KDE5 is still disaster

[braingateway]

I bought a new SSD so I decide to try KDE5 out. However, very disappointing.
the KDE5 kwallet cannot read the KDE4 ones, I tried on several KDE4 machine my wallet file actually OK and can be opened on other machines. The KDE5 just complain pwd is wrong ... I guess they just changed the encryption method and never bother to do backward propagation.
Never mind, this is common thing in KDE5. So I just open the wallet export to xml and import to KDE5. Wala.... Wait ... the Kwallet just froze ... If you want to close the wallet it keep complain about some application is using it, but actually what is using is just kwalletmanager5 ... really?! They want keep my wallet always open in the background ... Crap !
This never happened in KDE4, so no idea why it is broken now.
Then the virtualbox cannot go to seamless ... hmm... It will leave some window image residues on the desktop that's it, no window, no bottom task bar ... useless ...
Even more disappointing is the KDE5 slow as hell, the UI keep frozen from time to time. No response to mouse click, sometime no mouse move at all. And the CPU usage is 10% ... so what did the KDE5 do there?! No error log either ...
the FPS of desktop keep saying 60FPS, well this probably just screen refreshing rate. Come on, I were using very heavy animation in KDE4 never had any issue at all. In KDE5 I disabled all the animations. But nothing changed.
So guys if you have different experience please tell me how did you solved these crazy bugs.

$ plasmashell --version
plasmashell 5.8.8
KCrash: crashing... crashRecursionCounter = 2
KCrash: Application Name = plasmashell path = /usr/bin pid = 6339
KCrash: Arguments: /usr/bin/plasmashell --version
KCrash: Attempting to start /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libexec/drkonqi from kdeinit
sock_file=/run/user/1000/kdeinit5__0
# haha confused, this simple command will result in segment fault ...

$ kf5-config --version
Qt: 5.6.1
KDE Frameworks: 5.36.0
kf5-config: 1.0

[braingateway]

even `ls` is 50 times slower than KDE4. This might be the baloo, but ls took 1 mins to show 1 line result is too much.

[Hoser Rob]

My experience has been different, but I don't use kwallet and always disable KDE file indexing.

But while 18.2 KDE loads slower than the 17.3 Xfce it replaced on that machine, it actually runs just as fast overall, sometimes faster. And it only uses about 350Mb without using preload, which isn't much more than Xfce used.

So I'd be suspecting that the issue may have more to with changes in the underlying 18.x base. Please post meaningful details ... copy/paste this to the terminalo and copy/paste the text output here:

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxz

[Pepi]

I gave up on KDE around 6 months ago. Just too many weird things happening.

[blue_bullet]

I gave up on KDE around 6 months ago. Just too many weird things happening.

I did not give up. I simply continue to use LM17.3 KDE as it works fine. I also have LM18.3 KDE running on an old multiboot HP laptop I use for testing. Keeping it up to date to see if Dolphin features are brought back. Eventually KDE5 may get back to where KDE4 was. It seems to take them about a year to get most things straightened out. This time they seem to have taken an approach M$ often uses and did not worry about compatibility issues.

As a side note years ago I left Ubuntu for LM when the Gnome team dumbed down Nautilus file manager as the Gnome team knew what users wanted and needed. I hope the KDE team is not using the same approach.

[o-l-d]

If my memory serves me correctly KDE4 was also called a "disaster" when it was released. Over the development cycles it improved to be the DE that long time users love so much. I now use LM KDE 18.3 but with Plasma 5.11.5 (latest frameworks and QT installed) and can honestly say that I am quite pleased with it's overall performance.


@lastmintkde ~ $ inxi -Fxz
System: Host: lastmintkde Kernel: 4.10.0-42-generic x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 5.4.0)
Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.11.5 (Qt 5.9.3) Distro: Linux Mint 18.3 Sylvia

[catweazel]

I now use LM KDE 18.3 but with Plasma 5.11.5 (latest frameworks and QT installed)

How did you do that? Is there a link to instructions?

Edit: Did you simply do sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop?

[o-l-d]

I now use LM KDE 18.3 but with Plasma 5.11.5 (latest frameworks and QT installed)

How did you do that? Is there a link to instructions?

Edit: Did you simply do sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop?

No I find the Kubuntu desktop method only installs the latest LTS (5,8,8).

[catweazel]

I now use LM KDE 18.3 but with Plasma 5.11.5 (latest frameworks and QT installed)

How did you do that? Is there a link to instructions?

