GNOME desktop environment. Same thing could be done to KDE.

I marked this thread as [SOLVED] as Bob has already uploaded KDE4.7.0 packages.

Other thoughts are still welcome

Not that I am aware. Adding a QT4 compatibility layer is in progress but not a primary goal for the next release. The primary focus for the next release is cmake conversion and bugs.

When the next Trinity version is officially released, Slackware users can use Clementine without the QT4 compatibility layer because QT4 is already installed. Trinity packages will be built to co-exist with KDE4 and QT4.

There are several bug reports and enhancment requests filed against Amarok 1.4. Amarok is a fine app, which I still use today. With attention to the bugs and enhancment requests Amarok 1.4 will be better. After that I suspect if anybody wants a certain feature back ported from Clementine to Amarok 1.4 all they need do is file the request.

Well, that was never in doubt. The question is whether KDE is going to be a part of the the Slackware distribution in the future. We're not going to know the answer for a while.

All this QT4-Clementine developer stuff is over my head. I think the kde4 applications, including dolphin, are great, and I like running them on XFCE on one computer, and on the other computer, I'm running my own customized version of Slax 6.1.2, with KDE 3.5.10. I can't do things like edit video on it, but for most of what I do most of the time, as long as I can keep the current versions of Mozilla installed (firefox, thunderbird, seamonkey), and the latest version of opera, and adobe flashplayer, I can't usually tell that I'm using old software. Most of my applications were ported from Slackware 12.2, and I can't tell you the difference between that version of emacs, and the current one. Someone with new hardware might have support issues; I don't know. on the same machine I have also installed Slackware 12.2, the last Slackware to ship with KDE3.

I got no complaints, I'm doing fine with what's available to me, but I know from my own KDE addiction that the trinity people won't be giving up. Whatever has to be done to make Trinity viable, they'll be doing it by and by.

Free software will solve this. This is all going to work out. All the complaining notwithstanding, KDE4 was not a disaster, but losing KDE3 would be. That's why we're not going to lose it. Trinity won't be a disaster either. Everybody's going to get what they need, and KDE will gain 3-4 users from Windows to every one it loses to Trinity and XFCE.

Just spotted this from the KDE release team :-

http://vizzzion.org/blog/2011/08/release-team-changes/

2 members found this post helpful.

I like how Slackware is mentioned.

1 members found this post helpful.

@wildwizard - Thankyou for bringing this to my attention

/me bows at the waist in appreciation to Alien Bob for his attendance at the Desktop Summit and his valued input.
Yet another effort that enhances Slackware!

Well... I was not at the Desktop Summit. Heinz Wiesinger (ppr:kut on IRC and a SlackBuilds.org admin) did attend this BoF (birds of a feather) session at the Desktop Summit and he took care of representing Slackware. His contribution was greatly valued.

My role was exclusively played out on the KDE mailing lists. That too had value because it jumpstarted the discussion about the release procedure and how that influences packagers.

Eric

Thanks for the clarification. I can only take another bow.

/me bows at the waist in appreciation to ppr:kut for his attendance at the Desktop Summit and his valued input.
Yet another effort that enhances Slackware!

1 members found this post helpful.

I'd also like to show my appreciation to the KDE developers who were also great at hearing what the people affected had to say and displayed willingness to adjust their course based on the feedback. Not all major DE's developers have such spirit of openness.

Thanks Eric! Sometimes being proactive can jump start positive results

Exactly! I stay with KDE because of Krusader, and some other apps that would not run under LXDE for example.
So, to answer the topic question - for me KDE is a must. If it is ever dropped, then hopefully there will be slackBuilds to make it...