KDE on future versions of Mint (+20)

[xenopeek]

Hi grabo. No I didn't write it because at the time it became pertinent to do it, somebody on the forum had already said they had created a script people could use to automatically convert a Linux Mint installation to KDE—and select some customizations—and that seemed to me to be much nicer than what I had planned to do. Time went by but that person never actually shared the script. As KDE users either settled with Cinnamon or moved to a KDE focused distro, when it had become clear the script wasn't going to be shared I didn't think there was still much interest in it.

[catweazel]

Zenopeek

Did you ever write that How TO for installing KDE over xfce?
I would be extremely interested.

viewtopic.php?p=1486597#p1486597

That seems to work.

[BG405]

Time went by but that person never actually shared the script.

This is a real shame. I was looking forward to seeing such a script; although I've rebuilt a borked KDE Plasma 4 installation (Mint 17.3) I haven't done much digging into Plasma 5 yet & writing scripts to perform such things is still ahead of me. Although P5 is now my primary choice of desktop environment this is on Manjaro (the D255E in my signature and also a Toshiba N250); however, I intend to keep the "fixed" machines on Mint & I'd much prefer to run KDE as per my original plans.

[Slarti]

. . . I didn't think there was still much interest in it.

Hi xenopeek,

For whatever it's worth, I would be very, pleased and grateful if you would do this and I feel certain that I'm far from alone. I've checked back countless times since the release of 19 hoping to find these instructions. I would be happy to add KDE as a login option and not remove anything else if that would be simpler for you to explain and not compromise stability.

It's easy to find instructions online that don't work as promised, such as my attempt last night which yielded a system having blank customization windows for every aspect of Plasma. There are many options for those with more technical knowledge than I possess but two decades of Windows does not prepare one to deal with rolling distros when a problem arises, so that eliminates many choices. In the end, I've tried lots of others and there is nothing to compare with Mint for my taste and situation.

If you're too busy, I understand and no hard feelings. Thanks!

[pbear]

As Moem said earlier, "Is anyone actually expecting that?"

[Frankus333]

G'day folks

I am another one of the (myriad of) LM users that would love to be able to keep the great stuff from KDE working properly on later versions of LM (19.* +). I am less interested in having the complete KDE DE available (which sounds like some folks think is a risk), but I am very keen to keep some great KDE apps.

The differing suggestions in various threads on how to do this is confusing for someone who is not able to manage the high level system tweaking that would ideally be required to ensure the KDE modifications work properly, including being able to be maintained with updates.

I see that the release notes for LM 19.2 XFCE recommend the addition of three packages (kdelibs-bin kdelibs5-data kdelibs5-plugins) to help keep KDE apps stable. Is that all that is necessary if it is only specific apps that I want to retain (Okular pdf reader, Dolphin file manager, Simple Scan, maybe GwenView, EDIT: and DigiKam, K3bDisk burner, Spectacle screenshot)?

EDIT: Should the install command for these packages start with sudo (it doesn't in the release notes)?? I installed via Synaptic.

In my LM 19.2 XFCE installation, I also note that there is a setting in Session and Startup > Advanced > Compatibility which allows option to "Launch KDE services on startup". What does this do; does it require additional packages to be installed (or are they already there); and is it necessary/useful if the above three recommended packages are installed?

Finally, I presume that having any KDE stuff on my LM installation would require the addition of the Kubuntu backport PPA mentioned, to ensure any and all KDE packages continue to be updated? Is anything else necessary to ensure reliable and trouble free updating of added KDE stuff?

Any comments would be gratefully appreciated.

Cheers

[Frankus333]

G’day again folks

Regarding the option of having the KDE desktop installed over another LM installation (in my case XFCE); posters note the caution that this would be unstable, or that one DE would compete with the other and mess things up. This seems to be a disputed claim.

I don’t understand how this could happen if only one DE at a time can be logged into. It seems to me that, as some contributors have noted, it would be possible and safe to have multiple DE options available, and just log into the one you want to use at any given time?

