FOSSwire

Back last month I covered a quick KDE tip on how to set the Num Lock key on when you log in to KDE.

While that generally works, it doesn't cover the KDE login screen (or KDM).

You might wonder why this is an issue, but I have found that on my Kubuntu Hardy system, if you don't have Num Lock on at the KDM screen, the keyboard Num Lock light will stay off when you log in to KDE. KDE will then dutifully turn Num Lock on, but the light won't go on for some reason.

This results in the confusing state of having the Num Lock light on the keyboard display the opposite to what the current Num Lock status is.

To fix this, you can set Num Lock on at the login screen, which toggles the light correctly.

Unfortunately, I can't find any way to change this setting graphically, so here's how to do it through configuration files. The file you need to edit is kdmrc.

The exact location of that file might vary according to your distribution. Here on Kubuntu it's /etc/kde3/kdm/kdmrc, but it might be in a share directory somewhere.

Try this to find it:

$ locate kdmrc

Open that file up in a text editor. You will probably need to have administrator privileges, so press Alt-F2 and type this:

kdesu kwrite /etc/kde3/kdm/kdmrc

In that file, find the first section that begins:

[X-*-Greeter]

Right after that line, add this:

NumLock=On

Save the file and quit. To see your changes, you might need to restart KDM. The easy, but slower, way to do this is to restart the computer, but you can also try pressing Ctrl-Alt-Backspace to restart the graphics server which should bring KDM back up again.

Num Lock should now be on at the login screen. Shame it had to be so complicated.

Adept is the graphical package management program included with Kubuntu, which is also available for Debian and other Linux distributions that use the apt package management system.

While Adept does the job for most software management tasks, it isn't exactly the quickest application when it comes to starting up.

KDE Software Installer is an alternative program for installation of applications from the Debian and Ubuntu repositories. I thought I would put it through its paces briefly.

I downloaded the .deb file for Kubuntu Hardy Heron, and double-clicked it to install. Once installed, it goes into the System category on your K menu, and is labelled as Add/Remove Applications (much like the GNOME version of Ubuntu's default package installer).

It does not replace the Add/Remove Programs entry, however, on the root of the K menu, which still launches the standard Adept installer. This could potentially be a little confusing as to which program is which.

Once you have got the new App Installer launched, the interface looks like the following screenshot.

Compared to the standard Adept installer, it is slightly simpler and more compact. Unlike with Adept, the categories on the left in the new program fit nice and neatly even at small window sizes, which makes the application feel less cluttered.

In addition, many of the more advanced options that Adept offers, including editing the Sources list are hidden, making it more suitable for newbies and people that don't want to have to think about the details of what they are doing.

The categories on the left instantly show their contents and the speed claims over Adept Installer seem to be founded in my experience. Launching the application is quick enough that you don't notice, and there is no long wait to load in software information and populate the interface.

To make it even quicker, this program also supports minimising to a tray icon. The little green arrow in the interface makes the application disappear, all but for a rocket tray icon, which you click to restore. I'm not entirely convinced that having this hiding functionality is really necessary or particularly useful, but it does work as advertised.

Enough about the interface - how well does it actually do the job of installing packages?

Ticking a program in the list to install makes its entry highlight in green.

Clicking the Apply Changes button then shows you a handy preview of all the changes you've queued before allowing you to kick off the download and installation.

Unfortunately, the application's handling of getting administrator rights to do the installation is poor at best currently. After you OK the download, the application window turns into a giant terminal with the standard sudo prompt in it. Users that have used sudo before will know what to do, but for newbies (which this application up until this point does a great job at catering for) may be a little intimidated by the geekiness of it all.

There's also no graphical progress beyond this point - you literally now watch the result of command-line apt.

Once the normal installation process is done, you are prompted to press Enter and then return back to the app. There's a distinct lack of positive visual confirmation here.

If the installation process were as simple and pretty as the selection of packages, this alternative software installer would be perfect for newbies who don't want or need to know the intricacies of Debian package management to install stuff.

Don't get me wrong - it's still a great program if you want a graphical interface to apt with less cruft and aren't scared by the scrolling text. If you currently use Adept, but are frustrated with its far-from-quick operating speed, it's great.

I just think that with some work, this could be a great program for making the process of installing software packages that little bit more friendly.

As promised, here I'm going to take a look at the new 'KDE 4 Remix' version of Kubuntu.

For the uninitiated, let me explain. The latest version of the KDE variant of Ubuntu, has two versions - the standard disc featuring KDE 3.5.9, and this KDE 4 Remix disc, which features the new KDE 4.0 release.

