spir posted on Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:01:45 +0100 as excerpted:
> Hello,
>
> Recently switched to kde on ubuntu 9.04, mainly because I also intend to
> switch to PCBSD in a short while. I'm happy with it, so, huge thanks to
> all the people involved in this huge project for so long.
Helpful hint: Keep in mind that this is a kde list, not a distribution
specific list. As such, most here probably have little idea what version
of kde comes with any particular distribution, especially if it's not
their own. Thus, always mention the kde version you're running, in
addition to the distribution. Since you mention kickoff, I know it's
kde4 something, but what specific version I'm not sure.
> Here are some kde newbie questions anyway:
>
> 1. help
> The help system does not match at all what I actually find in kde.
> Probably outdated? Can someone confirm? Switched to english, same issue.
Yes, the help system is outdated. Many bits were outdated even on the
latest kde3, let alone kde4. Someone else mentioned userbase.
Personally, I couldn't find much of help there, but that was some time
ago and I tend to think more like a sysadmin than an ordinary user, so
sometimes I have difficulty figuring out where to find stuff that
ordinary users don't seem to have a problem with, so there's a reasonable
chance that was just me. YMMV.
But you can always ask here. =:^)
> 2. language
> After switching to english in system settings, and rebooting, many
> things still appear in precious language (fr); and some texts bits
> suddenly are in catalan and even a few in german, too;-) (eg in kate).
> This actually shows how incredibly smart kde design is, for these
> languages are precisely the ones I can understand at best! I really
> wonder about the AI algorithm behind such successful guesses.
This one's a bit of a sensitive issue ATM between kde and (k)ubuntu. The
way (k)ubuntu's i18n projects work simply don't mesh well with the way
kde handles things. As I only do English and I prefer Gentoo to *buntu
anyway, I haven't followed the details, but I've seen devs on both sides
mention it as a frustration in their blogs, as carried on kde-planet.
However, from what I've gathered, it basically comes down to this.
*buntu users end up choosing between two different things. Either they
can stick with the originally shipped *buntu kde for that *buntu release,
only upgrading when *buntu puts out a new release, and the strings should
be managed by *buntu (with bugs going their way), thus losing out on the
intermediate kde updates, or they can do the intermediate kde updates,
but end up with a mish-mash of languages as the kde l10n updates in the
latest version clash with the *buntu l10n from the original versions
installed with that *buntu release.
Because kde4 is still somewhat buggy and a number of them still fixed
with every update, naturally, the upstream kde preference is that
everybody runs the latest kde4, possibly installing it independent of
their distribution if necessary. However, it's understood that most
users aren't going to be willing to do all that compiling on their own,
and that these l10n issues due exist and depending how much they bother
an individual user, some will choose to stay on the original *buntu
shipped version until the next *buntu release.
> 3. kickoff modif + size
> Is it possible to modify kickoff from inside (eg renaming or moving an
> entry)? Right click brings nothing. Is it possible to let kickoff
> "remember" its size (so that favorites and main app menus are all
> visible)? presently, it resizes automatically to ~ half screen hight.
When I drag-resize kickoff to a new size here, it remembers it. That's
with kde-4.3.3 on Gentoo. However, as I said, various bugs are still
actively being fixed on every update, so it's quite possible earlier
versions had the issue, tho I don't remember it but then my work-style
doesn't involve kickoff much, so I likely wouldn't have. Of course it's
also possible that it's a *buntu-specific bug.
Kickoff itself, while the default main kde menu applet, isn't the only
one, and isn't all that dynamic (not as context menu enabled, not as drag-
n-drop enabled, etc), comparatively. The other mature alternative is the
lancelot menu. You can probably add it from the add widgets list.
