[mdlug] KDE 4

[Wolfger]

On Mon, Jan 5, 2009 at 8:42 PM, Michael Mikowski <z_mikowski at yahoo.com> wrote:
> I don't think they are dumbing it down, just they need time to put back features.

I hope you're right, but I doubt it. When I first started using Linux,
KDE had the lion's share of the desktop (by any poll I'd ever seen).
Since then, KDE's and Gnome's positions have reversed (and then some).
I think they are definitely trying to Gnomify, to try to increase
their userbase. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be winning many
Gnome people over, and it's pissing off the existing userbase.

> I've tried Gnome in the last 3 machines I have purchased (Ubuntu pre-loaded on 2, one I built), and each
> time, it has been too entry-level for me.

I agree. Sadly, most people don't.

> KDE 3.5 > KDE 4.2 > GNOME (pick any version)

Yes, exactly. Yet every major distro is trying to push 4.x on us, and
most are abandoning the superior 3.5. Pisses me off.

> With continued development, KDE 4.x is catching up and, in some areas, surpassing KDE 3.x.

for values of x < 4.

> Some examples: wallpapers and widgets are downloadable directly from the configuration interface.

Big whoop. Haven't found any widgets worth having so far, and I get my
wallpapers from other sources.

> Kontact has a nice bunch of new view configuration features.

Never used Kontact.

> Kopete automatically shows your prior chat history for a given contact on new chages.

Horrible. This was always available as an option with a plugin. Now
this memory-eating "feature" is present by default. Is it at least
removable?

> Give it some time.

Give me back KDE 3.5 while I'm waiting. :-)

> I do think the decision to move to Dolphin as a file manager was
> misguided.  Konqueror is a fantastic file manager (by some accounts,
> the best ever available).

Konqueror is:
The best file manager I've ever used
The best FTP app I've ever used
A fairly crappy web browser

I will never understand the decision to make Konqueror just a web
browser, and bring in a less-featured Dolphin as file manager. Though
I must admit it's gotten better since I started forcing myself to use
it, it's still not as good as Konq was (sounds like KDE4 vs KDE3 all
over again).

> On the whole though, I'm sticking with 4.2.  Too much new good stuff to make me go back.

I'll try 4.2, but I don't expect I'll stick with it. I'm thinking they
might finally have something usable around 4.3 or so... Maybe 4.5 will
be better than 3.5? How long until the replacement finally surpasses
the replaced?


-- 
Wolfger
http://wolfger.wordpress.com/

The world is a mess, and I just... need to rule it.