KDE Goes Cross-Platform, Supports Windows and OS X 513
klblastone writes "The KDE desktop environment is going cross-platform with support for the Windows and Mac OS X operating systems. In addition to porting the core KDE libraries and applications, developers are also porting popular KDE-based software like the Amarok audio player and the KOffice productivity suite. New KDE binaries for Windows were released yesterday and are now available from KDE mirrors through an automated installer program. The Mac OS X port is made available via BitTorrent in universal binary format."
I want to like this (Score:3, Insightful)
Vista (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:I want to like this (Score:3, Insightful)
You're saying you want up to date and new stuff, but don't want to accept the instability that results from things being so new/untested/undeveloped. Its one or the other
I think KDE for windows is a nice way to break people away if the full shell can be used. I think if people did that, you might have a new breed of windows user: KDE shell under windows XP, never to upgrade their XP any further, and probably running linux under virtualization and windows for non-linux gaming.
How long do you think KDE 4 will take? From what I've read in many places people seem to be in a state of euphoria with how efficiently it runs for how it looks, etc.
Re:I want to like this (Score:5, Insightful)
Point? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:So will this ... (Score:4, Insightful)
This is good... (Score:5, Insightful)
Over time, people will see that they can run the same thing on a VASTLY less expensive computer. Get people comfortable with how it functions, show them how cheap it is by comparison, increase marketshare.
I guess I probably should have added inserted a step three in there before the increase maketshare as ??? to follow
Re:So will this ... (Score:5, Insightful)
And while I'm at it, where's my window shading and sloppy focus too?
Re:Great (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Point? Diversity. (Score:4, Insightful)
Mac developers can design shinier interfaces than anyone else, but too often they gloss over core functionality and/or remain closed-source. It's valuable to have apps designed from the opposite perspective available as well.
Re:Two interesting perspectives (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:For Redundant, See Redundant (Score:5, Insightful)
The "K Desktop Environment" abbreivated "KDE" is the full name of the project. Its not a project called "K". And KDE is a desktop environment, so the KDE desktop environment while somewhat 'redundant' if you expand the acronym, is perfectly acceptable: "The 'K Desktop Environment' desktop environment has been ported to..."
The same sort of thing applies to, say, DOS, OS/2, or BeOS. Where it is perfectly acceptable to say "The DOS operating system...", "The OS/2 operating system...", "The BeOS operating system...".
Do you ask if someone's PC has an AGP port? I've never ever heard anyone say, "Do you have an AGP?" Or maybe you say "AGP slot" which is still redudnant: As in "Do you have an accelerated graphics port slot"?
Do you take offense if someone refers to the the perl language? The POP, PPP, TCP/IP, or PPTP protocols? And I can only imagine how you must burn right up when told to enter your SIN number.
Microsoft: be afraid, be very afraid... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Now Windows and Mac users can enjoy... (Score:5, Insightful)
Dial-up, no CD recorder, or winhardware (Score:5, Insightful)
Step two: have your dial-up ISP hang up on you before the download completes, or not have any way to boot the ISO to install it. High-speed Internet access (and Ethernet cards to enable it) and CD recorders were not universal on machines sold in the Windows 98 era. Workaround: Buy a copy of Kubuntu on CD.
Step three: You downloaded or bought the wrong CD. Many PCs from the Windows 98 era had 128 MB of RAM, but the Kubuntu live CD needs about twice that. Instead, you will need the alternate installer CD. But by this time, you might as well use Xubuntu instead.
Step four: Have the CD fail to recognize at least one of sound, networking, and printing. Many older video cards have decent Free 2D drivers in X.Org, but winmodems and winprinters were unfortunately common in that era.
Re:So will this ... (Score:3, Insightful)
At this time 20 years ago we finally got OS/2 1.0. No GUI at all in that version.
Re:I want to like this (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Can it replace Explorer? (Score:3, Insightful)
And where is it, I wonder, that you are routinely typing path information?
Between the goofy directory structure and the absence of meaningful $PATH (hello Program \Files and shortcuts!), pointing out a feature that's not a feature merits a "LOL" moderation.
Re:So will this ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually, it was added in winXP. But it wasn't particularly good, and some of us can't use XP for various reasons.
No, various X windows systems have supported multiple desktops for a lot longer than that. CDE has supported multiple desktops (at least in Solaris) for many years - and done it with the best multi-desktop controls I've seen so far. KDE and GNOME have both done it for quite some time as well. Considering XP came out October 2001, and the powertoys sometime after, I don't think one could reasonably claim that microsoft has had it as long as linux.