The only way I can see this being a problem is if different DEs mess with settings in the core (Kernal?) packages, either at the time of installation, or during use, or (more likely) during update/upgrade operations on the packages and/or the kernel. Is this what the (potentially) problematic mechanism is?

Also, I notice that in my LM18.3KDE installation update manager that the Kubuntu backport PPA is selected. I can’t remember if that is something I selected in the past, of if this is the default. If the latter, I wonder what else the Mint devs did to make the KDE edition, other than install the Kubuntu desktop and this PPA? If there are other important, non-cosmetic things that were required to create the KDE edition, they would obviously be missing from any attempt to just add KDE (Kubuntu?) desktop and PPA, and remove XFCE desktop. The question is how critical would those omissions be for stability into the future?

In my case I am hoping that by installing only the KDE apps I want as mentioned above, along with the PPA, the possibility for messing things up would be that much less.

Again, any comments most welcome.

[Frankus333]

G'day again folks

No takers for my above questions in previous two posts? Maybe they are too far away from the front of the forum pages?

I installed Dolphin, Simple Scan, Okular and Gwenview, as well as the Kubuntu PPA, and set the option to load KDE services on startup. I did not remove anything.

Apart from Dolphin, the other apps seem to work fine. I like the options for markup that Okular provides.

Dolphin seems not to have all its options available or working properly; in particular, the option to open a root terminal at specific locations. I also notice that it cannot facilitate access to my photos on my iPhone, which Thunar does. Dolphin can't do this in my LM18.3 KDE installation either; seems Thunar is ahead on this particular feature. The preview feature shows the photos properly in the KDE Dolphin, but no the XFCE Dolphin.

Maybe I'll try the complete KDE DE installation (dual DEs) and see if that gives me what I want.

I would still love to hear answers to my above questions, to better understand what is going on with these options.

Cheers

[Hugh Neutron]

I use KDE tools like Krita, Okular and KdenLive and swear they are the best against GTK competitors. Okular is seriously the best PDF viewer in the FOSS world!

I love the KDE Plasma and Classical KDE desktop but if you install KDE in Linux Mint it becomes bootleg Kubuntu 18.04 LTS. It has none of the features that make Mint itself.

[MtnDewManiac]

I love the KDE Plasma and Classical KDE desktop but if you install KDE in Linux Mint it becomes bootleg Kubuntu 18.04 LTS. It has none of the features that make Mint itself.

But xenopeek stated in post #... Well, this forum software is unable to display post numbers in threads, but it was one in this very thread where he stated that Device Manager, Update Manager and Software Manager would be available regardless of the DE.

Regards,
MDM

[pcpunk]

I should add that I very much miss KDE from Linux Mint, it was my first Linux Distro that I really liked. So much so that I just installed KDE 18.3 because I like it so much better than any other Mint Distro, or any other distro out there. I should try KDE Neon as someone said that is the official KDE Platform. I am running Kubuntu for this same reason on another more powerful desktop.

Just put Mints KDE 18.3 on this machine, just for people that want to see what type of machines it can be installed to. Runs like a champ so far!

