A week of KDE4 usage

[Rafa Griman]

Hi :)

On Tue, May 10, 2011 at 1:49 AM, Alex Schuster <wonko at wonkology.org> wrote:
>
> Hi there!
>
> [Oh, this has become rather lengthy. It's a description of my various
> problems with KDE4, the details are not so important, no need to read it
> all. My question is: Are your experiences similar to mine?]


No and yes.

My experiences WERE similar (not any more :) The thing is that the
issues I had with KDE SC stability/hiccups/whatever were on a certain
distro. When I switched distro ... KDE SC was stable.

I have not had any stability issues with KDE SC on ArchLinux.
Previously I was running openSUSE, Mandriva, ... Same KDE SC versions.

With ArchLinux I have had NO issues whatsoever since KDE SC 4.2.
Stability issues that is. As you say, maybe some features are missing
... but whn I'm at work with Windows ... I also miss some features
(hell ... I miss ALL the features I have in my ArchLinux + KDE SC at
home ;)

So the thing is: have you tried another distro? Honestly, change
distros and you'll see that KDE SC isn't as bad as you think.


> I'm somewhat diesappointed with KDE4. I'm using it since 4.2, and it's
> become much much better - but still, there are just so many bugs. Is it
> just me, or it this normal? Would you suggest other people (being
> unskilled uses, not hackers) to use KDE4? What OS and desktop
> environment does your Mom's PC run?


Yes, I do suggest other people to use KDE.

OK, OK, ... ArchLinux, Debian, Gentoo, Slackware, ... are "difficult"
to use. You can't get your dad/mom/aunt/whatever to use it. TBH,
that's BS. My sister in law is running ArchLinux on an ACER ONE 800 KM
from me. She has NO idea of computers (much less Linux).

What I did was install ArchLinux with KDE SC on her netbook on the
weekend, she left on Sunday ... and hasn't had an issue in over 2
years. Just one "support call" because she changed DSL provider and
the guy that came to install the DSL didn't know Linux. She called me,
told her to start a konsole, su -, /etc/rc.d/network stop,
/etc/rc.d/network start ... WOW !! I can browse the web again !!!
That's all it took.

She listens to music, edits her own videos, edits her own music,
browses the web, watches movies, ... Oh, BTW, she's an aerobics
instructor ;)

My small sister ... same case, but with Debian. ex-girlfriend ... same
case with Gentoo (maybe that's why she's an ex-girlfriend ;)

My wife: ArchLinux + KDE SC ... I work 100 KM from home and travel a
lot. Support calls since she uses KDE SC 4.2? None ...

The trick is to setup the computer with all the stuff they need. It's
stable, it works, no virus, ... no calls :)

In the openSUSE Spanish mailing list, there have been all types of
regrets towards KDE 4 ... how many have tried KDE on another distro ?
... But people keep on ranting that it's KDE's fault. That's not true.
We all know that distros usually add some "features" to "help" you and
"make your life easier and nicer".

Honestly, try ArchLinux. It just works. Maybe you have to spend a
whole weekend installing it and configuring it. But once it's up and
running ... you never ever configure it again: it's a rolling distro
:)

And I've run ArchLinux + KDE SC with and wothout the official closed
source ATI catalyst drivers. No stability issue whether I used
catalyst or not.

I have Arch on AMD64, AMD 32 bit, Intel Atom, Intel Centrino. NVIDIA,
ATI and Intel GPUs are what these computers have. FLOSS and closed
source for NVIDIA and ATI, no stability issues.

OK, so you're not going to switch to a new distro, fair enough ...
What about your hardware? Are you sure it's stable, well configured,
... I've seen people ranting about how unstable Linux is ... the
reason was flaky hardware: cheap RAM, wrong HDD cables (specially
during the PATA timeframe), ... Check the hardware.

On the other hand, KDE SC is not perfect. We all agree with that:
Human Made ;) And yes, I do have a "wish list", but before ranting
about KDE ... maybe you should chek whether it's KDE's fault or not.
Honestly, check your hardware and try another distro ;)

MHO

    Rafa
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