KDE 4.9 upgrade

[benny_fletch]

KDE 4.9.3 for Precise has shown up in the backports repo. The updates installed without issue and everything appears to be working as advertised. Thanks for taking the time to provide this update, it's much appreciated!

[Mr_Bumpy]

Consumer research is becoming a big thing in Linux lately, what have you been using before Kubuntu and what are the features you like most about it?

You shouldn't have asked that, man... you're going to get me started...

I first became interested in Linux around 2007. Prior to that, I had only used Windows/DOS on the PC. I checked out Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Debian and PCLinuxOS at that time. I found that I prefered the KDE desktop over Gnome and used PCLinuxOS as my main OS for a few years. Eventually, I switched over to Kubuntu and KDE 4. I frequently try out the other desktops, and can find my way around Unity, Gnome 2/MATE, XFCE, LXDE and Enlightenment.

My experience with KDE can probably be summed up like this: I've become spoiled. In a way, KDE ruins my experience on other desktops, because every time I'm using the other desktops, I find myself missing features that are only found in KDE or are not as easy to accomplish without KDE. Here are a few examples:

• Adding a new application to the K menu is a breeze, and I find myself frequently modifying or creating launchers to add command-line flags or whatnot. It took me a while to discover the "alacarte" program for doing this in other Linux desktops, but it doesn't always work well (completely fails in Xubuntu 12.10).
• Window management is so configurable with kwin! I love being able to add a title bar button to pin a window on top of others. I love being able to control window transparency with the scroll wheel over the title bar. (I have only one monitor, and sometimes being able to partly see under a window is very helpful.) I also have custom keyboard shortcuts for minimizing, maximizing and tiling windows.
• I love being able to set window rules; it gives me such control over my applications. For example, I always have Dolphin and Kwrite open to the same size, regardless of what size I last changed them to. I always have Firefox open non-maximized and centered on the screen. I have set the "Styles and Formatting" window in LibreOffice to be slightly transparent. I have set the Rosegarden transport window to be slightly transparent, always on top, and not to be displayed in the taskbar. I could go on, but you get the idea.
• I love that I can choose from a large number of ways that the Alt-Tab dialog can appear.
• I love having an easy way in system settings to create my own keyboard shortcuts for anything. For example, I have Ctrl-Shift-F set to launch kfind, which is a great file search tool that doesn't need Nepomuk to be able to search the contents of your files.
• Dolphin services menu. Not only can I click a button in Dolphin to download new service menu options, it is pretty easy to create your own. Some really useful ones I have: Copy Path (copies the entire filename including path), Rename with KRename (really nice for mass renaming operations), and an option to convert any audio file.
• Dolphin's dual-pane mode, F4 integrated terminal and overall configurability. All other desktops have inferior file managers, IMO.
• Klipper. Having instant access to recent clipboard items is a godsend!
• Click on Battery Monitor icon, uncheck "Power Management Enabled", and you can watch that video without the screensaver coming on. This is only an issue in certain players (like Flash), but it is nice to have an easy workaround.
• KRunner is like a swiss army knife of functionality.
• Plasma Desktop. Here's my current setup. Desktop: Microblogging plasmoid to instantly see my latest Twitter feeds, CPU/RAM usage monitor, Folder View for desktop icons. On my dash, I also have a Folder View plasmoid pointed to a folder called "handy-dandy". Anything that I want quick access to, I will copy or symlink into my handy-dandy folder for easy access. I just simply hit the key combo to bring up my dash and double-click on the file I want to open.
• Activities. I have my standard "desktop" activity and a "screen capture" activity. The "screen capture" activity has no desktop plasmoids or icons which is great when I want to record a video tutorial. When I'm done shooting the video, I just go back to my "desktop" activity and everything is there again.

There's more... a lot more! Is KDE perfect? No, there are some bugs, but nothing that bothers me too much or can't be worked around. I also realize that not everybody cares about the level of customizability and they may prefer a "simpler" desktop. However, for me, KDE is the ideal desktop. It gives me the control I desire over exactly how my computer behaves. KDE reminds me that this is my computer. Of course part of that is due to Linux in general as well.

I just noticed the availability of KDE 4.9.3 for 12.10 and Raring on kubuntu.org and was just wondering if there were plans to release that update for 12.04 LTS users? I have been extremely pleased with 4.9.2 and I am very grateful that it was made available for Precise, so please don't take this as me complaining or anything, I am simply curious. Thanks.

I was wondering the same thing. Eager to try out 4.9.3 but wanting to stick with 12.04 for now. I will remain patient and keep the backports repo enabled.

[Teunis]

Before Kubuntu I used Knoppix, Red Hat and Win98, I like the integration of applications and configurability.
And in my eyes it looks good.

