Home

Installing and Setting up KDE 4

KDE 4.2: Released on the 27th January 2009KDE 4.2: Released on the 27th January 2009KDE 4 is the most recent KDE release. On the 27th January 2009, the KDE team released KDE 4.2. This introduced many new features and fixed stability problems. It is now very feature-full, close to the amount KDE 3 has. If you prefer KDE 3, the older, more stable version, look here. If you want to be on the absolute bleeding edge, a SVN repo is available. If you want to be able to install KDE 3 alongside KDE 4, you can use the KDEmod repo.

Installing KDE 4

Since KDE 4 is now in the extra repo, installing couldn't be easier. Just run:

pacman -S kde

and you will get a selection of packages. You can fine tune what to install by pressing "n". Here's a short explanation of each:

  • kdeaccessibility - Accessibility programs
  • kdeadmin - Programs to add users, set up cron and advanced networking
  • kdeartwork - Wallpaper and icon sets
  • kdebase - Base applications for KDE such as Plasma (desktop), Konqueror and Dolphin (file manager)
  • kdeedu - Educational programs. These have taken a major overhaul because they now use SVG instead of pixmaps
  • kdegames - Games. These have also taken a major overhaul because they use SVG instead of pixmaps
  • kdegraphics - Painting and graphical programs. Some of these include Kolourpaint, Okular (document viewer), KSnapshot and Gwenview
  • kdelibs - Absolutely necessary for KDE 4 to run
  • kdemultimedia - Multimedia apps. Including KMix, Juk and KSCD
  • kdenetwork- Network and internet apps such as Kopete, Krfb and Krdc
  • kdepim - PIM apps. Kontact, KMail etc.
  • kdepimlibs - This will be dragged in by other packages
  • kdesdk - KDE 4 software development kit
  • kdetoys - Toys such as AMOR, KWorldClock and KTeaTime
  • kdeutils - Utilities such as KCalc, Kate, KWrite and Ark
  • kdewebdev - Web development programs. Does not include Quanta+ at the moment

When pacman finishes installing the packages you chose, you can add more apps if you want. For extra plasmoids (desktop widgets) type:

pacman -S kdeplasma-addons

KOffice

KOffice 2.0 was released on the 28th May 2009. The developers say the following:

This release is mainly aimed at developers, testers and early adopters. It is not aimed at end users

This means that it isn't recommended that you try it, unless you want to test for bugs, or you want to help develop it.

For installing KOffice, execute:

pacman -S koffice

I recommend that you install OpenOffice.org (package name: openoffice-base) if you want an alternative office suite.

Amarok

Amarok 2.1 was released on the 3rd June 2009. If you don't like the new layout of the new Amarok, try one of the media players on the recommendation page.

To install Amarok, run:

pacman -S amarok-base

Setting up KDE 4

Now we will get KDE 4 to start it's desktop manager every time you boot Arch Linux, and get the right daemons for KDE 4. To get KDM to start every time you boot, open up your /etc/inittab as root and change:

## Only one of the following two lines can be uncommented!
# Boot to console
id:3:initdefault:
# Boot to X11
#id:5:initdefault:

to

## Only one of the following two lines can be uncommented!
# Boot to console
#id:3:initdefault:
# Boot to X11
id:5:initdefault:

now go down to the bottom, and add this:

x:5:respawn:/usr/bin/kdm -nodaemon

Now we will add the daemons to your rc.conf. Open up /etc/rc.conf as root and change your daemons line to this:

DAEMONS=(... hal ...)

This will start up HAL (for automounting disks, flash drives etc.).

Now you can reboot and enjoy using KDE 4!

Removing KDE 4

If you're unhappy with KDE 4, there is an easy way to remove it. Just do
pacman -Rsc kdelibs

KDEmod repo

KDEmod is a modular and tweaked package set of the K Desktop Environment that has been optimized for Arch Linux.

See the Chakra Project website for more information.

SVN repo

This repo can be very unstable! Don't be surprised if you find lots of bugs!
This SVN repo is for people who like to be on the absolute bleeding edge. You will get daily updates, so if you are on a slow internet connection, I don't recommend installing from this repo.

See the following forum post for more information:

http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=44507

Troubleshooting

Sometimes you will get problems with KDE 4. Here is a list of problems with their solutions.

Problem: Ugly Gtk theme

If you use a Gtk program like Firefox or GIMP, they will use the default Raleigh theme. It is very ugly. To get around this you can use a program that lets you change the Gtk theme to something better looking.

Raleigh theme: The hideous default Gtk themeRaleigh theme: The hideous default Gtk theme

Solution 1: Use the gtk-kde4 program

Install the package "gtk-kde4" from the AUR and install some Gtk themes if you haven't already (e.g. gtk-engine-murrine). Open up System Settings and go to "Appearance". Then on the side you will see "GTK style". Click it and choose a Gtk theme from the first drop down menu. When you are finished, click on "Apply".

No good themes to choose from?
If there are no good themes in the drop down list, install the "clearlooks" package.

Tags: