Newbie Question #2
 

Hi again everyone,

So far I've posted one problem, and it's already been solved, so I'm loving this place already. I just wish I could help some people out here, but unfortunately my knowledge of Linux is about as good as a two year old's knowledge of Maths!

That's what leads me on to the next question. I have recently downloaded Mandrake Linux 10, and installed it. Personally, I don't like is anywhere near as much as Mandrake 9.2, so I've re-installed 9.2 ...

One thing I did notice, however, is that Mandrake 10 has KDE 3.3 and a new version of GNOME. Is it possible to change my version of KDE from 3.2, that ships with Mandrake 9.2 to 3.3? If it's possible, how easy is it? Would it be possible to do for a xxNovice such as me?

Hope to hear from someone soon,
Thanks a lot,
bLaCk

Re: Newbie Question #2
 

Yes of course you can change the KDE version, go to KDE.org and get the latest version (I don't know if it is available in rpm format, you can always compile it yourself though)

I be puzzled
 

Hi LinuxSeeker,

Thanks for your super-fast reply! It's great to see that it's possible to change KDE so that it is up-to-date, although at the moment, if anything doesn't have .rpm at the end of it, I automatically think "uh-oh" and then leave the page.

I would love to be able to upgrade my version of KDE, but I haven't got the foggiest on how to compile the sources that they have on their site. Downloading them isn't the problem as I have a Cable net connection, I just don't know how to go about it.

If there is anyone that has gone through this procedure before, and is willing to help me out that'd be great. Alternately, if anyone knows where I can get a pre-compiled version as a .rpm, maybe they could let me know?

Cheers again,
bLaCk

I think mandrake has some kind of update utility, I think you can update it from there. I think the name is DrakeUpdate or something like that...

You could always run urpmi as root through a terminal. It's sort of like Mandrake's version of the Portage system in Gentoo, just not quite as good. It works like this:

urpmi package-name

I personally prefer GNOME over KDE for having more speed while staying very useful and not being bloated with pointless software, but oh well.

Fast replies!
 

There are certainly a lot of fast repliers here, lol. I certainly aren't used to it!

Unfortunately, I really am as much of a newbie as I look. I have *no* idea how to compile files so that they work. The only things I can currently use are rpms. I can, however, follow instructions. So if there's anyone out there that could guide me through it somehow, it'd be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again,
bLaCk

1. Download the source
2. Extract it (you can double click the compressed icon at Konqueror copy the entire directory and paste it at another directory)
3. Start a console session.
4. Browse to the directory you just extracted
5. Type './configure', as soon as it is done type 'make' when the compiling process has finished login as a root go to the same directory and type 'make install'

This works for most programs but I'm not sure if it will work for KDE...

Mandrake does have an update feature under package mangement update. see your menu under configure

If KDE updates are available (to download) for Mandrake then:

1. Open the Mandrake Control Center
2. Go to 'Software Management'
3. Select 'Mandrake Update (the one with the blue icon)
4. Follow the instructions.

1. Go here
Download the sources (KDE 3.2.1)

2. Then, use this this tool to built the KDE.

Note: You should built the "konstruct" source using the method I mentioned above.