Code: Select all

System:    Host: pcpunk-HP-Pavilion-dv6-Notebook-PC Kernel: 4.10.0-38-generic x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 5.4.0)
           Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.8.9 (Qt 5.6.1) Distro: Linux Mint 18.3 Sylvia
Machine:   System: Hewlett-Packard (portable) product: HP Pavilion dv6 Notebook PC v: 0499100000243010000620000
           Mobo: Hewlett-Packard model: 144C v: 65.38 Bios: Hewlett-Packard v: F.29 date: 11/07/2011
CPU:       Dual core Intel Core i3 M 350 (-HT-MCP-) cache: 3072 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 9043
           clock speeds: max: 2266 MHz 1: 1333 MHz 2: 1066 MHz 3: 1066 MHz 4: 1199 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Intel Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller bus-ID: 00:02.0
           Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1366x768@59.64hz
           GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Ironlake Mobile GLX Version: 2.1 Mesa 17.0.7 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card Intel 5 Series/3400 Series High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.10.0-38-generic
Network:   Card-1: Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1000 [Condor Peak] driver: iwlwifi bus-ID: 02:00.0
           IF: wlo1 state: up mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
           driver: r8169 v: 2.3LK-NAPI port: 2000 bus-ID: 03:00.0
           IF: enp3s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 282.1GB (10.8% used) ID-1: /dev/sda model: Hitachi_HTS72322 size: 250.1GB
           ID-2: USB /dev/sdb model: USB_Flash_Drive size: 32.0GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 19G used: 6.7G (38%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5
           ID-2: /home size: 80G used: 328M (1%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda6
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 52.0C mobo: N/A
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 221 Uptime: 2:36 Memory: 1676.2/3749.4MB Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 5.4.0                                                                 
           Client: Shell (bash 4.3.481) inxi: 2.2.35                           

[zorxique]

@pcpunk

How did you get KDE installed? I have been trying for a while and I keep getting told that it can't be installed due to missing keys.

[Moonstone Man]

@pcpunk

How did you get KDE installed? I have been trying for a while and I keep getting told that it can't be installed due to missing keys.

If you scroll up and read from the top of this page, going in a downward direction, there is a link that you might find useful.

[pcpunk]

@pcpunk

How did you get KDE installed? I have been trying for a while and I keep getting told that it can't be installed due to missing keys.

I'm sorry, I should have made clear that I "Installed" the distro, and not just the DE! I installed 18.3. So if you have further questions on Installing KDE then start a thread and link me to it here or with a PM.

[rossdv8]

After moving back to Mint 19 Xfce from KDE3 on Mint 17.3 and and Plasma 5 on Mint 19.3 Xfce, I decided not to do my usual Two Root Partitioning system on the new 1TB SSD.
But after I set Mint 19 Xfce up on the new SSD I plugged the old 500GB drive in to access some of the data.

I noticed Mint 19.3 and Mint 17.3, both on sbd in GRUB. So out of curiosity I selected one. It booted. I selected the other. Also booted.

So I update both and upgraded the one with Plasma 5. I've been playing around with Plasma 4 and Plasma 5 all afternoon, and just now booted back into Mint 19.3 Xfce on the 1TB SSD again.

For anyone interested in running KDE Plasma as well as Xfce on Mint, there is one very successful way to go.
Set up a Hard Drive with 2 x 25GB partitions plus the rest of the Hard Drive as another Partition. Boot from the live medium and Install Mint Xfce with /root on one of the 25GB partitions and /home on the other (on my 500GB drive it was 420GB).
Leave the second 25GB partition alone for now, Do not choose a mount point or name for it. But remember what it is called in parted. My first root 25GB came up as sda, my /home came up as sda5 and my second root came up as sda7

Once all that is working, boot from your live medium again and install again, this time install /root to the second 25GB drive and /home still mounts exactly where it was (on the 420GB partiton again).

If things sound confusing, when you first partition the drive, make 1 x 23GB drive (as Ext4), 1 x 28GB drive (as Ext 4) and the rest of the drive (again in my 500GB drive there was 420GB left over) as Ext 4.
That way when you are installing the second time you will know to have another root.
Hint !!
Keep the 23GB one for plain Xfce.
Use the 28GB drive to install Plasma. It takes up a bit of extra space as do the Plasma apps.

Now when you reboot the system grub should offer you a choice of 2 Mint Xfce entries. One will be default (position 0). Decide whether you mostly want to run Plasma, and be able to boot Xfce if stuff goes wrong. Or if you mostly want to run Xfce, and boot into plasma just to see what it is like. You can always change the default later if you change your mind.