(FWIW, KDE's desktop app is plasma, and its widgets are also referred to
as plasmoids. So if you see a reference to plasmoids or the add
plasmoids list/menu, you know what the reference is.) However, depending
on your work-style and chosen plasma theme, lancelot may or may not be
better for you, as it does work a bit differently. But it's easy enough
to switch between them or even to keep buttons for both available, if you
choose to, once you know they're both available. =:^)
Anyway, lancelot is a bit more dynamic in regard to drag-n-drop and
modification from within itself. YMMV as they say, but it's certainly
worth trying.
You can also choose a more classic menu layout, if desired. Either add
the plasmoid, or right-click on the kicker plasmoid and switch to
classic. Again, there's little stopping you from switching between them
or having multiple launchers, each for a specific mode of operation,
whatever works best for you.
> 4. kickoff config save/restore
> These a strange and very naughty bug (on my system) in kickoff config
> utility: restoring previous state after an error actually resets the
> original default menu (even if saved 10 times in between). So that all
> changes from installation are lost & have to be remade from scratch.
> Very bad --it's a penible job. (Don't reply it's a "feature", or I will
> myself reply you speak like... ;-) (By the way, I couldn't apply to
> kde's bug tracker. Tried twice, but never got to enter a password, nore
> received any by mail.) So, can somenone tell me where the config is
> saved (there is no possibility to define it, the save button does not
> pop any menu), so that I have a chance to backup my config. I intend to
> copy-save the default one for if ever, and replace it by my own
> settings.
You're talking about kmenuedit, and the "Restore to System Menu" option?
If so, that's what it /does/, restore to the system menu, losing all user
customizations.
If you simply want to restore to the previous saved state, simply exit
without saving, and restart kmenuedit if desired to start over again.
Don't use the restore to system menu option unless that's exactly what
you want to do, because that's exactly what it does. "NOTABUG" =:^)
> 5. amarok messes up files & folders
> When trying to play an album, another one is played instead. Feedback
> text shows the name of the album/folder I asked for, and the title of
> the song/file actually played. Minirok never plays the album I ask for,
> instead always the first songs of my collection, in alphabetic order.
I gave up on amarok for kde4 (I used to use it with kde3), as they got
rid of all the features from the kde3 version I liked, and bloated it up
with a lot of (to me) "junk" that I hadn't the slightest need (or want)
of. In addition, in total disregard for the significant segment of their
userbase on 64-bit, they decided to depend on mysql-embedded, which had
serious amd64/x86_64 issues at the time. Now that might be fine for the
majority of their userbase and/or where they decided they wanted to take
the app, I won't quarrel with that, but it was quite obvious they were
going in an ENTIRELY different direction than I was interested in going,
so I did the logical thing and "got off that bus", so I could catch one
going the direction I wanted to go. =:^)
(FWIW, the "bus" I decided was going the direction I wanted to go in is
called mpd, music player daemon. That's the backend for a whole list of
front-end clients, including qt4, gtk2, CLI/command-line-interface,
curses-based text-UIs, even web based remote clients, if that's your
thing. One of the major benefits is that I can now continue to listen to
music uninterrupted whether I'm running X/KDE or simply working at the
command prompt, of course running the appropriate client to control
things if I decide I want to switch playlists or something, or just let
it continue playing without a running front-end at all. It's not for
everyone, but it was certainly more my thing than Amarok for kde4, with
its whole host of dependencies for stuff I didn't need, and few of the
features I used to enjoy back on kde3. Definitely YMMV.)
> 6. place icons on control panels
> Is it possible to drag/place icons on a control panel? How can one chose
> the place of or move icons once they are there (eg sent from kickoff)?
> Is there a control panel layout utility? Tried all what I could imagine
> without any success.
Control panel? You mean the various plasma panels (of which there's only
one by default, IIRC)? Assuming so...
To the first question, icons, yes, it's possible, but again, kickoff's
not quite as flexible as lancelot in this regard. The other alternative
is to add the appropriate plasmoid and configure it as desired. Note
that it's possible to have a submenu launcher as well.
