KDE was the first desktop environment I really stuck with on Linux, previously I'd just used Blackbox and whatever apps seemed to work. For me, it peaked around KDE 3.2 - it felt like a nicely structured, object-oriented system. You could open up KOffice documents in tabs in Konqueror alongside web pages, thanks to KParts. Every address bar and file dialog could connect to any protocol, thanks to KIO. KMail and KNode were functional and consistent. KDevelop was very nice, for someone coming from a Visual C++ background. And Atlatik stole more hours than I can remember.
I have to admit I drifted off to OS X for most stuff, but I still have fond memories of how well thought out, consistent and tasteful everything was.
Same here. First Linux desktop I ever used was running KDE 1. I kept using KDE for years, up to 3.x, because it was just incredibly integrated, fast, and functional. I cannot shake the feeling that it was engineered, or at least directed by a single competent person with a vision. I don't know if that's true, but KDE 1 to 3 had that "single mind" feeling, as opposed to "designed by committee."
After that, I moved to OS X for various reasons, until recently when the latest OS X 10.11 and 10.12 drifted so far away from the original OS X concept as to turn me away.
As a newly returned Linux user, I tried Gnome Shell in Ubuntu, but recycled its bytes in a couple of days. Then I tried the latest KDE 5, which was even worse, an ungodly monstrosity. I briefly toyed with the idea of using a supposedly modern fork of KDE 3 (http://www.trinitydesktop.org) but then settled for Cinnamon on Mint.
Still, KDE 3 was definitely some sort of pinnacle in desktop computing. Maybe the Trinity guys are not entirely crazy!
Same here, KIO was incredibly useful. As a young dev, I was amazed at the ability to open a file on the server as if it was on my hard drive. I still have fond memories of KDE in the early years before flashy looks became a must have feature.
same. 3.x was my default environment for so long. it was nice to have all the basic working well out of the box, instead of having all the apps talking a different dialect, especially on how they talked to the clipboard.
Yes, KDE 3.2 was a huge enhancement over 3.1. I had a slow PC and 3.1 was awfully sluggish, but 3.2 seemed to run fine on it from a Live CD (probably Knoppix). It took an awfully long time for KDE 3.2 to hit Debian unstable---I remember reading debian-kde archives on the edge of my seat...
Amarok 1.4 was the best audio player ever. My most beloved feature - changing queue position of song in a playlist with mousewheel. Second - could reorganize your files by Artis/Album/Song.mp3.
I remember having my friends over for parties and when they saw Amarok - instantly wanted to try Linux. It was, imo, the killer app of Linux.
When I switched to Windows 7 - tried to customize foobar2000 to make it feel like Amarok, but it wasn't the same. :/
Yeah that takes me back to sitting in front of a huge ass 19" CRT monitor, setting up computers in a networked school class, running Mandrake Linux with KDE 1.x something.
Gotta say KDE was pretty cool then. Back then I kinda hoped Gnome would just give up and the developers focus on working on KDE instead .. but no, that's not the Linux way of things :)
I'm looking at KDE 1 and thinking it actually looks better than the latest and greatest. Aesthetically I think KDE really went downhill.
KDE 1 might not look modern, but at least the design is well thought out, consistent and not full of strangely balanced UI elements with either too much or too little whitespace.
KDE seems to either appeal to people or turn them away completely. While I appreciate all the hard work the developers have put into KDE, I have always found it to be down right ugly, regardless of version.
Do you have an example of the well thought out or consistent design? It looks very generic to me; that is, not questioning the design mistakes of the 80s and 90s like using `ctrl` for terminal and UI shortcuts.
That was my initial thought, too. But then I started thinking we should get the perspective of someone who grew up with Windows 7 rather than Windows 3.11. It could just be nostalgia talking.
Compared to the classic desktop environments like CDE or Windows 3.0/3.1 I find more modern ones too distracting, as if they try to make you to focus on them rather than on what you actually want to do. I just miss the no-nonsense, non-gimmicky look and feel of these classic, well-engineered desktop environments.
I think Unity isn't too bad about screen real estate and mostly staying out of the way, and I like the Cinnamon throw back a great deal. But what I like most of all is chucking the entire desktop metaphor into the bin and using a tiling window manager with a simple status bar and a launcher like dmenu. It's the biggest upgrade I've ever made to my computer interface, and ever since I made the move I find real desktop environments to be universally gimmicky.