Plasma 5 goes over the top of Mint 18 Xfce and Mint 19 Xfce perfectly. It is a lot harder to install easily (and working perfectly) on Mate or Cinnamon. Been there - done that. They DO work, but Plasma doesn;t play as nicely with them as it does with Xfce.

By having another root on the side, you can quickly open your backup system, and still have ALL your data intact in /home. With mate and cinnamon, some of the settings from Plasma that are stored in /home used to try to cross over when you installed Plasma over them. It doesn't seem to happen in Xfce, probably because there is more arms length between some of the GTK and QT stuff. I'm only guessing here. The point is that Plasma and Xfce seem content together.

The only downside of Plasma is it seems awfully slow sometimes compared with Xfce, but that's mostly initial boot time and first time opening 'some' programs. Once you boot Mint Xfce WITH Plasma and plain Mint Xfce a few times you soon get used to it.
I like to go back into Plasme just for the things it can do that nothing else can. But sometimes it is refreshing to drop back into Xfce because I'm not waiting 5 minutes for plasma to boot. Xfce = 23 seconds. Plasma = 4.7 minutes.

Xfce = looks nice and everything is snappy.
Plasma = Looks absolutely stunning and is like entering another planet. Warp drive into some sort of future world. And once a program has opened the first time, it seems to preload in case I want it later.

[rossdv8]

Dolphin seems not to have all its options available or working properly; in particular, the option to open a root terminal at specific locations

$ sudo su works once you open a terminal in any normal folder in Dolphin

Right click > Open terminal (unless you have enabled the Open Terminal toolbar button)
$ sudo su [Enter root password]
#

How did you get KDE installed? I have been trying for a while and I keep getting told that it can't be installed due to missing keys.

In my case, starting with a fresh install of Mint 19.3 Xfce I installed a couple of things through Synaptic.
It was relatively simple. I think I searched kde and I know I installed
kde-standard
(The KDE Software Compilation is the powerful, integrated, and easy-to-use Free
Software desktop platform and suite of applications.
This metapackage includes the KDE Plasma Desktop and a selection of the most
common used applications in a standard KDE desktop.

If it shows the 'Plasma Desktop' option at the Login screen after reboot, you can easily add other bits. If not, a quick search in Synaptic of kde and kde 5 and kde5 will give you the options needed.

I can;t remember exactly what else I used because I have changed drives to an SSD, although my old 19.3 Xfce still boots from that drive on USB via GRUB if I want.

[Pierre]

that's actually, still the best way to get the KDE Desktop on an LinuxMint System:
- - actually download & Install the XFCE version, first off.
then add-in the mint-meta-kde via Package Manager aka synaptic.

NB: it's best to *not* mix the Cinnamon version & the KDE version of the LinuxMint System,
or the Mate Desktop version, either.

the same also applies to an mix of XFCE & Mate Desktop, as well - - they often don't play nicely together,
but, the Mate & Cinnamon Desktops, do seem to work out, as that's what is on most of my PCs these days.

[Frankus333]

Thanks Pierre

mint-meta-kde does not seem to be in Synaptic. Other mint-meta- packages seem to be quite small, less than 6KB, for supposedly containing requirements for another desktop. Maybe they invoke lots of other packages once selected?

I thought there was a terminal string that would install a complete new desktop; presumably that invokes everything needed?

[kc1di]

Thanks Pierre

mint-meta-kde does not seem to be in Synaptic. Other mint-meta- packages seem to be quite small, less than 6KB, for supposedly containing requirements for another desktop. Maybe they invoke lots of other packages once selected?

I thought there was a terminal string that would install a complete new desktop; presumably that invokes everything needed?

Meta packages are just a set of scripts that download and install all needed packages for the Desktop selected. Your right I can't find it in 19.3 repositories either.

[xenopeek]

mint-meta-kde is only available in Linux Mint 18.x repositories; http://packages.linuxmint.com/search.ph ... t-meta-kde. This is unlikely to work on Linux Mint 19.x or above.