Plasma, new to kde4, is still evolving. It's not a mature app by a long
way. As such, various features and bits of it can and do change/improve
as the kde version number increments. You mentioned *buntu 9.04, which
would have still been kde 4.2.x unless you updated, but you said that
wasn't working so well so I'll assume you haven't. In kde and
particularly plasma terms, that's pretty old and rather buggy. 4.3.3
works much better.
The panel configuration thing is part of plasma and so it too is
continuing to evolve. The way plasma/kde4 handles it is very different
than kde3/kicker. Supposedly it's more intuitive, but some of us only
find it more exasperating. Never-the-less, it is *HUGELY* improved (and
much LESS exasperating) from early 4.2 status by 4.3.3.
Anyway, I /think/ you're running 4.2.x and thus have the biggest
improvements, which came with 4.1 and 4.2. Assuming so, first ensure
that widgets are unlocked (should be on most of the context menus, or on
the "cashew" configuration icon), then choose panel settings. This
should invoke a second "configuration bar" "docked" to the panel. From
here you can change the size of the panel, which edge it docks too, auto-
hide, always visible, etc. *PLUS*, with the config bar visible, you can
now hover over individual plasmoids on the panel and the pointer should
change into a 4-way arrow, indicating that you can now drag the
individual plasmoids around to different spots on the panel, or drag them
off the panel onto the desktop (or from the desktop to a panel), etc. Do
note, however, that plasmoids have their own ideas about size, and may or
may not allow you to place and size them as you'd really like to, if you
had the necessary control. Here, I discovered that in some cases, I had
better luck if I added another panel, resizing and positioning all those
on the same edge so they all fit, and moved some of the plasmoids to
different panels sized so the plasmoid(s) did what I wanted it/them to
do. As I said, things are markedly better in the newer versions, tho not
perfect just yet.
> 7. ATI Radeon
> Intended to activate the proprietary driver for my ATI radeon video
> card, but the setup menu does not show any. Is it now automatic? Or is
> there now a free driver for it? There used to be an entry in previous
> versions of ubuntu.
This would be a *buntu specific question. It's not something kde deals
with. Ask on the *buntu forums/lists.
> 8. num lock
> ... is again lost at startup (while properly set in BIOS). Had the same
> issue is several ubuntu versions some time ago, then worked fine with
> 9.04. Couldn't find any setting for that in kde.
In kde 4.3.3 at least, it's in "The application formerly known as
kcontrol" (aka system settings), under computer administration, keyboard
and mouse, keyboard (that's the kcontrol widget), NumLock on KDE Startup.
> 9. power off
> Clicking on any "switch off" icon, or activating it from menu, actually
> switches off the computer at once without popping any choice (restart,
> etc...), while settings seem ok as far as I understand the doc (checked
> both "confirm..." and "options"). Also, this action sometimes freezes
> the system, need to to brutally hardware-power off.
This might be a *buntu issue or an earlier kde4 issue. I switched to
kde4 with 4.2.4, and it has always obeyed the config I had set here
(kcontrol, advanced user settings, session manager, on kde 4.3.3).
Do note that there are also separate hotkey shortcuts for the "with
confirmation" and "without confirmation" actions. If you're using the
shortcuts, you may need to either use the other one, or switch them
around so the one you want is activated by the shortcut you want.
(kcontrol, computer admin, keyboard and mouse, global keyboard shortcuts,
kde-component dropdown set to run command interface, again, as of 4.3.3.)
> 10. "activate by simple click"
> Sorry for the trivial issue: cannot find this setting in kde.
Again as of kde 4.3.3, again in kcontrol, computer admin, keyboard/mouse,
mouse, general tab, icons section, double- or single-click with various
sub-options.
> 11. docs do not appear on the desktop -- mounting issue Docs I save on
> the desktop never appear there. Have to find them through Dolphin.
kde4 has an entirely new desktop paradigm. The idea is that the desktop
shouldn't be a simple static view of some directory somewhere, but should
be much more dynamic, with various widgets (again, aka plasmoids)
appearing there with various information, etc. This can certainly
include views on various directories, but it's not limited to that.
