KDE 4.5 Released 302
An anonymous reader writes "KDE 4.5.0 has been released to the world. See the release announcement for details. Highlights include a Webkit browser rendering option for Konqueror, a new caching mechanism for a faster experience and a re-worked notification system. Another new feature is Perl bindings, in addition to Python, Ruby and JavaScript support. The Phonon multimedia library now integrates with PulseAudio. See this interview with KDE developer and spokesperson Sebastian Kugler on how KDE can continue to be innovative in the KDE4 age. Packages should be available for most Linux distributions in the coming days. More than 16000 bug fixes were committed since 4.4."
Re:hmmm (Score:2, Informative)
Fuck KDE. Seriously, who wants a desktop with a smelly foot on it?
smelly foot = Gnome
Re:W00t (Score:3, Informative)
Re:W00t (Score:2, Informative)
I don't even know what the audio subsystem is called because its never been an issue, Ive never had to tinker with it. Hell, for the past 5 years I haven't even needed to install drivers and its still produced beautiful sound.
Yeah, that's been my experience with GNU/Linux as well.
Re:W00t (Score:3, Informative)
Re:W00t (Score:3, Informative)
In general, I would rather that developers keep obscure options available, (with sane defaults, and under an "Advanced" tab or similar) than remove them in case idiots play with them. If you don't agree with me, you're welcome to use Gnome, which has a tendency towards removing potentially confusing things, or indeed to buy a Mac, but it's not really fair to criticise KDE for allowing power users to mess with stuff if that's what they want to do, since an awful lot of KDE users like the configurability, and the rest just avoid clicking "Advanced >>".
Also, the Phonon KCM provides useful features other than backend selection, such as specifying priority of audio devices ("use my USB headset if it's plugged in, otherwise use my sound card").
Re:Bug fixed (Score:4, Informative)
KDE Code quality is high and they have a KDE review board [kde.org]
Re:W00t (Score:2, Informative)
I have never needed to tinker with my audio for the last 8 years with Linux.
I've had a Pentium 2, an AMD 2800 and currently a Phenome 9950 X4. My Eee PC 900 (Celeron version) was also just working. An Pentium Dual Core Dell office pc and a Dell Precision with a Core 2 Duo...
Audio problems? Linux? I know some Alsa drivers are truly crappy. So crappy and buggy that PulseAudio doesn't work. But PulseAudio never failed me, except once with that Dell Precision for the first two Ubuntu releases that shipped PulseAudio but after that the driver got fixed.
I have been not installing drivers for all my computers in 8 years with Linux.
I suggest you always do your homework before you buy your new computer, instead of afterwards. Saves you a whooooooooole lot of trouble.
Re:W00t (Score:5, Informative)
I think you will find that pulseaudio is able to quite a lot more than just play sounds. E.g, you can have one program play in your speakers and another in your usb headphones. The mainstay of the discussion is whether anyone needs this, and whether pulseaudio is bugfree enough for everyday use. The bit you mention has been solved by ALSA for a long time now.
Does it still require you to install a RDBMS? (Score:4, Informative)
I hopped off the KDE4 train at 4.2 when Akonadi required MySQL as a dependency. IIRC, it can now use PostgreSQL as well, but the point stands: Why do I need a RDBMS to run a desktop?
Re:W00t (Score:3, Informative)
Frankly, not supporting PA well has been the most ridiculous shortcoming in KDE (after networkmanager).
I am puzzled at what this networkmanager problem you state is/was? been using kde since 2002 and networkmanager has been around at least five years plus on my fedora system.
In regards to kde and PA, ever since PA graced it's ugly head some years ago (fedora users are always first for every new system, yay for bugs) it's been no more buggy than under other window managers.
Professionals use jack for their whole sound system anyway.
Re:KDE is great (Score:3, Informative)
I agree Kubuntu is a mess, I installed it recently to try KDE 4.4 and was completely turned off it. Mandriva seem to get KDE right. But I'm still not coming back, not just yet.
I really liked KDE 3.5. KDE 4 turned me off Linux desktops completely - I'm now a Mac user. It'll be years before KDE regains the users lost due to early KDE 4 versions.
Re:notifications (Score:3, Informative)
"but i hope they will fix that in later releases."
This is basically now the KDE mantra.
I remember when I used to be excited by new KDE releases. Now I just greet every new one with a sense of dread at what they've broken this time.
Re:Why do I need KDE? (Score:5, Informative)
Because for every one of you, there are 10 (or more) folks that are not techy's and appreciate the richer UI.
You can probably get by w/ e16/fvwm/fluxbox, and be extremely productive. Users who have used Win32 will appreciate a similar UI to help them ease into the power of a linux desktop.
KDE is more than just a desktop Environment, it's a whole programming library and philosophy that unifies a family of applications, so they can interoperate, exchange data, and work together as well as you do.