[michel]

Consumer research is becoming a big thing in Linux lately, what have you been using before Kubuntu and what are the features you like most about it?

Michel

[Mr_Bumpy]

Woo-hoo! This excites me greatly
For the first time ever, I'm planning to stay with the LTS release this time. I've got my triple-OS-boot house of cards working so well right now, I don't want to mess with it. Being able to get at least one more bugfix update for KDE 4.9 will help me be content with my stay on LTS. HUGE thanks to all the volunteers who make this possible!

I have never been happier with an OS than I am currently with Kubuntu.

[benny_fletch]

So we wait until we get prompted for an upgrade?

Correct, as long as you have kept the precise backports repo active it will eventually show up as an update.


@OneLine - Thanks for the update!

[michel]

So we wait until we get prompted for an upgrade?

Michel

[OneLine]

Precise & 4.9.3

http://irclogs.ubuntu.com/2012/11/07...ntu-devel.html

...
* yofel goes working on 4.9.3 for precise
...
yofel 4.9.3 is uploaded here: https://launchpad.net/~kubuntu-ppa/+...ages?batch=200 and will build in due time. (DON'T USE THAT PPA ON YOUR SYSTEM) 21:48
pedahzur yofel: Oh, I know...I won't use staging. I'll wait until it appears in the PPA I already have configured. 21:58
yofel the builders are currently a bit busy, so that might take a day or so 21:58
pedahzur yofel: No worries. Great to know it's in progress. 21:59
...

[benny_fletch]

Earlier: http://www.kubuntuforums.net/showthr...tandard-repos)
--> http://www.kubuntuforums.net/showthr...l=1#post307874

If you want to be sure - you could ask this from the kubuntu-developers at #kubuntu-devel

Cool, thanks. I can understand the thought process here and like I said I was just curious. I was kind of hoping 12.04 would at least receive the next to two bugfix releases for 4.9, but again, I understand there is limited man power and they want to focus on 12.10 and 13.04 (12.04 is old news I guess). Again, thanks for the reply.

[OneLine]

Earlier: http://www.kubuntuforums.net/showthr...tandard-repos)
--> http://www.kubuntuforums.net/showthr...l=1#post307874

ScottK If you want 4.9 after 12.10 is released, I think you should use 12.10. 17:46
ScottK That's been the way we've done it in the past. 17:46

If you want to be sure - you could ask this from the kubuntu-developers at #kubuntu-devel

[benny_fletch]

I just noticed the availability of KDE 4.9.3 for 12.10 and Raring on kubuntu.org and was just wondering if there were plans to release that update for 12.04 LTS users? I have been extremely pleased with 4.9.2 and I am very grateful that it was made available for Precise, so please don't take this as me complaining or anything, I am simply curious. Thanks.

[michel]

Thanks to both.

I noticed after my upgrade that Muon was uninstalled (I re-installed it via Synaptic) and when I tried to turn desktop effects off to speed things a bit, I saw this message:

OpenGL compositing (the default) has crashed KWin in the past.
This was most likely due to a driver bug.
If you think that you have meanwhile upgraded to a stable driver,
you can reset this protection but be aware that this might result in an immediate crash!
Alternatively, you might want to use the XRender backend instead.

Any ideas about how to handle this video issue? Can I install and run sgfxi?

My card is an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4500

Michel

[benny_fletch]

Here's what I know (someone else may know more). Yes, backports are specific to release. If you notice your repo source it has "precise" in it, Quantal (12.10) will have its own in due time. This is very similar to how debian handles theirs as well with "squeeze" and "wheezy" etc. etc. or how Mepis has the Community Repo (it is a backports repo just with a different name). Backported software is newer software made to work on an older base (i.e. since 4.9 is in 12.10, the kind people here at kubuntu backported it to work on 12.04).

I would suggest keeping the repo enabled, that way you will receive any updates involving the upgraded software. Much like you would keep the Mepis CR repo enabled if you installed software from there. Basically, it just allows you to beware of any fixes that the software teams deem a necessity. If you disable the backports repo, you will not know about these fixes immediately. You can enabled/disable the repo every so often, but that is a personal choice. I for one keep them enabled.

As for the LTS, yes, all non backports software will remain legitimate supported software per the LTS. The only software that will not will be KDE, Amarok, and Calligra (there may be a few others, but I am not aware of them). All other software will be the official Precise (12.04) LTS versions. Will this cause issues in the future, I am not sure, but I feel it is worth the risk to have the latest KDE on an LTS release. YMMV.


UPDATE : Snowhog beat me to it. Look at my opinion simply as a +1 to his.

[Snowhog]

Keep it active.