Hi folks,

Apologies this enquiry is a little vague. I just updated to -current and it is running very nicely. (I always use XFCE). Sadly Okular (my go-to PDF reader) does not like the IRS online forms - it has issues with built-in scripts and seems to be too old.

I didn't realise how old the underlying KDE environment was, so it appears one way to address this might be to update to Plasma 5 via Ktown. However, a quick look at the instructions fills me with dread, having just spent a fair amount of time updating to -current and ironing out issues.

If I go ahead with the upgrade, is it likely to break most "proprietary" desktop apps in -current? (I'm thinking of Libreoffice in particular (currently installed via AlienBob's -current package), but I also use a range of data analysis and visualisation packages for my work, like R, and things like GIMP etc on a regular basis).

An indication of the time commitment involved in an upgrade to Plasma 5 from -current, would be appreciated, noting I'm pretty experienced but time limited right now.

Thanks.

I still use KDE 4. Since you're not using KDE, you'll be in good shape to install QT5. Since I run KDE 4, and many packages still require QT4, you have to keep it. QT5 will install separately and will not interfere with anything that still uses QT4, but, it will be available to packages that require it. It's a pain, but everything works.

If you use slackpkg with slackpkg+, installing Plasma5 with its dependencies will be quite painless. If you use only slackpkg, it's still not hard but it will involve locally downloading my Plasma5 package repository first.
Detailed installation/upgrade instructions can always be found in the README at https://slackware.nl/alien-kde/current/latest/README . If anything is not clear, ask me - on my blog, not here on LQ.

LibreOffice will not break, nor will most other programs, with the possible exception of those that are targeting KDE4 (but you won't find a lot of those these days).
The Plasma5 installation will not remove Qt4, it will also leave the old KDE4-based kdelibs, so base support for these older applications will still exist on your computer.

Just subscribe to my blog feed (the comments often are valuable as well) to keep yourself informed about future upgrades. Sometimes, the upgrades in slackware-current break 3rd-party programs, PLasma5 included, and it might take me a day to fix that.

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Thanks a lot for coming back on this. I'm now not convinced this will do a lot for my PDF problem (lack of XFA form support in Okular), but I will give it a shot once I've sorted my taxes out!

@AlienBob, thanks for the consistently high quality input and support to Slackware. (And please consider adding some other cryptocurrencies for donation - I'll go track down some BTC).

I've not had any trouble opening and filling out IRS forms using the version of Okular in KDE-4 (in -current).
BTW, an older version of Adobe Reader can be had via SBO, but if IIRC you will need to running a multilib or 32-bit system.

http://www.slackbuilds.org/repositor.../adobe-reader/

I have used this script a long time. To install new and to maintain my kde5. Thanks to Eric aka Alien Bob
served me well and has become much more simple as current has progressed.
make sure you have an update system.
and edit your /etc/slackpkg/blacklist so when you update it will not wipe out kde5.

Attached Files

kde5-install.txt (2.7 KB, 83 views)

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For the IRS forms try here:

https://www.freefilefillableforms.com/#/fd/gateway

everything can be done from seamonkey browser.

HTH
john

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I have been following　AlienBob's KDE5 project for more than 2 years now.
Presently there are no issues with 64 -current or with 64 -current -multilib.

I liked the theming of KDE4 and would like to have all of it back,
but KDE5 is faster, and faster is more important to me.
　

2 members found this post helpful.

Wow, thanks for the problem specific input from everyone. FYI, the IRS form in particular is the infamous 'FBAR' (of FinCEN 114), accessible here (I hope none of you has to deal with international taxation while a US tax resident, it is deeply unpleasant). Other forms (1040 etc) were fine in the past using Okular, but the FBAR appears to invoke more complex XFA scripting.

So, having followed the instructions I got KDE5 working so I will mark this is as solved, BUT, somewhere along the way, XFCE power manager has become unhappy and now does not control my screen brightness (DELL M3800 laptop) properly. In fact, it seems to be attempting to autoset the brightness which results in the screen going completely dark occasionally. However, the screen brightness *can* be controlled correctly in KDE5 without intervention. To work around the problems with XFCE I have had to rebind the brightness keys manually using xbacklight.

Couple of notes for anyone interested:
1) I had recently (two weeks ago) updated to -current (from 14.2), so I installed Qt-5, and then 'ktown', via AlienBob's instructions (here, using slackpkg+). I was not previously familiar with Slackpkg+, which requires a little configuring in /etc/slackpkg/slackpkgplus.conf.

2) I didn't encounter any major problems. I had to re-install gimp but I think pretty much everything else worked without issue.

3) Although I don't use KDE5, I tested it, and it seemed to work very nicely until the screen went blank and the computer froze. However, since I am not typically using it, I decided to just run away. This might be something to examine when I have more time.

1 members found this post helpful.

Having installed kde5 several times now, I've noticed it does try and override the Xfce settings. It might be worth launching the kde5 settings and turn off the defaults for power and your monitor. Just a thought.

KDE5 is slug on my Laptop, runs like a top on an old tower - must be video driver issues - AMD - so I run KDE 4 until things improve.

Agree about the theme/graphics.
I installed kde5, again, this morning and spent almost 5 hours trying to come up with a configuration I can live with and finally gave up and went back to Xfce. Flat colors, simplistic icons, fat borders, etc., etc., etc. If I'm going to use kde, I would much prefer the "look and feel" of kde4.
Then there is the "sand in your shoes" it leaves behind. In ~/.config there are now 63 *rc files that weren't there before. In ~./cache are 14 files of some sort. In ~./local/share there are 21 new directories/folders and in Xfce's settings/session > startup/application > autostart, there are now 16 new applications listed, all kde related.
I'll pass and just keep what is needed to fire up a few kde applications now and then.