I was involved with the KDE project when CMake had just been introduced. The reason for the switch to CMake (which by that time was still quite new) was that the auto*hell had become so messy that only three developers would even dare touch it to add new dependencies or compile flags etc., which is insane for a project the scale of KDE. OTOH, most developers are comfortable doing these things themselves in CMake. That's not to say there aren't parts of CMake that are still only understood by select people (hello cross compilation).
That's interesting, my experience has been the opposite. I've had multiple people inquire about my KDE5 Breeze-themed desktop because of how nice it looks.
I'm curious, what is your favorite desktop ever? What does KDE5 do wrong, and could it be fixed with a theme?
Brilliant. I remember using KDE 1 on an old Elonex laptop and on a 486 (my first experience of Linux). I remember it reaching the very configurable 3.5 series before I abandoned it and went to GNOME2, and then on to OSX...
But I have very fond memories of KDE 1. It seemed very similar to CDE on UNIX boxes. Really simple, and no needless bells or whistles.
I am tempted to install this again and use it on my RPi3 if source is available. That'll beat using WindowMaker or Blackbox on it like I do currently.
Those memories, KDE 1 was my first glimpse into the world of Linux on SuSE Linux 6.3 I think.
Many things were weird too me though, Kppp for example didn't support ISDN4Linux. Also connection on demand was not perfect, it would connect without the need. But that is another topic for another time.
Oh man. I had already forgot about ISDN4Linux. Spent two weeks just getting the ISDN working, writing scripts, compiling the kernel. Imagine nowadays spending 2 weeks to get online, reading HOWTOs, having to write shell scripts (to dial the ISP and hangup) just to get basic functionality ..oh yeah that's wifi and linux these days ;)
The sad thing is, it looks way more practical and tasteful than KDE5. I would say I miss nice DEs, but that's not true: i3 is way nicer than any DE has been, for me.
i3 user here. I call it the best system for 2% of people, and the other 98% HATE it. One time I left it up and my wife had to use it when I wasn't home. Talk about a unfun conversation. BUT I still use most of the KDE programs.
KDE is by far my favorite Desktop Environment (i3 to me is not a DE) and I find the macOS being my least favorite. KDE unfortunately had a license issue with Qt at first and was the reason why GNOME was actually founded. Then KDE became the brunt of community anger and that reached fever pitch at KDE 4.0 (That was pushed out by Distributions due to community excitement) KDE 4.8+ has been a great DE but people would still say it was bloated even though in reality it was the same size if not smaller then Gnome 2.x.
I still use some KDE apps on Windows (Kate (now VS Code has taken over) digiKam and Okular (PDF viewer). The KDE on Windows also provides for Kritia (My favorite painting program) Here is a blog on the active project http://kfunk.org/2016/06/18/kde-on-windows-update/.
Agree completely. i3 has been an eye opener for me. I'd recently got back into Linux after Windows 10 and I went with Arch and Gnome, but Gnome really wasn't doing it for me.
Set up i3 and I haven't looked back. I love how fast switching windows is, and I like the fact I can nicely organise everything I want quickly.
I have to use Windows at work and often find myself pressing Win + 1 to switch to my browser heh.
Why do I find these retro DE more appropriate and eye pleasing than modern ones? KDE 1 with HaikuOS icons would look amazing! I was rocking WindowMaker until recently.
Building KDE 1.0 (or was it 1.1?) from source on Redhat 5.1 was the first ever major thing I did with *nix - I barely understood anything about Linux or building software at the time. I was so amazed that I even got it working.
My old Pentium 200 classic (64MB RAM from memory) barely had a working dialup connection, and it seemed to take ages to download the tarballs and build them.
I remember building 3.2 (ish?) again years later on a much much faster machine and it still seemed to take about the same about of time though :)
Ah, I still remember complaing on the mailing list that this new "Kool Desktop Environment" (yes, that was its name) had no proper HIG and it's probably better if they get some style guides ready before starting up...
The heady days of early Linux GUIs. When Tk was king and nobody thought that somebody would do something like Xt again...
When KDE 1 came out, I had installed from source on a 75Mhz PowerPC 601 with 128MB of RAM[0] running MkLinux[1]. It ran acceptably, it was much more responsive that System 7.5.
[+] [-] thom|9 years ago|reply
I have to admit I drifted off to OS X for most stuff, but I still have fond memories of how well thought out, consistent and tasteful everything was.
[+] [-] etatoby|9 years ago|reply
After that, I moved to OS X for various reasons, until recently when the latest OS X 10.11 and 10.12 drifted so far away from the original OS X concept as to turn me away.