There's all sorts of different plasmoids to choose from, doing all sorts
of different things. Add the ones you want. Delete the ones you don't.
Go to kde-look.org and download more, if the ones that come shipped with
kde4 don't do what you want...
One thing that's neat about this is that with the composite window
transparency effects, it's now possible to see a filtered view of the
desktop even thru a window or two. Dynamic monitoring of various system
or other information on the desktop is therefore possible, even thru a
window, if desired.
You can even configure multiple "activities", each with its own set of
desktop plasmoids, and switch between them. Some people have a whole set
of plasmoids devoted to weather, for instance, and have a weather
activity, that shows all these weather plasmoids. There's a web-comic
plasmoid, and several other plasmoids available that allow you to view a
web page or an image at a particular URL, so you can have a comics
activity, or setup things to display the "photo of the day" from various
sites. There's all sorts of system monitor plasmoids available, so you
can monitor CPU activity and temps, fan speeds, battery life if on a
laptop, net speeds, wifi signal strength if wireless, etc, all using
different system monitor plasmoids, and some people have an activity
dedicated to that.
What you're after is the folder view plasmoid. Now, instead of just a
single view of a single directory, you can have multiple folder-view
plasmoids, each pointed at its own directory! =:^)
All that said, some people just wanted their nice simple single directory
view back, and I believe it was 4.3.0 that reintroduced that as a
choice. As of kde 4.3.3, right-click on the desktop and choose desktop
settings. At the top, there's a type selector that defaults to desktop.
Change that to folderview and configure the directory it points to and
other settings as desired...
> Also,
> about dolphin, external devices randomly show or not, sometimes like if
> empty or with their actual content. Do you have any hint about this
> behaviour (really annoying when producing or restoring backup? I have to
> try several times, especially with CDs.)
There's a device notifier plasmoid that shows the recently plugged in
devices. Clicking on one pops up a window with the various possible
actions, based on device type (this is configurable in kcontrol), using
information as presented by hal's detection. If the device type is a
filesystem, it'll let you mount it, assuming there's no entry for it in
your fstab. If there's an entry in fstab, hal should ignore it and let
it be handled the conventional way.
The new filesystems appear as icons in dolphin's places. If the
filesystem isn't mounted, clicking on one of the icons should mount it
and display that filesystem.
But all this depends upon the proper functioning of various components,
including hal. It's possible something's buggy. It maybe the hal
shipped by *buntu, it may be kde, in which case a newer version may have
fixed it (I've not had issues with it here on gentoo, at least since kde
4.3.0), etc. It's also possible some of the variability you are
observing may be due to some of them being configured in fstab, so hal
ignores them, or due to the type of media plugged in, and whether hal
treats it as a filesystem or not, or other similar variables. (Example:
someone complained earlier because there was no choice to open an audio-
CD in dolphin... that choice only appears when there's a real filesystem,
which an audio-CD doesn't have).
> 12. help search
> Does not even try to work (button is "drabbed").
That would appear to be a *buntu issue.
> 13. save whole config
> Is there a way to save the whole kde config, so that I can restore it
> all after a total system installation (because my filesystem is now a
> real mess and I haven't enough space (*) where needed -- either I will
> reinstall kubuntu from scratch or move to PCBSD).
The user kde config is normally under ~/.kde, or sometimes ~/.kde4 or a
similar variant, depending on your distribution. If you have /home as a
separate filesystem as in many installations, it's normally possible to
totally reinstall the "system" without touching user config, everything
in /home, at all. Of course, if you have everything on the same
filesystem/partition, yeah, reinstalling will probably wipe it.
--
Duncan - List replies preferred. No HTML msgs.
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
and if you use the program, he is your master." Richard Stallman
___________________________________________________
This message is from the kde mailing list.
Account management: https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde.
Archives: http://lists.kde.org/.
More info: http://www.kde.org/faq.html.
