[kde-linux] In KDE4, to set a different background for each of the multiple desktops

[Stan Goodman]

At 23:52:15 on Wednesday Wednesday 23 December 2009, Dale 
<rdalek1967 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Stan Goodman wrote:
> > At 23:08:36 on Wednesday Wednesday 23 December 2009, Dale
> >
> > <rdalek1967 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> Felix Miata wrote:
> >>> On 2009/12/23 14:45 (GMT-0500) James Loughner composed:
> >>>> Stan Goodman wrote:
> >>>>> Right you are. I will continue to examine that facility, which I
> >>>>> currently regard as useless FOR ME.
> >>>>
> >>>> LOL It is useless to you because you have not yet seen the light.
> >>>
> >>> As many won't, since it's hidden in an unintuitive maze.
> >>>
> >>>> After all who needs microwave ovens or cell phones??
> >>>
> >>> If you want the healthiest possible cooked food, you don't cook it
> >>> in a microwave oven.
> >>>
> >>> There is no cell service where I live, while where I live has
> >>> everything else I need. Plus, I prefer wires, so that less radiated
> >>> energy has an opportunity to invade my body uninvited.
> >>>
> >>> KDE3 was, and remains, to many, the 2nd best desktop environment,
> >>> trailing only IBM's WPS. Calling KDE4 KDE at all, at least through
> >>> the latest GM release, is little short of an abomination to a _lot_
> >>> of experienced KDE3 users.
> >>>
> >>> It's hard to believe the amount of mailing list traffic just this
> >>> one single subject has generated across the panoply of KDE4
> >>> incarnations in the popular distros including it in place of KDE3.
> >>
> >> While I like some of KDE 4, if I could just stick with KDE 3, I
> >> would do just that.  KDE 3 works for me and I am already used to
> >> using it as well.  KDE 4 doesn't, at least not yet.
> >>
> >> I think KDE 4 should have been something different too.  KDE 3
> >> should have been maintained longer EVEN IF KDE 4 was going to
> >> replace KDE 3. People on the Gentoo lists mentioned the same thing. 
> >> It's not a drop in replacement or a upgrade.  It's a whole new
> >> thing.  It's not a "new" thing like M$ claims theirs to be either. 
> >> Their new thing sucks with a new shine on the front.  lol
> >>
> >> I sincerely hope KDE does a better job with KDE 5.  I have read
> >> where several people have switched away form KDE because of the way
> >> this was done.  KDE 3 was dropped before KDE 4 was even off to a
> >> good stable start.  At least that is my opinion anyway.  For me, KDE
> >> 4 is still not ready.
> >>
> >> Dale
> >
> > The excuse is that KDE doesn't have the resources to both maintain
> > KDE3 and develop KDE4. That's a copout. Normal people, faced with
> > such an artificial dilemma, would conclude that the development has
> > to be sacrificed, or continued on a back burner, to avoid the
> > inevitable result of pulling the rug out from under users, with no
> > real replacement available.
> >
> > The reason a different decision was made is that the development
> > team, in a terminal case of hubris, took the attitude that they work
> > for nothing, and therefore are in a position to enjoy their hobby
> > with no thought of what people want. Their attitude is wrong because
> > they have, by dint of having produced an excellent desktop (KDE3)
> > achieved a dominant position in the Linux desktop market, and then
> > betrayed their users who, it turns out, DO have an alternative.
> >
> > And no, forcing "The Future" on people who are content with dealing
> > with the present and letting The Future arrive at its own pace is not
> > what anybody anticipated or will tolerate, even for cool stuff.
> >
> > And it isn't as if KDE3 would not have profited from some work. If
> > they felt underemployed, they might have, as others have suggested,
> > taken a good look at the OS/2 Workplace.
>
> I think they should have looked at it this was as well.  If you own a
> business that depends on a stable KDE desktop, where are you now?  KDE
> 3 is not supported by KDE anymore.  KDE 4 is still a work in progress
> and for me at least, isn't usable yet.  So, if I had a business and
> needed a dependable desktop, I'd be looking for something else, not
> KDE.
>
> I'm a Gentoo user and since KDE dropped KDE 3, they are dropping it as
> well.  It is being moved over to layman but it is no longer supported
> by the Gentoo devs.  Some packages are already being removed because of
> a security bug or they no longer compile.
>
> So the choices are, keep a unsupported KDE 3 around or a somewhat
> unusable KDE 4 or switch to something else.  This makes Gnome, Fluxbox
> and some other DMs start to look better when faces with those options.
> Nothing is perfect but I am sure this could have been handled a lot
> better.  It's not like KDE was born yesterday.
>
> Dale

Interesting to speculate on what the major distros will do in the short 
term, and  what Novell will do about its enterprise product. As for KDE, 
this may be a wakeup call with even a wider meaning -- they anyway need 
to think about the need to ride herd (gently, of course) on the 
activities (Uh! that word) of developers who think anything they turn out 
is acceptable.


-- 
Stan Goodman
Qiryat Tiv'on
Israel