If you find it useless, then don't use it. But don't try to tell the rest of us that it isn't useful. Many of us find it to be very beneficial. I suspect it comes down to how one tends to organize things in your own mind.
Re:Dial-up, no CD recorder, or winhardware (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Point? Diversity. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Now Windows and Mac users can enjoy... (Score:1, Insightful)
I would love to see context menus in Windoze. Sometimes it copies the file. Sometimes it moves the file. Sometimes it creates a link (shortcut) to the file. Depends on whether it is a Network share, different device, if it is between 0615 and 1320 on Mondays, Thursdays, or the 14th of each month.
I never use drag and drop in Windozes for that very reason.
Re:So will this ... (Score:3, Insightful)
1. focus follows mouse
2. Clicking in a window DID NOT RAISE IT!!!! You clicked in the title bar to raise it.
#2 is the real killer and why overlapping windows worked 20 years ago and don't work now. And it is not just Windows, all the X desktops and OS/X have this foul behavior. A few people seem to remember how good focus follows mouse is, but the ability to click and do something in a window behind the current one appears to be forgotten by everybody...
Until I can write a program that can assumme that the user can click without raising the window, I do consider the current systems to be behind what we had 20 years ago. So yes the GP is correct.
And before you say "oh but that is not user friendly", get your head out of the sand and realize: the program can *raise itself* after it decides whether or not the mouse click is one that can raise it! If you can't figure that out, you have no business trying to argue about anything here.
Re:Dial-up, no CD recorder, or winhardware (Score:3, Insightful)
I wanted to try out a distro (opensuse 10, I think) on a 300MHz PII, 128MB. I downloaded it and burnt it. Minimum requirements was 400MHz. Luckily, I had broadband so it wasn't so bad.
On my other machines, I usually just install Debian base(just cli) then use apt to get everything else. Why don't all distros have you select the packages that you want installed. I hate when Windows installs useless programs, and I hate when Linux does it too.
Re:Dial-up, no CD recorder, or winhardware (Score:4, Insightful)
A 440BX board or better, a PII or III, as much memory as ya can fit, a Soundblaster card, a 3Com or Intel NIC, a US Robotics external modem if you are on dialup, and an HP LaserJet for basic printing.
Well-supported, good hardware that's available in thrift stores, dumpsters, etc. Remember that you can build machines out of junk, and there is plenty of good junk.
Sure, plenty of us have money for better, but many of us don't and they needn't suffer much for it.
Re:Dial-up, no CD recorder, or winhardware (Score:4, Insightful)
Well, from the poster's comments.....I gathered he was probably in the US. You're generally not going to be in the US posting on /. on less than $349/mo.
That being said....I do myself like to recycle older hardware, but, you gotta go for what will work on them. You don't use a brand new version of ubuntu or RH or whatever on old hardware....you have to install basic linux...roll your kernel to min of what you need....and go for lower end window manager, etc if you want gui.
I mean....win 95 wasn't exactly the resource hog that modern versions of MS windows are.
One big problem is his using dial up.....but, it can be done. My first linux install was on an old box in about 1994 or so....I did slackware...downloaded for weeks to get all the parts on floppy....and I installed it. It can be done....
Re:So will this ... (Score:3, Insightful)
The app worth having on OSX (Score:3, Insightful)
I don't know what people are smoking who praise iTunes for being "great". I can only imagine they have lower expectations than I have and/or have never used something better. Personally I find iTunes a complete annoyance and a really shitty media player. It lacks real library management (such as automagically detecting new files, file movement, duplicates with different file names), it doesn't display ID3 tags properly and truncates long titles, it doesn't have advanced search apart from intelligent folders, it cannot sort results by filename and sorting by album also doesn't work properly, it lacks cover management if you're unwilling to make business with CC companies or FraudPal, it has no lyrics support, no wikipedia support for artist info, and generally performs like a pig.
I have several hundred CD's and ripped them all to MP3s over the years, resulting in a 60 GB library which loads instantly in Amarok on a PIII-800, but takes almost 30 seconds to load in iTunes at 100% CPU usage on my G4 1,25 GHz. Handling those in iTunes is virtually impossible, handling them in Amarok is a breeze.
The public opinion on this is a different one, I know, but I for one can't wait to get Amarok on my Mac. iTunes is a cunt, and a smelly one at that. Amarok, OTOH, is one of the best OSS applications I've seen in the last years.