I believe I saw the ability to run the new-ish KDE 5 desktop on openSUSE, does someone have a How-To on doing this in 13.2? Is it better to strip out KDE 4 when you do this or run both simultaneously?
Thanks!
Plasma 5 is included in 13.2, just install the package “plasma5-session”, and you should be able to select it at the login screen.
But this will uninstall the KDE4 desktop (only the desktop, not the applications).
There are also additional repos (KDE:Qt5 and KDE:Frameworks5) that contain the latest Qt5, KDE Frameworks5 and Plasma 5 versions.
See https://en.opensuse.org/SDB:KDE_repositories#KDE_Frameworks_5_.26_Plasma_5
To be able to keep your KDE4 desktop installed, I created an additional repo, that contains packages from KDE:Frameworks5 that can be co-installed with KDE4. Add this URL to your repo list (in addition to the above 2, KDE:Frameworks5 is needed in particular, as the versions in 13.2 are too old already…):
http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/wolfi323:/branches:/KDE:/Frameworks5/openSUSE_13.2/
You should give my repo a higher priority (i.e. lower priority number) than KF5 and the 13.2 main repo, so that my packages are preferred.
My repo also contains pre-release KF5 versions of many KDE4 applications like kate/kwrite, dolphin, gwenview, okular, and konsole, which also can be co-installed with their KDE4 versions.
Is it better to strip out KDE 4 when you do this or run both simultaneously?
Well, none of those really.
With the standard packages, KDE4 (the desktop) will have to be uninstalled because of package conflicts. So you cannot run both simultaneously of course.
My packages work-around this, so you can have both simultaneously (you select which one you want on the login screen), or even run them at the same time.
You don’t have to “strip out” KDE4 in either case.
I am very happy to recommend using this repo as shown above for installing kde5 alongside kde4
http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/wolfi323:/branches:/KDE:/Frameworks5/openSUSE_13.2/
It is a great way to try-out kde5 while keeping kde4. I am now spending my time between the two desktops on a 50/50 basis.
So I’m certain, KDE is separated into different “sections” basically correct - The Plasma desktop, the Qt, the applications, and the Frameworks?
And you can run the desktop (Plasma) without actually using the other 3?
Sorry, I’m very new to KDE =/
Basically, yes.
Actually in KDE4 already, since 5 years.
As you might have noticed, kdebase4-workspace (KDE4’s plasma) is still at version 4.11.
But there, everything was still released together as “KDE SC” (Software Compilations).
And you can run the desktop (Plasma) without actually using the other 3?
Well, You can run the desktop without the applications, yes. (they haven’t even been released yet)
You can just continue to use your KDE4 applications, just like you can run GNOME applications (or whatever). That’s true for all other desktops as well, though: you can run GNOME applications in KDE4 and vice-versa, and so on.
You can not run Plasma 5 without Qt5 or Frameworks 5 though, as Plasma 5 is built on top of Frameworks 5 which is built on top of Qt5.
Just like you cannot run KDE4 without Qt4, or GNOME without GTK.
Frameworks 5 are the KDE libraries, what kdelibs4 is in KDE4 (but split into smaller parts).
If you speak of the repositories, well, I already tried to explain:
First of all, Plasma 5 is included in openSUSE 13.2, as is Qt5 and Frameworks 5 (but no KF5 applications, as they are not released yet). So you do not have to add any repo to use it, just install the package plasma5-session.
Then there are the additional repos KDE:Frameworks5 and KDE:Qt5, you can add those to get the latest versions of Frameworks 5 (including Plasma 5), and Qt5 repectively. They are essentially the same as KDE:Current (or rather KDE:Distro:Factory) and KDE:Qt for KDE4.
But those packages conflict with KDE4.
I have created an additional repo with packages that don’t conflict (so that you can keep KDE4 and switch between them). But I only build the packages that actually conflict in there (to avoid unnecessary work and problems), in particular not the Frameworks, as they are independent of KDE4 anyway and can be installed side-by-side.
As Plasma5 and the applications are in heavy development, they already require newer Frameworks as shipped with 13.2, so you have to add the KDE:Frameworks5 repo too if you want to use my packages.