Re:Konqueror and Webkit? (Score:3, Informative)
It's not KHTML by another name, it is a fork of KHTML.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KHTML [wikipedia.org]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebKit [wikipedia.org]
Webkit has had Apple developing for it in the 8 or 9 years since they created it. It also has a much larger userbase than KHTML since it is used as the basis for Safari, Chrome and many mobile browsers (notably those on Symbian and Android, and of course iOS).
Re:W00t (Score:1, Informative)
1) That option IS in gnome (in gstreamer-properties )
2) Even with that option, gnome (by default on ubuntu at least), is "use PulseAudio or no sound* for you" (I don't remember exactly, but I think the "fix" is to remove libpulse-mainloop-glib0, and install a SDL version that supports alsa/oss/whatever you are using to replace pulseaudio ).
3) The KDE audio backend option is a godsend if you use wine (I had problems with (no) sound in games when using PulseAudio that went away by disabling it)
Note: I actually like pulseaudio, but (in my case) until wine starts to work with/around pulseaudio and/or viceversa, or until mayor distros start packaging osspd ( http://sourceforge.net/projects/osspd ), pluggable audio backends are a good idea. And (probably) will still be a good idea for people that uses OSSv4.
Re:This is odd (Score:3, Informative)
How do you measure RAM usage? not with top, I hope... Because most of the plasma memory is in fact the pixmaps which are counted thrice (once for the app, once for the xserver, and an extra time in the videocard for the double-buffering)
See, plasma runs on phones [slideshare.net], so clearly it is not that heavy (not that phones are not pretty powerful these days, but still)...
Re:Why do I need KDE? (Score:3, Informative)
In your case, it sounds like a solution in search of a problem. You seem quite able to do your own thing and having to do similar things in KDE's framework might prove to be a stumbling block for your workflow.
That said, for a lot of people who might not be so technical inclined, the KDE desktop *becomes* linux. Sure, in reality, it's just a desktop manager, but for those who choose to avoid digging deeper, KDE for all purposes becomes a metaphor for linux itself. For other people like me (mind you, I'm an OSX user), I don't shy from console work, but I do enjoy the benefits of working with a well designed user interface as it makes my life easier (kind of like using an IDE to write code instead of using vim or a barebones text editor).
The funny thing ... I used to love KDE back in the day. I rode the KDE wave from version 2 to 3.5 and I grew to love tools like Kate and Quanta. I loved all the different settings and figured once I got around to C++, I'd be making code contributions. A year ago, I tried a couple of live CDs and I found myself really liking GNOME over KDE (this was when KDE 4.1 was just released) which gave me a kick. In my absence, I realized I had grown tired of tinkering with a UI and wanted something that just got out of my way. While I have some issues with GNOME, I found it to be pleasant drive around the Linux block. Each to their own, I guess.
Re:W00t (Score:5, Informative)
Sorry State of Sound in Linux. [blogspot.com]
He wrote an update in 2009. [blogspot.com]
He pretty much hits the nail on the head with every single problem I've had with Linux audi.
Re:A Gnome user that wants to give this a try... (Score:2, Informative)
openSUSE
Re:A Gnome user that wants to give this a try... (Score:3, Informative)
Ubuntu gives a lot of love and care to its Gnome configuration, as well as adding their own addons. Kubuntu ships something closer to vanilla KDE, and there have been a few releases which have been a bit broken in the past. That said, I'm using Kubuntu currently, and I rather like it.
So, to GP: Why don't you just "sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop" on your current Ubuntu installation, switch GDM to log you into KDE, and explore a bit? You should be able to remove kubuntu-desktop and the unwanted KDE packages afterward. If that doesn't satisfy, then go ahead and play with a more KDE-focused distro.
Re:Does it still require you to install a RDBMS? (Score:2, Informative)
http://techbase.kde.org/Projects/PIM/Akonadi#Where_does_Akonadi_store_my_data.3F [kde.org]
Where does Akonadi store my data?
Akonadi merely acts as a cache for your data, the actual content stays where it has always been, .ics/.vcf/MBOX files, local maildirs, IMAP- and groupware servers. There is only a limited amount of data stored exclusively in Akonadi:
* Data not supported by the corresponding backends, such as email flags in case of maildir/mbox. This is comparable to KMail's binary index files stored alongside these files in pre-Akonadi times.
* Internal meta-data used by application or resources, such as information about the last synchronization with a backend or translated folder names.
* Data that has been changed while the corresponding backend has been offline and has not yet been uploaded.
Re:Coolest feature yet... (Score:3, Informative)
Maybe you're even more impressed if I tell you that the stars in the background aren't random stars. They show the positions of the real stars. So if you look above the earth's north pole you can spot the big dipper and polaris.
Perl Bindings (Score:3, Informative)
It's very nice the Perl bindings were updated and are now included in KDE. :)
It makes me itch to start playing with KDE again.