Had it with KDE, going for a fake Cinnamon LMDE...

[tek_heretik]

lemme splain...

KDE is just too bloated, and I am so sick of trying to keep nepomuk, akonadi, etc, under control. Please don't post any advice on this, you can believe me when I say "been there, done that", I mean it 100%. So on to Cinnamon...

Always liked a lot of apps from Debian and pre Gnome 3, so sir Clem comes along and creates the hybrid Cinnamon, the man is a life saver! But...

I have a dual SSD 'hardware/fake' Raid 0, I can get Wheezy or Jessie on it but not LMDE, unless Mint releases a new LMDE version with the install disk menu edit and option "dmraid=true" like Debian's, but I can't see that as a huge priority for the already very busy Mint developer team so...

I ran Jessie before, meh, too flakey, too many bugs, then I tried Wheezy with KDE on top, really solid and bug free but the pesky KDE bloat was there, so that leaves Wheezy with Cinnamon on top, lol, sounds like a desert for an asthma sufferers (just a joke asthmatics, please don't sue me )...

This is the plan, install the base command line Debian system (Wheezy/stable), no DE, not even the printer server, don't need it, my printer isn't shared over a network, just like I didn't need nepomuk and akonadi, lol, change the repo to the Mint LMDE repo, only prob is, want to stick to the Wheezy/stable level, which sections should be ommitted? I need the backport for Cinnamon but I don't want to wind up with a flakey Jessie based mess, I am guessing some of the other sections are required for dependencies dragged in by the Cinnamon desktop install.

Any suggestions? I can't be the only one that's ever tried this!

[tek_heretik]

Found this on youtube, not bad, has some nice music while you watch, better in full-screen HD, will try same thing sans the Debian Gnome 3.x desktop...

[Orbmiser]

Hmmm never had KDE bloat? As always chimed in lighter than Gnome,Unity,Cinnamon on my system.

But went with SolydK KDE and chimes in at 300mb to desktop. Ankonadi disabled by default install.
Based on Debian Testing where testing branch goes thru another round of testing then to quarterly update pack.

Don't want or use Ankonadi or neopunk myself either.

But just not getting the Too Bloated and many others have chimed in how they are running on 2gb systems or even a few on 1gb netbooks without issues.

For me on dual-core 4gb runs smooth,snappy and problem free.
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[tek_heretik]

@Orb...thanks for answering but my issue is with installing to my 'fake/hardware' Raid 0, *buntu based distros and actual Debian will install to it, I've tried SolydK, very nice distro but I don't want to feel like I wasted my time and money on my hardware setup. Besides, I've been using KDE long enough, I don't need everyting I do 'catalogued', or even feel like it is, I don't do very many local machine searches, if I search on the web, it's through a locked down browser, I use DuckDuckGo and Startpage, KDE has all these other searches engrained by default, I don't need a DE dictating to me what search I should be using. Don't get me wrong, KDE is very functional and pretty, but there are a few things I've come to dislike about it, I know KDE better than the back of my hand, every time I install it I have to go through it with a fine tooth comb and turn off numerous things I don't want or like that are enabled by default.

[Orbmiser]

Hmmm that's fine just don't understand then about what cataloging? As Mine isn't cataloging and I didn't do anything to turn it off.
Or locked down browser? or search? as use Firefox and google or can change browser search to duck or whatever I decide.

Just not getting the all these other searches ingrained into KDE that you are seeing. As I'm not seeing them.
Or not using something specific in KDE?
.

[tek_heretik]

@Orb...you aren't seriously going to make me go through all the trouble to prove this are you? You are basically calling me full of $#1+. In one of the modules in System Settings, Google is enabled by default (I am currently running Maya 13 Cinnamon and I forget exactly which KDE System Settings module at the moment and am not going to boot a live KDE optical disk just to make a screen capture for you). Frankly, I am quite surprised you've never seen it or are aware of it, as for the browser, I was just citing an example of my zeal to maintain MY privacy and not feed the insanely huge ad demographic data mining nightmare that the intrernet has become, to each their own. In most distros, I have to disable custom 'browser enhancements' and plugins, I actually prefer Ice Weasel, I want my browser the way I want it, not somebody else's idea of how it should be.

As for the 'cataloguing', what do you think nepomuk and akonadi are for? PIM and Kontact and Kmail are all a pain in the neck, if you manage to disable all that bloat garbage and click on Kmail by accident, then back out of Kmail, you get an annoying error message at shutdown (I am very aware of why and how this error message occurs and I don't want any advice on how to fix it, I know how, I just can't be bothered anymore). OK, maybe I used the wrong term, is INDEXING better? If you read my post thoroughly, you would see that I have YEARS of experience with KDE, do you really think I come on here and talk out of my @$$ (seemingly in your opinion) for a lack of something better to do? Seriously, give me some credit.

[tek_heretik]

For Orb, nothing against SolydK of course, this is probably done by default right from the 'KDE factory' so to speak, this screenshot is from a quickly booted latest version of SolydK made with unetbootin. Regardless of being a 'web shortcut' or not, I do not want ANYTHING Google enabled on my computer unless I SAY SO, that's not too much to ask, I'm even considering getting rid of the stock Android that came on my phone, it's snoopy and spammy as hell. You wanted proof, you got it.

SolydKWebShortcuts.jpeg

[Orbmiser]

I'm sorry you thought I was attacking you which wasn't my intent.
Or questioning your experiences.
Was trying to understand your misgivings which it appears isn't as much a concern or an issue for me.
As the things that concern me I can turn off or not use.

As don't use akonadi is disabled in settings with one click. And PIM and Kontact and Kmail I don't use them.

