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View Poll Results: Should KDE 3.5 x Be Maintained in Future Slackware Releases
(Q. How resource hungry is KDE4 compared with KDE3?, will it run well on older hardware or is it moving into the Vista-must-have-state-of-the-art-hardware-or-it-runs-really-slowly realm?)
I've not seen much in the way of comparison (mostly at this time because feature parity is mostly planned for the yet-to-be-released KDE 4.1), but it's possible that it will be less resource hungy than KDE3.5 because of the move to Qt4, which is more efficient than Qt3.
Of course, given that as well as reimplementing all of the bits and pieces from KDE3.5.9 they've also added a lot more, mostly under the hood. That could push the requirements up, so until 4.1 is out, it's a bit hard to say.
Should KDE 3.5 x be dropped in the next release, that would leave many Slackers faced with some uncomfortable decisions.
How so? If you're comfortable with what you have, why upgrade it?
Software doesn't stop working or wear out like cars do. That means you can continue to use whatever you see fit. Even old versions of Slackware.
Hell, I ran Slackware 10.2 as my main desktop until very recently. Why? Because it did everything I needed it to and I was very comfortable with it. I spent months (or possibly years!) customising it, and there are still things it does that I haven't been able to get working properly under Slackware 12 (mostly due to time restrictions). For that reason, I still have it on a spare partition and boot into it when necessary.
You don't have to upgrade to the latest version of Slackware just because it's there. I find it a little odd that you're willing to continue running NT4, but want to jump to the next version of Slack as soon as it's released...
I have not actually installed KDE4 yet, as it seems far from being a stable desktop;
but from screenshots it does contain some elements that look like they might be promising. (Q. How resource hungry is KDE4 compared with KDE3?, will it run well on older hardware or is it moving into the Vista-must-have-state-of-the-art-hardware-or-it-runs-really-slowly realm?).
The 4.0.0 builds, while not feature-complete, actually ran faster here.
I can't really tell much difference with the new 4.1.x development snapshots, but then, I'm probably used to it now.
Quote:
Currently I am very happy with KDE-3.5.9, although rather than having to replace KDE-3.5.9 to install KDE-4.* I would like to see the possibility of being able to install KDE-4.* parallel with existing KDE-3.5.9 Desktop environments.
This would definitely remove the fear factor of 'Destroying your system' if the KDE4 install goes wrong, as well as allowing a much wider user base for testing KDE4, but at the same time maintaining users confidence and usability in their fully working and customised KDE3.
If Pat & Team could organise Slackware with this option and ability to install both KDE's and then let users have the ability to logout and change desktop sessions; that would get my vote.
Well, that's a lot of extra work and time required to do something that's sooner or later (hopefully sooner) going to go away anyhow. I personally don't see the need - either kde4 will be ready or it won't; so Slackware will either get kde4 or it will keep kde3.
I recently installed robbys pkgs, good stuff. It is less resouce hungry atleast on my side. It looks real nice! Anyway, I shall try and break it. I have an ATI card and still a good performer.
I personally look at the move from KDE3 to KDE4 the same as moving from the 2.4.x to the 2.6.x kernel. I hope it will be a long reluctant process. KDE is the main desktop for Slack and, just like the kernel, a main component should be VERY stable and EXTREMELY well tested before being included by default. I would image that KDE4 will be in /testing for a few Slack releases, again like the kernel was, before it replaces KDE3.
That being said, it wouldn't surprise me at all if KDE4 ended up being the default in the next version and KDE3 was dropped completely. Lately, a few applications that I wouldn't consider to be 100 % stable have crept into the last few versions of Slack. Even some of the things that were very simple to do by hand now seem to be getting automated (sometimes with unwanted results).
I still consider myself to be a newcomer to Slack (only using it since around 8.1/9.0) but I really hope the recent trend gets reversed and starts leaning back towards being a bit more conservative on what gets installed by default and what gets automated for the user.
MagicMan
P.S. The above is, of course, just MHO.
Last edited by fcaraballo; 05-31-2008 at 06:38 PM.
Inasmuch as Pat made a decision to depart from offering Gnome and KDE a while ago (in part at least as a result of the effort to maintain two DE's) I have no doubt that when he decides that KDE 4.whatever is stable enough for a Slackware release, it will be stable enough for me to use. At that point, I can't see him maintaining KDE 3 because many of us (including myself) are comfortable with it. At that point it will simply be time for me again to step up to another learning curve (much as I did when I first downloaded and installed Slackware) several years ago.
For those that would like to keep KDE 3 at at that time, well, I strongly suspect that is a large reason all of us here use Slackware. Regardless of what is packaged with it in the official release, we are completely free to add remove or modify any part of it to our own liking. Given the work necessary to maintain a distro, I could hardly expect an old version of a DE to be maintained officially once it is replaced with a newer version just because many are used to it.
...
As far as the future of 3.5, as it stands now I cannot see KDE4 becoming a part of a stock Slack install any time in the near future. Others may disagree, but it does not fit with what I believe Slack stands for: a rock solid system. So, I am betting KDE 3.5 is going to be around for quite some time yet.
If and when Pat decides to include KDE4, it will be because it is the ready, and it certainly isn't yet.
Bob
The bold piece of this above quote pretty much sums up my take on the situation too, regarding Slackware, though I **could** envision the Slack installer giving a choice from more than one KDE (there are after all a multitude of examples of packages included in Slack, which do the exact same thing as another included package) or merely including a newer version in /extra or on another CD..
As for the rest of the original quote, I cannot comment: I have never laid eyes on V1$ta, nor have I knowingly used a KDE earlier than 3.5.x (and even as mature & 'stable' as it is, the 3.5.x bugs I experience are annoying to be sure.)
Well, as already stated kde4 has a lower memory footprint due to the new code base, which is a huge plus in my book. As for replacing kde3.5.x completely, that would seem like the best option whenever kde4 is ready. If it's going to be considered stable before the next slackware release, who knows? But, if included kde3.5.x has a good chance of being removed, maintaining two different code bases is quite a challange. Which is a good thing since then more effort can be focused on the overall distro and not just the DE.
I just LOVE Konqueror and i can't think i may lose it.
I still want Kde 3.5.x .
And yes, i know konqueror will be mantained in kde 4.x, but I want it in kde 4.x the same way of kde 3.5.x.
I just LOVE Konqueror and i can't think i may lose it.
I still want Kde 3.5.x .
And yes, i know konqueror will be mantained in kde 4.x, but I want it in kde 4.x the same way of kde 3.5.x.
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