Upgrading KDE
 

i currently use KDE 3.2 i'd like to upgrade to the latest version, would anyone be willing to tell me how to do this? (my distro is mandrake 10.)

Compiling KDE 3.4 from source
 

There are two ways: having the computer compile it from the source code, or installing off the RPM's.

I compiled it under Mandake 10.0, and it worked great. I also didn't have to get rid of 3.2; I still had it for backup. The disadvantage is that it takes a while (11 hours with an Athlon 2700+ and a fast connection). However, using the RPM's actually took a lot more work on my part, and if they cause problems you can't go back.

To compile, go here:
http://developer.kde.org/build/konstruct/
and download Konstruct. Unzip it and check out the README. (It says you have to go into the correct directory in the Konstruct folder and type "make" in the console. Afterwords, you have to modify a file to switch your computer to the new version.) It should be automatic, but I had to install three things to make it work all the way. So first, as root, type "urmpi bzip2-devel", then "urmpi autoconf2.5", and "urpmi libtiff3-devel". (I'm assuming you have disks, or have set up urpmi some other way.) If Konstruct doesn't finish because it can't find a file to download, you can just tell it "make" again. It will pick up where it left off and try again. If it doesn't finish for some other reason, you may need to install more files. If you want to use your computer while Konstruct is working, use "nice make" instead of just "make".

I didn't use the RPM's under 10.0, so someone else could help you better if you want to do it that way.

If you want to upgrade to KDE3.3, you can just download and install 10.2 ... err, Mandriva 2005 LE. It is now available on the public mirrors.

If you want to upgrade to 3.4, your best bet is to compile from source, as outlined in beetlenaut's post.