Good luck and hope you find something satisfactory in your distro choice.
Again sorry if you felt I was attacking you. It never occurred to me I was doing so.
.

[tek_heretik]

@Orb...oddly enough I may winding up using Solydk or X, lol, the fake Cinnamon LMDE was a total disaster, then I even tried installing the actual Cinnamon LMDE (the live disk says UP6), tried to update it and that was a total disaster, way too many packages being updated all at once, updates should be installed incrementally to prevent breakage, in priority sequence, it's like nobody takes this in to consideration. Sorry for any misunderstandings, you just might see me in the Solyd forum, lol.

Edit: I am downloading SolydX, going to give that a 'spin', I do like KDE but I've just grown tired of its over-complexity, one wrong click and you have hours of error message trouble shooting, it's so annoying, NOTHING should be that complicated, very reminiscent of Windows, part of the reason I left Windows long ago, the constant breakage and bloat (background hand holding bloatware, leave it running or risk nonsense, absolutely ridiculous). Mint is by far one of the best distros but my moral compass is steering me away from its Ubuntu base, Mark and his developer's ethics don't line up with mine.

Edit 2: I made a KDE joke...all the candy is OK if you don't mind being 'PIMed' to death, lol. I've never actually used any of KDE's major features, mostly 3rd party and the odd KDE utility, that's about it, I'm not the only one that dreams of a KDE Lite fork, almost makes me want to learn programming.

[ander111]

Maybe this is a silly question, but: Why not try LM XFCE? It's attractive, reliable and super-fast.

How fancy does your desktop system have to be? You're just using it to run apps, right? Does a garage have to be fancy to hold cool cars?

[Orbmiser]

I'm not the only one that dreams of a KDE Lite fork, almost makes me want to learn programming.

Isn't there or was a project Trinity? that was a stripped down KDE distro?
The pulled out all the offending stuff to make it lighter.

Have to see how that's going.
.

[tek_heretik]

Maybe this is a silly question, but: Why not try LM XFCE? It's attractive, reliable and super-fast.

How fancy does your desktop system have to be? You're just using it to run apps, right? Does a garage have to be fancy to hold cool cars?

Lol, very true what you said, and as a matter of fact, I am test driving SolydX right now, and I have to say, very fast, my only complaint, and you won't believe this, is I am having trouble finding a simple calculator that does simple %, i.e. 200+13%=226, seriously, no joke, totally bizarre, ironically, the calculator in KDE could do that, lol. Funny story, I searched kcalc in synaptic, for schizz n giggles, checked install just to see what it would drag in with it...3/4 of KDE just for a calculator, lol, absolutely ridiculous, obviously I aborted.

Bottom line, since Cinnamon and LMDE are still in their beta infancy (and are shattered quicker than a robin's egg) and SolydX is a good balance of aesthetics, lightweight, functionality (it has way more tweak settings than I thought it would) and it's been per-configured up the wahzoo already (I could install Debian Xfce myself but configuring Debian is such a pain in the keester), I think I'm going to install it. I just get the feeling using SolydX, I won't get the same bizarre bugs and errors that KDE pukes out occasionally, or they'd be easily fixed, there's a lot to be said for simplicity, KDE started out with a Volkswagen and wound up with a giant mining dump truck, lol.

[tek_heretik]

I'm not the only one that dreams of a KDE Lite fork, almost makes me want to learn programming.

Isn't there or was a project Trinity? that was a stripped down KDE distro?
The pulled out all the offending stuff to make it lighter.

Have to see how that's going.
.

Unfortunately, the last Exe GNU/Linux release was in October 2012, and it's only i386, it is still 'active' tho according to Distrowatch.

[tek_heretik]

Welp, when all the smoke cleared, I decided to go with Debian Wheezy Xfce (go to 'Alternative Desktops' in the net install menu, press tab at install or GUI install, add dmraid=true to the boot command line parameters, press enter, see this Debian Wiki for the grub GRUB_DISABLE_LINUX_UUID=true fix), I didn't spend close to $350 (including tax, I'm Canadian, we get ripped off here, lol) to have one of my Raid 0 SSDs sitting around doing nothing (sorry SolydX, you have no Raid support yet). One thing I have noticed, my system doesn't like many *buntu based distros above the last LTS release (12.0.x) for some reason, same goes for Debian, above Wheezy and it gets nasty, not sure why, maybe new bugs, who knows, my system isn't slow yet, it was high-end when I built it, it's good for a few more years for sure.

Xfce was a bit of a learning curve but well worth it (especially getting rid of the upper 'taskbar' and creating one at the bottom with everything in it, but it is doable, I'm still Windows brainwashed from years ago, lol), now I have a fast functional LIGHT desktop (HALF the processes compared to KDE, no joke) with just enough bells and whistles, getting my 1TB ntfs hdd to automount on boot was a bit of a challenge, this line

Code: Select all

/dev/sdc5 /media/1TB_storage ntfs rw,auto,users,uid=1000,gid=1000,permissions 0 2

in my fstab worked for ME, your situation may most certainly be different.

I came up with a comparison analogy for KDE, remember back in the day when you tried to uninstall Internet Exploder from Windows and it would trash your Windows installation because it was so ingrained in the OS? Well that's what KDE is like now, a multi-tentacled monster that will die or puke if you cut a tentacle off, too bad really, KDE is a nice polished desktop, if you don't mind being PIMed to death. On a final note, I found alternatives for EVERY similar KDE app to avoid dragging in half of KDE in with something as simple as Kcalc, SpeedCrunch was the closest to a simple calculator a non uber mathematician unwashed minion such as myself could understand and use.