Date: Thu, 11 Jun 1998 18:59:42 +1000 From: Sue Blake <sue@welearn.com.au> To: Loren Thiel <thiel@genevaonline.com> Cc: freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: KDE [was: Where's X go?] Message-ID: <19980611185942.19282@welearn.com.au> In-Reply-To: <Version.32.19980610160902.00f907f0@mail.genevaonline.com>; from Loren Thiel on Wed, Jun 10, 1998 at 04:09:39PM -0500 References: <Version.32.19980610160902.00f907f0@mail.genevaonline.com>
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On Wed, Jun 10, 1998 at 04:09:39PM -0500, Loren Thiel wrote: > I've also rescently learned about windows managers...if I pick say KDE to > run now...1st, where does that install to? 2nd, is it easy to change to > another one...like fvwm2...or one of the other ones I found at > http://www.PLiG.org/xwinman/index.html ? Yes, window managers are very easy to install and swap between them to try them out. Most are quite small, though something like KDE is a whopper because it includes a lot more than a window manager. This is getting awfully close to a freebsd-questions type topic... but after fiddling with KDE I worry about newbies having a hard time with it. KDE is a lot more than a window manager. It comes with a whole bunch of its own applications and is disturbingly (or appealingly?) microsoft-like. Some newbies will love it. Some are going to have trouble if my experience is anything to go on. I found that many parts of KDE crashed until I recompiled my kernel with some other stuff in it. One thing that wouldn't work at all was KDE's Help which you're going to want to use. The error messages pointed me to whatever was needed in the kernel, and I happened to recognise where to make the fix. There's also messages about this in the mailing list archives (http://www.freebsd.org/search.html) That's fine if you're used to this kind of thing, but a bit daunting if not. Rebuilding the kernel simply in order to try one of the many window managers is a bit extreme in one's early days. Don't let this put you off though. The kernel stuff isn't hard if you go slowly when you're not under pressure, read every word of the Handbook and FAQ, and have the LINT and GENERIC files open while you work. Of course to see all this at once you're going to have to be running X at the time, so you'll need to be using another window manager. For that reason I'd recommend against trying KDE as a first window manager. Also KDE is not "finished" yet so there's likely to be bugs, and it's hard for a newbie to tell bugs from unknowns. I'd suggest using something less flashy but more configurable and lightweight, like fvwm2, or at least install that package as a fall-back. Disclaimer: This is very much the blind leading the blind which is a Bad Thing. Don't believe a word I've said, but if you do have the same problems as me, know that you're not alone. -- Regards, -*Sue*- To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-newbies" in the body of the message
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