In this review, I'm going to focus on this distro from the user's perspective. There's plenty of cool stuff under the hood of KDE 4, but here, I'll focus on what you can actually see and play with, as that's what will probably sway people to using this release or the official one.

So, without further ado, let's load up the KDE 4 Remix disc.

Once you've gone through with the installation process, which is virtually identical to that of the standard KDE 3 disc, you get greeted with the Kubuntu KDE4 desktop.

It features an attractive blue abstract desktop background, with the black KDE bar running across the bottom. The K menu is obvious and clear, and therefore should be very simple to pick up if you've ever used KDE before. More on the K menu later, however.

The KDE 4 spin of Kubuntu apparently lacks overt Kubuntu branding and from the user's perspective looks like a stock copy of KDE 4 without modifications.

One of the first things you may notice is this weird looking icon in the top right.

Hovering over it reveals an option to add a new widget. KDE 4 features a new widget engine integrated into the new Plasma desktop. Right now there are only a handful, including clocks, a battery monitor, application launchers and other utilities like that. Despite being few in number, the widgets are attractive and functional.

Unfortunately, not all widgets that were compatible with KDE 3's SuperKaramba application work with the new system at the current stage. Aside from this, KDE 4's widget system is solid, if lacking in variety at the current time.

The K menu is KDE's central location for starting applications, much akin to Windows' Start menu. Previous editions of KDE have had a simple scrolling menu with application categories that then expand to allow the user to launch individual applications. There was access to other items, like settings, but it was more of an afterthought.

The new K menu has been reworked and now features several categories across a bar at the bottom. The Favourites bar records the items you use from the menu most frequently, and allows for easy access to your favourite things.

The Applications category works more in the traditional K menu style, but adopts a Vista-style scrolling system rather than cascading submenus out all over the screen. This makes it a lot clearer and keeps everything in one place.

The Computer category offers access to system settings and common places, while obviously the Recent category and Leave category do pretty much what they say on the tin.

Overall, I'm a fan of the new menu. Admittedly it will take some adaptation for me personally, when I do switch to KDE 4 full-time, but then I'm not a big user of the menu anyway, tending to plump for icons on the bar to launch apps, or using Alt-F2.

One of the big new things that the user will notice is a visual refresh. A new icon theme, called Oxygen, features in this release. From what I've seen, Oxygen looks professional and clean in the new interface, and most certainly a welcoming change from the Crystal icon set which has been around for a long time in KDE 3.

There's also a new control style and window decoration style for the release. The controls look modern and fresh, but I can't say I am a fan of the new window decoration. By default, there is a serious lack of contrast between the active window and the inactive window.

I find this disappointing, as it detracts significantly from KDE's usability. Previously, the default window decoration had a good contrast between active and inactive, so this feels like a step backwards.

Admittedly, it's a trivial detail to change to something better, however you lose the sense of visual consistency across the new platform.

While many of the applications have been updated to use the new functionality in the KDE 4 platform, some older, KDE 3 applications remain. KDE 3 apps fit in well with the rest of the system. There are no visual inconsistencies with the theme, as it all runs on top of the same Qt toolkit.

I couldn't really find anything that rough around the edges to be honest. What needs to happen now is for the distros to make the migration over to KDE 4 full-time, and then applications can follow suit and start taking advantage of the new underlying technology that 4 brings to the table.

Conclusion

The Kubuntu KDE4 Live spin gives you the benefit of using the new KDE 4 desktop environment in a relatively stable, tried-and-tested Ubuntu system. While it is a shame that KDE 4 couldn't make it to the official Kubuntu release, that is planned for Intrepid Ibex, perhaps this does give KDE application developers a clear signal that v4 is coming, and will hit the major distros soon.

In my time playing with this disc, I had no major problems at all. Aside from my minor annoyances with some elements of the theme, KDE 4 provides that new backend technology that application developers can use to build extremely rich applications, but also giving a new smooth visual refresh to convince users to upgrade.

For the moment, I am going to stick with the KDE 3 version of Kubuntu for my main desktop. This isn't particularly because I think the KDE 4 spin won't cut it, but more down to pragmatism (and/or laziness), as I already have the KDE 3 version up and running and right now, it serves my needs well enough.

The KDE team face a unique challenge. They need to get KDE 4 working to a level where distros ship it by default. Until that happens, there won't be a sufficient base of users to justify application developers making the jump over to the new frameworks, and therefore KDE 4 won't have enough shiny new toys. This Kubuntu implementation sends out a clear message, though - KDE 4 is coming, and it works pretty damn well.