As a newly returned Linux user, I tried Gnome Shell in Ubuntu, but recycled its bytes in a couple of days. Then I tried the latest KDE 5, which was even worse, an ungodly monstrosity. I briefly toyed with the idea of using a supposedly modern fork of KDE 3 (http://www.trinitydesktop.org) but then settled for Cinnamon on Mint.
Still, KDE 3 was definitely some sort of pinnacle in desktop computing. Maybe the Trinity guys are not entirely crazy!
[+] [-] zaphar|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] LoSboccacc|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] shmerl|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dancek|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] partycoder|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tychuz|9 years ago|reply
I remember having my friends over for parties and when they saw Amarok - instantly wanted to try Linux. It was, imo, the killer app of Linux.
When I switched to Windows 7 - tried to customize foobar2000 to make it feel like Amarok, but it wasn't the same. :/
[+] [-] inDigiNeous|9 years ago|reply
Gotta say KDE was pretty cool then. Back then I kinda hoped Gnome would just give up and the developers focus on working on KDE instead .. but no, that's not the Linux way of things :)
[+] [-] nailer|9 years ago|reply
And yeah KDE was awesome. First time I ever saw an OSS app doing UI right (before Firefox)
[+] [-] unicornporn|9 years ago|reply
KDE 1 might not look modern, but at least the design is well thought out, consistent and not full of strangely balanced UI elements with either too much or too little whitespace.
[+] [-] mrweasel|9 years ago|reply
Not that Unity or Gnome is much better.
[+] [-] duaneb|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Asooka|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Koshkin|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] z0r|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bhaak|9 years ago|reply
Someone's heaven is someone else's hell. That goes both ways.
[+] [-] majewsky|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] digi_owl|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] 127|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] uep|9 years ago|reply
I'm curious, what is your favorite desktop ever? What does KDE5 do wrong, and could it be fixed with a theme?
[+] [-] NuDinNou|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] 72deluxe|9 years ago|reply
But I have very fond memories of KDE 1. It seemed very similar to CDE on UNIX boxes. Really simple, and no needless bells or whistles.
I am tempted to install this again and use it on my RPi3 if source is available. That'll beat using WindowMaker or Blackbox on it like I do currently.
Really good to see.
[+] [-] tehabe|9 years ago|reply
Many things were weird too me though, Kppp for example didn't support ISDN4Linux. Also connection on demand was not perfect, it would connect without the need. But that is another topic for another time.
[+] [-] inDigiNeous|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Zardoz84|9 years ago|reply
Funny thing. You can run GNOME 1 over KDE 1
[+] [-] frik|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] qwertyuiop924|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] baldfat|9 years ago|reply
KDE is by far my favorite Desktop Environment (i3 to me is not a DE) and I find the macOS being my least favorite. KDE unfortunately had a license issue with Qt at first and was the reason why GNOME was actually founded. Then KDE became the brunt of community anger and that reached fever pitch at KDE 4.0 (That was pushed out by Distributions due to community excitement) KDE 4.8+ has been a great DE but people would still say it was bloated even though in reality it was the same size if not smaller then Gnome 2.x.
I still use some KDE apps on Windows (Kate (now VS Code has taken over) digiKam and Okular (PDF viewer). The KDE on Windows also provides for Kritia (My favorite painting program) Here is a blog on the active project http://kfunk.org/2016/06/18/kde-on-windows-update/.
[+] [-] Accacin|9 years ago|reply
Set up i3 and I haven't looked back. I love how fast switching windows is, and I like the fact I can nicely organise everything I want quickly.
I have to use Windows at work and often find myself pressing Win + 1 to switch to my browser heh.
[+] [-] sevensor|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Philipp__|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] oever|9 years ago|reply
http://jriddell.org/2016/10/14/kde-1-neon-lts-20-years-of-su...
[+] [-] antod|9 years ago|reply
My old Pentium 200 classic (64MB RAM from memory) barely had a working dialup connection, and it seemed to take ages to download the tarballs and build them.
I remember building 3.2 (ish?) again years later on a much much faster machine and it still seemed to take about the same about of time though :)
[+] [-] mhd|9 years ago|reply
The heady days of early Linux GUIs. When Tk was king and nobody thought that somebody would do something like Xt again...
[+] [-] eloisant|9 years ago|reply
KDE was suddenly a modern UI on Linux!
[+] [-] paraiuspau|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] albertzeyer|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cmiles74|9 years ago|reply
[0] http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/powermac/specs/powerma...
[1] http://mklinux.org
[+] [-] appelza|9 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] tofupup|9 years ago|reply