The Grey Shadow

Time goes on, and with it, new software releases come and go. So, I think it is appropriate to comment on some software I use. Let’s see:

My GNU/Linux distribution: Slackware. After all these years, I am still a Slackware user. If anything has taught me on Linux distributions during this time, is that Slackware’s stability, speed and ease of use are unmatched. The plus is that is the closest thing to having real Unix running on your box.

In fact, many would be surprised to see Slackware considered “easy-to-use”. Believe me: it is. It is very simple, and while making mistakes might be easy, recovering from the is usually very easy, too. All the defaults are sensible, and almost every software package is untouched and unpatched from the pristine sources upstream. I began using Slackware in version 9.0. The last version I used, version 13.0, was a great one; and right now I am using Slackware-current, the “development” series. Despite being in the cutting edge, -current is surprisingly stable and simple. Slackware is nowhere near perfect, but it is clearly among the best GNU/Linux distributions.

My desktop environment: KDE. I begain to use KDE with the 1.1.x release that came with Red Hat 6.2, back in 2000. I liked it a lot, but it wasn’t adequate to my desktop needs, yet. I took a new look at it when the project relesed version 2.1, and I was instantly hooked. I began to use it as my only desktop environment, and it has been so ever since. When the KDE community released version 4.0, that was a difficult point; I reverted to 3.5 until 4.1 was ready; but then, I used 4.1 and 4.2, and was generally pleased. Now I am using 4.3, and I think it is an excellent environment. Additionally, I began to help the project as a Spanish translator since version 2.2, because I wanted to give back to it.

Screenshot of KDE 4.3 on my computer

My blog software: WordPress. I began to use WordPress back at version 1.2; the latest version I’m using is 2.9, and it’s still a great platform.

I don’t plan to change this stack sometime soon. Right now, KDE SC 4.4 is right around the corner, and I am awaiting it with eager anticipation.

Yep. That darned thing left me breathless. After roughly 14-15 h of compiling (that is excluding dependencies, such as Qt which alone took > 4h, and KOffice and Kdevelop as well), I am finally using KDE 4.2. I’m typing this on KDE 4.2, using Konqueror.

After KDE 4.1 I was expecting something good, but, honestly, not that good. The old annoyances are gone and the whole thing seems to have improved by leaps and bounds. And, it’s beautiful.

It might not be perfect, but having a free desktop such as this one is a treat. Kudos to the KDE community!

(click for a larger image)

That’s right. You can read all the gory details at the announcement. This new version promises a host of improvements over previous versions.

The fact is, we’ll see. The level of outcry against KDE4 was unprecedented; the ‘nullification’ of KDE in Red Hat 8 was nothing compared to this. Even Linus Torvalds, a long-time known KDE user, is using GNOME now. Perhaps the “change shock” was too much for too many people (there’s also a response from KDE hacker Aaron Seigo and a more balanced evaluation by Bruce Byfield).

When KDE 4.0 was released, I switched back to KDE 3.5 within hours. The fact that the printing system wasn’t quite there yet, together with the absence of critical applications such as Kontact, made clear the fact that the release was not exactly usable for me. KDE 4.1 was something entirely different; here I had a completely usable desktop, even though it wasn’t able to complete with the engineering feat that KDE 3.5 is. But it convinced me enough to prompt me to switch (I hereby state that rumours of KWin 3D desktop effects running at excellent speeds on my old hardware had nothing to do with this decision ).

Now, I’m pulling sources from the Slackware source tree and I plan to compile them as soon as I can (read: if my wife doesn’t get too upset). I’m curious; it surely looks promising. As said before… we’ll see.

KDE 4.2 - Be free