Introducing KDE3

By Jay Fougere
Contributing Writer
Article Date: 04.03.02


Most of the people I know use Windows. Let's face it, you have to buy Windows if you want to buy a complete, assembled computer from almost any retailer (yes, I know there are exceptions, but they are few and far between and most won't be local).

I have tried to get many of these people to try Linux, mostly to no avail. I keep hearing the same excuses. Linux is hard to install. Linux is all command-line. Linux is used by hackers and thus, illegal (yes, I have heard that... apparently the Microsoft FUD machine is working just fine). Linux is hard to use (because only hackers use it.... bla, bla, bla). The worst part about most of these myths is that they are blatantly untrue. The only excuse that I have ever heard, that has some merit, is that some Windows application or another does not work on Linux. This one isn't even entirely true, but I won't bore you with a long list of solutions that you probably already know about.

What I am leading up to is this. KDE3 rocks! It is probably the most intuitive interface that I have seen on a computer. Notice; I did not say "computer running Linux" or "non-Microsoft operating system," but rather any computer. The fonts are aliased, the icons have drop shadows, the "help" system contains *tons* of documentation and is actually helpful (unlike other "help" systems that you may be familiar with...), and the entire environment is completely configurable.

Now, that is just my opinion. I decided to try and persuade a Windows user to take KDE3 out for a spin to see what the reaction would be. My test subject ended up being none other than iEntry's own Peter Thiruselvam (who also supplied me with most of my list of urban myths about Linux). After test driving a brand new install of KDE3 (brand new as in I hadn't even set up the desktop background, colors, fonts, etc.... yet) Peter, the Editor in Chief here at iEntry, had the following to say. Keep in mind, this is Pete's first experience with Linux.

"I slid into the "Captain's" chair as my friend, Jay Fougere, invited me to play with his latest install of KDE3. Being a diehard Microsoft user, I was expecting to write into the command prompt. Surprisingly, I encountered a very pleasing interface...much better than Windows. I say this because I had a lot more options to configure the system than I would with Windows. In fact, I prefer this version of KDE to any of the Windows desktops. Furthermore, the browser window was no slouch either. It too, has pleasing colors and animations, is quick to download the page and is just as sophisticated as the later versions of IE. The learning curve was almost nonexistent except for the extra features....I can understand why Microsoft is concerned. My hat is off to Linux and its faithful followers!!

-Pete Thiruselvam, iEntry.com Editor-in-Chief"

In fact, Pete was so impressed with KDE3 that we are going to set up his machine here in the office as a dual boot machine (Note: you have to wean Windows users from their beloved Windows, you can't just take Windows away from them- they get angry!).

My test platform was my main machine at home. However, because I use removable drive racks, it can (and does) run several operating systems. The reason that I use this machine is that it has by far the most processing power of all of the machines in my house. I needed all the processing power I could get because I would be building KDE3 from source (and I wanted to be done before KDE4 is released! hehehe).

My OS of choice (this week) is Slackware Linux 8.0. I intentionally avoided the RedHat based distributions for this project because they tend to spread KDE files around into several directories rather than place all of the installation into a single directory. I find it much easier to install KDE into a single directory and you are much less likely to make mistakes. I am currently in the process of setting up a Debian Woody machine in much the same manner.

In our next issue, we will be taking a look at building KDE3 from source. It is not that difficult and it is quite a rewarding experience- when was the last time you heard a Windows user say that they had built their desktop from source code? Anyway, if you cannot wait to build it from source, you have a couple of options. You can either wait until SuSE releases SuSE 8.0 later this month, or you can download and install precompiled binaries.

Binaries are already available for many systems. To see if they are available for yours, check out KDE's FTP mirrors page, here (see below). You can also find HTTP downloads here (see below).

If you do not have access to a fast internet connection and would like to use KDE, you can get it on CD (KDE can be quite large- over 200Mb if you download all of the source). You can find out more here (see below).

Keep in mind, if you plan to install KDE3, there are a few packages that will need to be updated first to avoid dependency issues (more on this in our next issue). You will need to update QT to version 3.03 or newer. ARTS will also need to be updated to the most current version. That should be about it if you are running a relatively new Linux distribution.

Resource Links:
Microsoft Owns SGI Patents
Wine Is Not an Emulator
MS Office Plugin For Windows
Available KDE Binaries
Download KDE Via HTTP
Get KDE On CD