Edit: Did you simply do sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop?

No I find the Kubuntu desktop method only installs the latest LTS (5,8,8).

Ok, thanks. But how did you get 5.11.5?

[o-l-d]

Let me start by saying that after hours of working within virtual machines and being very careful I used the instructions here as a basis for adding neon repos and installing neon-desktop. DO NOT TRY this if Mint is your only installed OS. After much trial and error I now use it as my only OS on this test laptop.


Here is a link:https://gist.github.com/nihathrael/7429 ... 3269b3f95a

Again I stress this can bork your Mint and I am in no way responsible for that!

[catweazel]

Again I stress this can bork your Mint and I am in no way responsible for that!

Yes, I'm fully aware of that. Thanks for the link and the disclaimer.

Cheers.

[mr_raider]

Oooohh...frankendistro

Who wants to go first.

[o-l-d]

Oooohh...frankendistro

Who wants to go first.

lol Frankendistro I quite like that or even better FrankenMint? That is the beauty of linux and all the different distros!! Computing customized to suit your own personal needs!

(As a side note EVERYONE should know to back up all personal data and back up that back up with 2 more levels of back up)

"FrankenMint" allowed me the chance to develop my skills even further and that is something this older "uneducated hillbilly" thoroughly enjoys.

[mr_raider]

Just tried this in a 18.3 KDE virtual guest, and the process died a slow death in dependency hell.

[aes2011]

...
Again I stress this can bork your Mint and I am in no way responsible for that!

You could add that to your post in this thread where you first mention using

LM KDE 18.3 but with Plasma 5.11.5 (latest frameworks and QT installed) and can honestly say that I am quite pleased with it's overall performance.

[catweazel]

You could add that to your post in this thread where you first mention using

LM KDE 18.3 but with Plasma 5.11.5 (latest frameworks and QT installed) and can honestly say that I am quite pleased with it's overall performance.

The result for me, an experienced user, was a completely dead Mint 18.3 KDE, so people considering this action should take careful note.

[o-l-d]

I am sorry, but as I said, my success was achieved after many failures. It has been an ongoing "experiment" since Plasma 5 and KDE neon were first introduced.

[catweazel]

I am sorry, but as I said, my success was achieved after many failures. It has been an ongoing "experiment" since Plasma 5 and KDE neon were first introduced.

There's no need to apologise. The decision to try it was mine alone so I took on the risk, not you.

[RichardR]

My 2 cents:
After running Mint 18.3 KDE5 for a week (including a full reinstall), I decided to revert to 17.3 with KDE4, for quite a lot of reasons:
- KDE5 appears to have some graphics bugs. When I unlock the desktop (e.g. after being absent for a while), the text below the desktop icons is b0rked and unreadable. This is sometimes fixed by switching activities (see next point), but often only logging off and on again restores everything to normal. Refreshing the desktop (F5) doesn't do the trick.
- As KDE5 no longer supports individually configured virtual desktops, I created a new activity in order to get a clean, black desktop for playing small games and watching videos. However, switching between these activities often gets messy, with one screen of one virtual desktop getting 'stuck' in the black mode -- this happens quite often.
- Sometimes, applications requiring root privileges fail to start (most notably the KDE Partition Manager, but I recall at least one other). Only logging off and on again solves this.
- Mint 18.3 broke my CUPS functionality -- I have an old but perfectly serviceable Epson EPL-5700 laser printer configured as a network printer. Setting up this printer with the exact same recommended driver (Foomatic/hpijs-pcl5e) and Epson PPD file that worked flawlessly for years now always results in the "/usr/lib/cups/filter/foomatic-rip failed" error message. Many hours of digging through the CUPS error log (in debug mode), the Internet, and of course trial-and-error (including replacing the Mint 18.3 foomatic filter file with the one from 17.3) did not solve the problem.
- I really hate the sketchy, thin Mint 18 default theme, and installing somewhat more eye-pleasing themes didn't work all that well either -- but OK, this is merely a matter of taste, and especially with the CUPS problems being a real showstopper, I didn't spend much time trying to figure this out.

So I'll stick with 17.3/KDE4 until support runs out, and see what then-current desktop I like best as a replacement -- as I heard that KDE5 marks the end of the whole KDE desktop system anyway.

[aes2011]

... as I heard that KDE5 marks the end of the whole KDE desktop system anyway.

Link or source?