KDE 4

I don’t personally use Windows for anything but a gaming console, so if you’re not a Linux or BSD propeller head, this blurb might not mean anything to you. Windows users don’t have a desktop choice, so this entire topic is going to be an alien encounter, and if you think that Vista’s Aero is an advanced interface, you’ll definitely be traveling well outside of known space here. One thing to think about, however, poor Windows laden sods: KDE 4 applications will run on Windows. Perhaps this article might not be of interest to you, but KDE4 might be after all is said and done.

Currently I’m running KDE 3.5.8 using Compiz-Fusion 0.6.2 as the window manager and it is a beautiful marriage of functionality for how I work on a computer. So, I was excited to see what KDE4 had to offer that might improve things or simply surprise me. I took a little time over the weekend to checkout KDE 4.0.1 on my Kubuntu 7.10 system and I have to say that my feelings are mixed.

On one hand, Plasma seems to be heading toward its desired goal and will likely be an improvement to the desktop metaphor in the long run. Personally, I don’t use the desktop for anything but a background image, as I hate icons and widgets being covered up by other Windows I’m working in. I find it very annoying to have to close or make windows transparent to see the widget and I don’t want a widget on top of my working application, either. Dragging widgets off the desktop and into the taskbar can avoid the desktop clutter, but I already have this. I run a single session of gkrellm and all widgets I need for monitoring and what have you are in a contained dock which isn’t covered and takes little room on the screen. So for me, Plasma probably won’t offer a lot, as it adds nothing to my work environment. However, for the typical desktop user, I think it will add quite a bit to the experience.

It is good to see the typical file and folder concept extended to be more than a visual key to a hierarchical filesystem. Container systems such as KDE3’s Basket is a similar step in the right direction. Organization of material by thought process, rather than filesystem placement is a more natural organization system. Aside from a few anal people like myself, most don’t really implement much of a logical hierarchy to their personal files to be useful in locating needed material. Plasma’s not-quite-finished ability to “zoom” between relational structures has some real potential and that holds my keen interest.

I also liked the polished look of things, though the default large font sizes annoyed me to no end. Once I had that straightened out, my general experience improved dramatically. The OpenGL additions seemed to work seamlessly and frankly, I’m a sucker for eye candy as long as it has some functionality as well. (Though, there was nothing there that I don’t already have with Compiz-Fusion, KDE-only users will appreciate it.) The true integration with Compiz-Fusion’s virtual desktops via the KDE desktop manager was a long desired feature on my list and it’s implemented beautifully.

Honestly, my enthusiasm wanes about there. There are many things that I found disappointing with the interface and I hope it is not a sign of things to stay.

First and foremost, where did the traditional hyper-configurable nature of KDE go? The whole reason that I chose KDE over Gnome was two fold: the ability to customize everything, from the layout of menus, to the exact width and height of specific applications when opened (to name just two of thousands of customizable settings); and the integrated application intercommunication that DCOP made so easy to use.

KDE4 hasn’t lost the application intercommunication, it has merely switched to D-Bus, still allowing modular components to be used by multiple applications and cross application communication is still there, (though I haven’t played with it yet, as I have with various scripts to manipulate the DCOP environment in KDE3,) but the GUI customization options are simply gone. It’s dumbed down, giving no where near the flexibility of KDE3’s normal environment. Mind you, since a lot of configuration is apparently now being handled by XML files (D-Bus standards,) or so I’ve read somewhere, perhaps customization is merely a text editor away. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a single source of documentation for doing any of this yet. I’ll admit as well that I have to learn D-Bus usage in general, as I’ve barely examined the system. I am actually excited about D-Bus being used, though, as Gnome and many other applications use D-Bus - allowing the functionality of KDE to extend well outside of the scope of KDE itself. I would imaging it is Compiz-Fusion’s support of D-Bus which allows the KDE4 virtual desktop manager to interact seamlessly, for example. This was a great decision on the KDE design team’s part.

I mentioned the large default font sizes earlier and I wish I could say that this ended with fonts. The new taskbar is a eye sore, far too large for my tastes. There is no option to resize the taskbar in KDE4 at all and that’s inexcusable in my book. I want control of my interface, especially a part that intrusive. Speaking of super-sized interfaces, everything in KDE4 felt that way. It reminded me of working on the Amiga years ago. Huge this and large that - a veritable Duplo Lego block desktop. This would be excusable if you could tweak it how you wanted from the default, but again, such is not the case. This Windows-like behavior of locking you into someone else’s aesthetic viewpoint, really turned me off. The lack of customization for each application came to be no different than the general desktop. It’s gone. KDE4 applications seem as non-customizable by default as Gnome or plain X Window System. It can be done, I’m certain, but a simple GUI method for doing so is missing and desired. About the only thing kept from KDE3’s customization system is the ability to change keyboard shortcuts.

By far the worst of the interface change is the main menu, Kickoff. The layered, step-into approach that Vista blew chunks with, is mirrored here. Eh gads! I can’t express how annoying this menu system is for me! I find it clumsy and slow. The original Kmenu and Tasty Menu (which I use in KDE3) are far superior. One can only hope that decent replacements for Kickoff come out for KDE4. Raptor, doesn’t look to be it. I need a menu where I can quickly examine offerings based on category, listing available applications that I may never have run before.

Moving away from interface design issues - though I realize that KDE4 is currently in Release Candidate form, it feels more like a beta to me. Konqueror crashed on me repeatedly and when I added my server’s Sitebar URL to the Konqueror sidebar, it wouldn’t refresh. Even resizing the sidebar left behind non-erasable tracks of the previous divider positions. I also couldn’t fill in form data on any URL I tried within the sidebar.

KMail seemed equally robust - that is to say, it crashed three times on me in half an hour, finally loosing all settings for server (IMAP and SMTP) accounts in the last crash.

As it stands to date, KDE4 is certainly not ready for prime time when it comes to stability. I expected some problems, but what I hit was too much. This is beta or even alpha level software, if we’re being honest here.

If its customization ability is going to be locked into the current state, without the hyper-flexibility I’m used to with KDE3, then I’m going to start shopping for a different desktop manager. Plasma offers nothing for me, really - which unfortunately seems to be KDE4’s eggs in one basket. It will be great for those who use desktop icons and various gadgets, who don’t cover the whole available screen with application windows, or are willing to hit a key to hide those or bring widgets to the forefront - but that’s not me.

Quite honestly, Compiz-Fusion provides enough of the tweaking and interface control I need for almost everything, so having a desktop manager on top of that has been for the inter-application connectivity more than anything else, coupled with a functional taskbar. With D-Bus being used as a standard, I’ll be able to run KDE4 applications (once they’re release quality) without having to run the entire KDE environment and still have the inter-application operations.

The lack of application level customization in KDE4 might actually make me re-examine Gnome. There will be no need to have the bloated taskbar and other interface crud, if KDE4’s only advantage over Gnome is Plasma - which I won’t be using. With both desktop environments running D-Bus, inter-operations should be seamless. I’ll run KDE4 apps when I need them, no matter the desktop environment running.

I’ll hold off final judgment until KDE 4.1.x is released, as I imagine it will truly be a release candidate by that time. At that point we should be able to tell if the lack of customization is simply an oversight for the time being, or the nature of KDE to come.