Like most everyone else who's been following the newest KDE developments and subsequent posts by Eric Hameleers regarding packages for the newest incarnation of KDE, I was excited to be able to download said packages and follow Eric's instructions for installing and running KDE 5. However, soon after the new desktop came up, I found that all was not bliss. Operations were not so bad; the problem came after I tried to shut down the computer. No matter how I tried, KDE would not initiate a shutdown/reboot of the computer. And this was on the laptop; on my desktop, it fared much worse. In addition to the shutdown/reboot problem, the startup screen flickered something awful. For a desktop whose graphics are much superior to my laptop, I most certainly did not expect worse performance.

So much for my expectations. I don't think it's anyone's fault, though; teething troubles affect every new incarnation of everything that's ever come out in the history of computers software-wise, and KDE is most certainly no exception to the rule. KDE 4.9.5 works,works well, and works fast. For my desktop/laptop, this will continue to be the desktop du jour until such time as the initial troubles of the KDE 5 desktop are sorted out.

I would be interested in hearing about the experiences of anyone else who cares to share about their upgrade to KDE 5, and how it has affected their desktop experience.

Cheers!

EDIT: Given Eric's post about the lack of XEmbed protocol for the desktop, it gives me less confidence than ever that KDE 5 is ready for the Slacker's desktop. That's just my opinion, though. YMMV.

I was able to shutdown / reboot - but only if logout out of the GUI back to the CLI - then I was back in control. Eric has a solution to that problem on his blog.

I have installed KDE 5 multiple times, in multiple ways, clean with no KDE packages on install, overtop of 4.10.5, over top of 4.13.3, and yes 4.14.3 and so on. KDE 5 installs, gives me a nice desktop BG but no widgets, menus are all blank or not loading properly....I'm currently going line by line in the xsession error log I made looking for a common denominator.

So that said, I have yet to see how good or bad KDE 5 actually is, because I have to bring up CLI just to get into System settings and so on....still working on the problem(s), eventually I will figure it out, and when I do - I'll be documenting how I got thru it. : )

NOTE: I had the same problem with 4.13.3 - so it's not just KDE 5. 4.10.5 runs flawlessly on the same machine, so there is something missing or something has changed : )

I should mention, all this is on Slackware 14.1 - current - I have not tried or looked at other Distros.

Later

Do you start init 3 or 4? If it is init 3, you need to make changes to kdm to allow for proper shutdown. Sorry, I just couldn't tell for sure (although, I'm assuming you're init 4 so this probably won't apply).

Do you mean KDE 4.10.5? Because Slack 14.1 and -current both come with 4.10.5. If you are running an older version of Slack (albeit a newer KDE than what 14.0 included. which was 4.8.5), and you try to upgrade the packages, it could cause all sorts of problems. Also, just to make sure, you should be running on the latest -current release, not 14.1 before attempting KDE5.

It certainly isn't ready. Eric isn't building this to immediately replace KDE4. It is to start finding out what needs to be done to get it running and to keep up with releases. It also gives those Slackers who like the latest KDE something to play around with. We still have at least a year or two before KDE5 will be making its way into Slackware (per Eric's quote).

https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...ml#post5315024

Totally shocked that is available to Slackware...

Why? Eric has always been getting us the latest and greatest KDE versions to play with. Why is KDE5 an illogical move?

I've installed it twice and ran it for about 24 hours each time.

There were no problems shutting it down, but there were other minor problems and, as these are "testing" packages, that is to be expected.

My biggest objection is its appearance. It would seem there is no one on the KDE development team who is old enough to remember ms-windows 3.1. Blue bar across the top of each window, flat monochromatic icons and dull colors. Gave me flashbacks. Hang on to all of your old ties, they will, eventually, come back into style.


And, apparently, these 1930s art deco themes are the trend in mobile apps, ms-windows 10 and even OS X.... Design by committee? Lemmings to the sea?

I'm sure KDE 5.x will, when it is production ready, be a fine product "under the hood," but to use an automobile analogy, very few people buy a car based on what is under the hood. You can have a Rolls Royce engine under the bonnet (aren't they using BMW engines now?), but if the car looks like a Ford Edsel, very few will be sold.

As they say, "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder," so if the appearance of KDE 5.x floats your canoe, go for it.

I do have /etc/inittab level set to 4, so that is not the issue here.



I have a rather unique setup of Slackware. When I installed Slackware, I told it to omit the KDE series, and installed the 4.8.5 series from 14.0, then upgrade that with 4.9.5. It mostly works, the sole exception being Ark, which I replaced with Xarchiver (available from SBo). The reason I want 4.9.5 is because the screensaver engages on both my screens, and the taskbar has the look I want (I run Ultraviolet as my desktop theme).


I think the prudent approach to this would be to wait until KDE 5 is included in Slackware proper, at which time all these issues will have found satisfactory solutions.

I tried it, and naah, way to buggy and way too time-consuming for my part to troubleshoot it. I have KDE 5 in dormant state, waiting for it to become more stable. Meantime, I use Fluxbox 1.3.7

It is very easy to change the appearance in KDE

How does that come to be? The KDE in Slackware is in a stable state because people tested these packages before they went into Slackware, by downloading them from my ktown repository, and commenting on packaging flaws, and reporting bugs to kde.org.
You can't expect to update something as massive as KDE in Slackware and have it super stable at the first try.
Well, you can hope and expect, but it usually turns out that you need beta testers. Or even alpha-testers.

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In previous versions, yes, but have you really tried KDE 5.x?
Perhaps, more options will become available as it matures.

I thought the same when I first saw KDE5. And they weren't good flashbacks either

This is true. I merely stated that I have returned to a stable release of KDE until such time as alpha- & beta-testers can render quality bug reports, and which will result in future stable releases of KDE.

Looks like after the KDE4 fiasco some users are less willing to become perpetual beta testers.


Cheers

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That doesn't make the community stronger, it merely creates a community of spectators.

I'm not the brightest bulb on the tree, but I'm messing with KDE 5, trying to find solutions for the challenges I'm having...I am the weak link when it comes to knowing where to look : )

Just sayin : )

Later on Smelly!

@ivandi

Every software needs alpha testers and beta testers.
In a closed source company, the alpha testers are in house employees.
In opensource its whoever wants to test it.