Just like many others, I have problems with KDE4.2 - it crashes far too
often.
So I tried a bit of xfce, fluxbox and some other desktops, and found
that I
could even use Kontact in eg xfce. Now my questions is: why bother with
KDE4.2?

Just what _does_ one miss out on (more than eye candy) by using one of
the other
desktops?

I should add that I do not dislike KDE4 - KDE4.3 runs quite well, thank
you very
much; but that is not part of Slackware yet.

On Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:58:43 -0400, Occam <oc... at (no spam) internode.razoron.net>  
wrote:

Just like many others, I have problems with KDE4.2 - it crashes far too  
often.
So I tried a bit of xfce, fluxbox and some other desktops, and found  
that I
could even use Kontact in eg xfce.  Now my questions is: why bother with  
KDE4.2?

KDE is a suite of programs just like most Desktop Environments. You don't  
have to run all the programs to use just one of them. KDE does have some  
nice features. I haven't tried XFCE or any of the others recently (I used  
CWM on OpenBSD), so I wouldn't know how they compare. Some things I use in  
KDE on a regular basis:

1) Auto recognition of mountable devices
2) Time keeper for tracking hours worked.
3) GPG Gui tools.
4) File Manager
5) Okular
6) The Organizer
7) Amarok
And the System settings.
9) Terminal

Of course, I use the KDE shell to good effect. I have the file indexing  
disabled, as it consumes too much memory for me. I use Opera as my  
Internet Suite and Acme as my Text Editor, so KDE doesn't come into play  
there. I use SCIM and Wicd. The power management seems to work well, and  
the GUI management tools are nice. I haven't had an use for the Desktop  
Widgets yet, but I have used such things in the past, so who knows?

Just what _does_ one miss out on (more than eye candy) by using one of  
the other
desktops?

Don't underrate eye candy. Sometimes I really do want eye candy.

I should add that I do not dislike KDE4 - KDE4.3 runs quite well, thank  
you very
much; but that is not part of Slackware yet.

If you like KDE, you might want to actually figure out what is causing the  
crashes. If you can isolate and eliminate the single cause of these  
frequent crashes, there is no reason to move to a whole different  
environment which you may not like. For me, the source of trouble was the  
file indexing. Maybe that's your problem too, but maybe not.

All in all, most of the complaints I see against KDE are unjustified rants  
or simply demonstrate a strong level of ignorance about how a Desktop  
system is composed on Linux. I must admit to some shock in this regard,  
because this is Slackware, people are supposed to at least gain a somewhat  
intuitive sense of what is happening with the computer, even if they don't  
have to bother with the underpinnings all the time.

        Aaron W. Hsu

Unjustified, my ass! KDE 4.2 is a disgrace.

I'd appreciate your explaining how file indexing slows down KDE and
how you disabled it.

All in all, most of the complaints I see against KDE are unjustified rants
or simply demonstrate a strong level of ignorance about how a Desktop
system is composed on Linux. I must admit to some shock in this regard,
because this is Slackware, people are supposed to at least gain a somewhat
intuitive sense of what is happening with the computer, even if they don't
have to bother with the underpinnings all the time.

To what purpose has KDE changed almost everything? What are the
benefits gained? I see not a single one. I've spent more time
googling for solutions for correcting the ludicrous changes now in KDE
reconfiguring it than I spend customizing Slackware. It's beyond
absurd.

I'd appreciate your explaining how file indexing slows down KDE and
how you disabled it. I certainly don't know and am a bit pissed I
even need to. One of my main reasons for my abandoning KDE is the
blatant speed hit from using it. I can plainly see how much slower
the cursor moves across the screen when using apps like slrn or emacs
in konsole. It is not insignificant.

There can be no doubt KDE has some very good programs. I live in
konsole and consider k3b brilliant. The desktop, OTOH, is quite
another thing. I'll definitely be looking for app replacements if I
have to suffer that trainwreck.

On Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:58:43 -0400, Occam <occam at (no spam) internode.razoron.net
wrote:

Just like many others, I have problems with KDE4.2 - it crashes far too
often.
So I tried a bit of xfce, fluxbox and some other desktops, and found
that I
could even use Kontact in eg xfce. Now my questions is: why bother with
KDE4.2?

KDE is a suite of programs just like most Desktop Environments. You don't
have to run all the programs to use just one of them. KDE does have some
nice features. I haven't tried XFCE or any of the others recently (I used
CWM on OpenBSD), so I wouldn't know how they compare. Some things I use in
KDE on a regular basis:

1) Auto recognition of mountable devices
2) Time keeper for tracking hours worked.
3) GPG Gui tools.
4) File Manager
5) Okular
6) The Organizer
7) Amarok
And the System settings.
9) Terminal

Of course, I use the KDE shell to good effect. I have the file indexing
disabled, as it consumes too much memory for me. I use Opera as my
Internet Suite and Acme as my Text Editor, so KDE doesn't come into play
there. I use SCIM and Wicd. The power management seems to work well, and
the GUI management tools are nice. I haven't had an use for the Desktop
Widgets yet, but I have used such things in the past, so who knows?

Just what _does_ one miss out on (more than eye candy) by using one of
the other
desktops?

Don't underrate eye candy. Sometimes I really do want eye candy.

I should add that I do not dislike KDE4 - KDE4.3 runs quite well, thank
you very
much; but that is not part of Slackware yet.

If you like KDE, you might want to actually figure out what is causing the
crashes. If you can isolate and eliminate the single cause of these
frequent crashes, there is no reason to move to a whole different
environment which you may not like. For me, the source of trouble was the
file indexing. Maybe that's your problem too, but maybe not.

On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:21:07 GMT, notbob wrote:

Unjustified, my ass! KDE 4.2 is a disgrace.

KDE 4.3.1 is much better. Almost as good as kde 3.5. That assumes you
have a 2GHz cpu. :(


I'd appreciate your explaining how file indexing slows down KDE and how
you disabled it.

I get into the kde control center under Advanced User Settings -
Service Manager and proceed to disable just about everything.

Under kde 4.3.1, we now have 2 "search Features/services" I disabled
both Desktop Search and Akonadi.

Wouldn't it have just been easier to use Xfce to start with?

On 2009-10-01, Mike Jones <Not at (no spam) Arizona.Bay> wrote:

Wouldn't it have just been easier to use Xfce to start with? ;)

I don't recall the exact slack/xfce rev, but I do remember it was a
major rev jump for xfce (4.2->4.4?). I had actually been using xfce on
the previous slack incarnation and liked it, but the the new uprev of
xfce was just like this current uprev of kde from 3.5->4.2. Too many
changes for nothing more than change's sake, the same game Winblows and
now kde have been playing. I couldn't find anything, most of the menus
having changed look and feel, but not really function, forcing me to
relearn what I'd already known. I hate that!

I don't say a wm should remain exactly the same forever, becoming
stagnant and even dowdy, but when it forces me to start upgrading
hardware for no particular gain or relearn what I already knew, I dig in
my heels. I'm not one to buy new hardware cuz it's bright, new, and
shiny. I don't buy a car to define my person. To me it's just a tool
and an old screwdriver works just as well as a new screwdriver, provided
I haven't screwed it up. I was happy with kde's past improvements, but
this time they've gone too far. To paraphrase an old Tom Petty song,
stop dragging my computer down. ;)

nb

I take your point, but I'm not sure I understand what your problem was
with Xfce? I've found it to be a steady and rational improvement through
its development. No dramatic changes, a few tweaks here and there, as
you'd expect when a better way of doing something is sorted out, but no
real upheavals.

Also, I've found Xfce to be seductively easy to flick around and get how
I want it on a fresh install. To me it just keeps getting better.

Mind you, there is no substitute for just dropping your backed up configs
into IceWM and it all just working (maybe with a quick live restart).

it
changed icons, menus, and function locations within menus. IOW, just
a cosmetic thing

I bet he's fun to party with, though.

How can you improve if you don't allow for learning new things?

It's just wasting my valuble time.