Honestly I'm not sure why I'm here exactly. I just upgraded to Ubuntu 12.04 64 bit, I'm trying to figure out what to use for desktop, pim, etc., etc., etc. I had 2 weeks ago done a clean install of 11.10. I discovered some apps from the KDE line-up that I really liked (despite the ongoing nightmare with the PIM suite on my setup which I am still using LOL) I just really hated Plasma. Although this computer with the HDTV acting as a monitor can display it; my GeForce just isn't going to play nice with it. So I tried KDE/Openbox but for some reason the Plasma comes and goes there as well and I was having issues even installing things due to graphical reasons.

So now I'm looking to install but don't find a version without dependency on Plasma. Is there a way to uninstall without it uninstalling everyihing else. Or a way to make it non-functioning while letting the other KDE apps work? Since I'm basically an Ubuntu person, I'm not familiar with the documentation, tips & tricks, etc for KDE. If you just want to give me some links or a good URL to start looking through I'd really appreciate it!

smcrossman

If you don't want to use plasma you can just use any other desktop manager of your choice, All KDE applications will still work (except for plasma widgets, obviously). A very simple choice is, for example, LXDE.

Greetings

You must start from answering simple question: how do you define KDE SC?

For me, KDE SC is set of applications that offer unified look and feel. Plasma is core of that package, so it is impossible to have KDE SC without Plasma.

But, as scummos mentioned, all KDE apps will work outside Plasma desktop. So you can use any desktop environment or window manager with KDE apps (Okular, Dolphin, Gwenview, KDE PIM etc.).

KDE apps are Qt-based, while most DE are GTK-based. There is nothing wrong in mixing Qt- and GTK-based apps, but you may find yourself running short on memory (depends on your hardware). To prevent that, you may give Razor, a new DE, a try. Apart from KDE SC, this is only Qt-based DE out there. There is PPA for (K)Ubuntu: https://launchpad.net/~razor-qt/+archive/ppa/

Running low on memory because of the memory needed for Qt and Gtk will only be of concern for very very low-end systems, such as those with 256MB memory or less, I'd say. On those, you probably don't want to run KDE anyways.

Minio is right, of course, in that plasma and kwin together provide the core parts of the KDE desktop. However I don't think it's the core of the KDE software compilation; after all it's not like applications like kate or dolphin or gwenview would be built around plasma or kwin...

Greetings,
Sven

Thanks. I agree with the feelings that it works as a full system. My netbook can't handle the drain of Plasma and I personally prefer more personalization & customization on my desktop than what I fave been able to find with Plasma. Yeah I know just strange. I think that the software design is a lot like well fitting puzzle pieces and Plasma when set up right provides the perfect surface to work with and show them off.

did install LXDE today just the window manager not the whole metapackage, but it just isn't enough for me. I might try out Razor, although I've got a pretty serious mix of GTK & Qt going anyway. Memory issues aren't truly an issue with this PC....it's not high on memory but its danmed good considering its 6-7 years old. But I haven't found a DE yet that really snaps for me. Thanks for the suggestion.

smcrossman wrote:personally prefer more personalization & customization

The only more popular environment that I think can compete (and maybe win) with plasma in terms of customization is Enlightenment. Others have become quite locked down as of late. I might be missing something, though.

Yeah, I also doubt you will find something more customizable than kwin/plasma-desktop. On the other hand, there's desktop environments which give you an enteirely different preset and allow only little configuration from there, still yielding a totally different user experience in the end.

Other DEs/WMs you might want to try include xfce, awesome (needs a bit of configuration), e17/enlightenment (very fancy even on low-end hardware), or stuff like fvwm-crystal, which I also find quite nice.

Greetings

To be honest...I hadn't used plasma in about 12 months or more. At that time I was having a lot of memory issues and a LOT of crashes then on the netbook it just seemed unable to do anything. After a complete merging of partitions, re-partitioning and re-installing 12.04 I've been using plasma for a couple of days. Much better than I previously experienced. For most of the past year I've been using xfce, which after you get through the initial what the h*** do I do with this blank screen (yes errors in my system) can work out pretty well. It just didn't want to play so nice with several of the KDE apps.

I looked at the prospect of installing 4.8 from non-Ubuntu sources; but I'm still having issues getting the dependencies and such updated for Ubuntu....even though it was a clean install twice now. I did play with fvvm-crystal and razorqt before the system decided to refuse any entry to my directory in /home, and then decided to prune the file system leaving me with less than half the OS. I can be dangerous trying to fix things, but I'm learning to be much more cautious, and to keep better records. Razor showed promise...but again a major learning curve. I didn't care for fvvm. Regardless, I did install kwin this time left off all the other window managers except what was installed originally. I'll have to see how it work out and what I can trim down so I can make this part of the upgrade on the netbook.

Thanks for all the input. Sometimes I just need a couple of pushes to re-explore previous history and try it again!