That is a really good explanation, thank you much! lol!
And do the normal KDE4 updates come within the openSUSE updater? As in, KDE release a bug fix 11/11/2014 - 4.14.3, will this update come into my Apper section for updating, or do I have to add a repo or do something to get the update?
Yes, you’ll get 4.14.3 via the standard updates.
But KDE 4.14 is the last KDE4 release. And 4.14.3 the last bugfix release for 4.14.
The next KDE release will be 14.12 in about a month (with monthly bugfix updates), this is KDE4 with selected applications based on KF5 already.
I’m not sure whether the updated KDE4 applications/kdelibs4 will be released as standard updates for openSUSE 13.2 (at least the applications release is not strictly bugfix-only).
The desktop (kdebase4-workspace, which is still at 4.11) will continue to get bugfix releases (by KDE) until ~August 2015. AFAIK those will be released for 13.2 as standard updates too (if there are fixes that rectify an update).
JFYI, i’ve submitted KF5 5.4.0 and Plasma 5.1.1 to 13.2 maintnance, so sooner or later those would also suffice. I hope the same will be possible with 5.5.0/5.1.2…
On Tue, 11 Nov 2014 13:36:02 GMT
wolfi323 <wolfi323@no-mx.forums.opensuse.org> wrote:
> To be able to keep your KDE4 desktop installed, I created an
> additional repo, that contains packages from KDE:Frameworks5 that can
> be co-installed with KDE4. Add this URL to your repo list (in
> addition to the above 2, KDE:Frameworks5 is needed in particular, as
> the versions in 13.2 are too old already…):
> http://tinyurl.com/ozr3tlx
> You should give my repo a higher priority (i.e. lower priority number)
> than KF5 and the 13.2 main repo, so that my packages are preferred.
I’ve tried your repo, Wolfi, and not found it necessary to change
priorities.
One oddity that I’ve noticed is that the appearance of some apps in my
KDE4 session (Dolphin, YaST, for instance) changed immediately after
installing plasma5-session and now look like plasma5.
–
Graham P Davis, Bracknell, Berks.
openSUSE Tumbleweed (64-bit); KDE 4.14.2; AMD Phenom II X2 550
Processor; Kernel: 3.17.1; Video: nVidia GeForce 210 (using nouveau
driver); Sound: ATI SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA)
Well, it is not necessary.
But I would recommend it, to make sure my packages are preferred. I cannot guarantee that they always will have higher build numbers than the ones from KDE:Frameworks5.
Once you installed a package from my repo, it shouldn’t matter, as the package management doesn’t switch a package to a version from another repo automatically anyway.
One oddity that I’ve noticed is that the appearance of some apps in my
KDE4 session (Dolphin, YaST, for instance) changed immediately after
installing plasma5-session and now look like plasma5.
No, I’m sure they didn’t change just by installing plasma5-session.
You must have logged in to Plasma 5 too, no? Or at least run systemsettings5.
That’s because KF5 also changes KDE4’s settings, so KDE4 applications don’t look alien in a Plasma 5 session.
(Obvious) workaround: Use a different user for testing/using Plasma 5, or change Plasma 5’s settings to match KDE4’s (the application appearance at least, i.e. fonts, color scheme, widget style, icon theme, the desktop does not matter).
But that doesn’t apply to YaST, as that is a Qt5 application anyway (in 13.2 at least).
In this case, it’s probably because you installed breeze as well, which is the default style in Qt5/KF5, and so is used for YaST (if available) if you didn’t configure anything else (for root, that is).
In this case, it's probably because you installed breeze as well, which is the default style in Qt5/KF5
This is due to breeze. Which is a look I really like. If I ever removed kde5 from my system (for whatever reason) I would keep breeze installed.
Breeze is available for KDE4 as well, as you probably know.
The package is called “breeze4-style”, included in 13.2 (but not installed by default I guess). 
Breeze is available for KDE4 as well, as you probably know.
The package is called "breeze4-style", included in 13.2 (but not installed by default I guess).
Thanks for that - I didn’t know that.