[arch-general] Does anybody still have kde3 running? libpng problems preventing apps from running?

[Laurie Clark-Michalek]

On 4 March 2010 08:11, David C. Rankin <drankinatty at suddenlinkmail.com> wrote:
> On 03/03/2010 10:15 PM, Sébastien Leblanc wrote:
>> David, are you running kdemod-legacy? If not, you should try it.
>>
>> Sébastien Leblanc
>>
>
> Sebastien
>
>        Yes, I'm running kdemod3-legacy. It has been really great for a long time. (Not
> to mention I have the whole thing cached so moving it around is a breeze)
>
>        I'm using the rit repo:
>
> [kdemod-legacy]
> Server = http://mirror.rit.edu/kdemod/legacy/x86_64
>
>        When I did the install a few days ago, I was pleased to notice that some of the
> packages had been updated in the past month or two. I'll try the AUR libpng
> suggestions and see if that doesn't get kde3 back.
>
> <small break taken to go to the new box and check the libpng issue which led to
> firing up kde44 for the first time on this box>
>
> <rant on - kindly look away if you are easily offended>
>
>        And...... I just went through the initial run through of kde44 on the new
> server and it would be 'funny' if it wasn't so 'sad'. How much more lipstick are
> we going to put on that pig??
>
>        Don't get me wrong, it is a gorgeous desktop, but the basics and fundamentals
> are so F'ed up it is ridiculous. The more we struggle with it, the more I am
> convinced that it is a fundamental flaw in the widget set that kde4 is built on
> that is the inherent cause of a large part of the usability problems. (that and
> -- kde4 is so far behind that they are just throwing code together so the
> milestone check-boxes can be checked off regardless of result.) I don't think
> the devs have adequate fine-grained control over the polymorphized
> mutiply-inherited widget set kde4 is built on to be able to fix much of what is
> wrong with the desktop.
>
>        Case in point, I go to add fonts which requires the root password for system
> wide font install, but the "[ ] remember for this session" check box is missing
> so you have to enter the root password for every single font you selected. Damn
> glad I only selected about 30 to add... How does something like that disappear.
> It probably went to the same place the color setting controls went for the
> system monitor cpu, network, etc... plasmoids. Off in La,La land somewhere...
>
>        Then there is whatever konqueror has now become. I can use it, in fact I even
> like it, but it is so frustrating to work with you just want to scream. Simple
> crap like it remembering the size of the columns you have set, but it can't even
> get that right. I mean go adjust view properties add owner, group and
> permissions, then size the columns so you have a reasonable file name field
> width and a tidy width for the remaining columns so you have no horizontal
> scroll at the bottom. Then go settings -> configure konqueror, choose any
> setting and click "Apply", the columns automagically resize them selves every
> time. What is this some dime-store gui framework that can't do simple stuff like
> remember column sizes? That never happened in kde3.
>
>        Then there is the complete lack of logical layout for any of the controls on a
> majority of the dialogs. Wasted space everywhere. Go right click the desktop,
> click activity settings to change the wallpaper and look at all the wasted space
> those three silly controls take up at the top of the wallpaper thumbnail list
> and that huge amount of space that monitor icon takes up on the right side.
>
>        At the very least, those controls should be on the right-side under the little
> monitor icon that takes up a quarter of the dialog width so you could have the
> thumbnail list extend to the top of the dialog showing 2-3 more thumbnails with
> each scroll.
>
>        Then there is the scrolling itself, kde4 can't even figure out how to scroll an
> even "page up/page down" (or list up/list down) without something getting stuck
> 1/2 in and 1/2 out of the viewing area or skipping 2-3 items altogether -- and
> we have been dealing with these same problems since June 4, 2008 with the
> "Official" release of 4.0.4!
>
>        But, it is a damn good looking desktop :p
>
> </rant off> I feel better now.... I just don't see any light at the end of the
> tunnel? I certainly thought that by the 4.4 release, all of this beta and .0
> (dot zero) type stuff would be gone. At this rate, I could see many of the same
> frustrations being dealt with in 2012. And if it isn't fixed before the Mayan
> calendar runs out.. who knows :p Oh well, que sara.... flux, xfce, openbox,
> windowmaker, gnome, etc.. all still do a fine job and they do it without any
> scrolling problems....
>
>
>
> --
> David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E.
> Rankin Law Firm, PLLC
> 510 Ochiltree Street
> Nacogdoches, Texas 75961
> Telephone: (936) 715-9333
> Facsimile: (936) 715-9339
> www.rankinlawfirm.com
>

Well I like it :) This is sure to get one of us told off for not
keeping it relatively on topic, but hey, everyone's got to have fun
some time.

There are problems. The biggest for me is that after setting your
wallpaper, and pressing apply, the OK button then reapplies the
wallpaper. Not life threatening. Yet I'm seriously considering
browsing the kde sources, finding the widget in question and fixing
it. However I understand this is not for everyone. It is undeniable
that there are moments when trying out new applications, and you get
the WTFBBQ feeling at something. Try scrolling in the web browser
widget in Amarok...

However, on your comment about 'What is this some dime-store gui
framework that can't do simple stuff like remember column sizes?',
having worked with QT I can tell you, that isn't implemented by the
framework, the application developer needs to put the value into
QSettings on the application quit, and reload it on start. While that
point and rebuttal is rather childish and silly, the principal is, KDE
4 isn't perfect. The version of KDE 3 you are using is the last, and
thus I imagine in many ways, it is perfect. Everything works, and it
is stable software. The first version of KDE 3 was released in 2002,
and the last in 2008. That's 6 years. KDE 4.0 was released in January
2008, so get back to me in 2014, and tell me what your opinion of the
latest release of KDE 4 is like. They'll probably have fixed the
column width problem XD

Thanks

Laurie