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Installing and Setting Up KDE

kmenu.png

KDE is the K Desktop Environment, a popular choice with many Linux users. KDE is sometimes depicted as "Windows like" because it has a panel at the bottom of the screen. If you want a modular (apps are split into separate packages) KDE, you should look at KDEmod. If you want KDE4, the newest version of KDE, have a look at this tutorial. I will help you install and set up a vanilla KDE.

Installation

Installing KDE is as easy as typing
pacman -S kde
A message will then ask if you want to install all of the packages for KDE. If you want a full blown KDE installation, press "y". If you want to fine tune it a bit more, press "n". If you pressed "n", you will be presented with more messages asking you to install certain KDE packages. There are:

  • gwenview - Image viewer with integration with Konqueror
  • kdeaccessibility - Accessibility programs
  • kdeaddons - Plugins for various apps e.g. Search bar in Konqueror
  • kdeartwork - Extra wallpapers and icons
  • kdebase - KDE base programs e.g. Konqueror, Kate, Konsole etc.
  • kdebindings - KDE bindings
  • kdeedu - Educational programs
  • kdegames - Games
  • kdegraphics - Graphics applications
  • kdelibs - Necessary for KDE to run
  • kdemultimedia - Multimedia apps like KMix, Noatun, Juk etc.
  • kdenetwork - Networking apps such as Kopete, Konversation, Krdc and Krfb.
  • kdepim - PIM apps such as Kontact and KMail.
  • kdesdk - KDE development
  • kdetoys - KDE toys
  • kdeutils - Utilities such as KCalc and Ark (archiver).

After a while, pacman will have downloaded and installed KDE for you. Simple!

Setting up KDE

You will need to start DBUS and HAL for KDE to work properly. Open up /etc/rc.conf as root with your favourite text editor and scroll down to the line near the bottom that says "DAEMONS". Change it to look like this:
DAEMONS=(.. hal ..)
If you want a login manager (KDM), you can get it to start up automatically for you. Open up /etc/inittab as root with your favourite text editor. Look for the part that looks like this:
# Boot to console
id:3:initdefault:
# Boot to X11
#id:5:initdefault:
Change it to this:
# Boot to console
#id:3:initdefault:
# Boot to X11
id:5:initdefault:
Now scroll down to the bottom and uncomment the following line:
x:5:respawn:/opt/kde/bin/kdm -nodaemon
Now whenever you boot Arch Linux, KDM will start automatically! Now reboot your computer, login and start using KDE!

If you are using sudo...
You will need to make a kdesurc file to tell kdesu (program to put before graphical root programs e.g. "kdesu kuser") to use sudo and not su. With your favourite text editor as root, open /opt/kde/share/config/kdesurc and put in
[super-user-command]
super-user-command=sudo