Hi all,

I've seen many posts about the shortcomings of network configuration in KDE4, but what is the recommended method of setting up the network? I have just installed Kubuntu 8.10 + KDE4.2. Looking in System Settings I see no means of enetering static IP / default gateway etc. There is a globe icon in the tool bar which does provide a means of entering such data for each NIC - but I do not need sudo / root to enter data, and when I do, the settings just seem to be ignored.

What is the recommended (or any other) method of setting up the network?
Not CLI, surely!

thx
ff

I am of the antiquated (but nevertheless correct) opinion that the distro/OS needs to be in charge of system-level configuration, and not the desktop. That's because every distro does things a little bit different. Of course, the distro should integrate this with the desktop.

Kubuntu is in charge of this, so check with the Kubuntu docs.

p.s. There is a network configuration page in System Settings you can try. It only supports a limited number of distros however. I've found it to be rather flaky. This may be the globe icon you're referring to.

The "Globe" icon is KNetworkManager, which is extremely broken. It works some of the time ( once configured though, it is usually reliable ). It supports Static IP addresses.

A new Solid based Network Manager is being created for KDE 4, but it has made a release yet and is still in Alpha.

Kubuntu should come with KNetworkManager for KDE3. I personally recommend that you uninstall KNetworkManager until a new version for KDE4 becomes available, and use Gnome Network Manager in the meantime. KDE4+Network support is rather a mess currently, and the Gnome Network Manager is really the only solution that "just works".