Arch Linux

rbrownclown

Member

Registered: 2006-12-29

Posts: 125

Minimal KDE Install & Other Questions

I attempted to install KDE, but aborted because of all the bloat that comes with it.  Being a tired Gnome user, I can't stand bloat.  All I want is a minimal, but usable KDE.  But I also don't want it to be too minimal.  Any advise?

I have a question about updates.  In Ubuntu, the system updated painlessly (most of the time).  Is it "generally" that way in Arch, or do updates sometimes break things?  I haven't been an Arch user long enough to know.

What is with the awful OpenOffice performance?  I have J2RE installed.  In Ubuntu, it was heavy, but there wasn't a type delay!

Last, but certainly not least - CUPS.  I can't live without CUPS.  I type and print out a LOT of school related papers (which is why improving OO performance is almost equally important).  I've been a Linux user for over three years, so I'm decently experienced.  I just can't keep up with the CUPS Wiki, though.  Are there any easier guides out there?  I print to an Epson Stylus Photo 825 (which has excellent drivers) that's connected to a Windows PC on the network.  I'm not sure about the host or printer name, which has been another set back.

jwbirdsong

Member

From: Western KS USA

Registered: 2006-11-25

Posts: 173

Re: Minimal KDE Install & Other Questions

I'll only attempt to address your first two questions

I attempted to install KDE, but aborted because of all the bloat that comes with it.  Being a tired Gnome user, I can't stand bloat.  All I want is a minimal, but usable KDE.  But I also don't want it to be too minimal.  Any advise?

You may want to look into KDEMOD found HERE ..looks pretty lightweight compared to full install at least. 
If you can't stand bloat have you looked into fluxbox or similar??

I have a question about updates.  In Ubuntu, the system updated painlessly (most of the time).  Is it "generally" that way in Arch, or do updates sometimes break things?  I haven't been an Arch user long enough to know.

pacman -Syu is painless and (for the HUGEST part) pain/error free.

I'm kind of unclear about your cups problem?? Is it NOT "seeing" you printer?  Something else??

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PLEASE read and try to FIX/FILE BUGS instead of assuming other have/will.

Pajaro

Member

Registered: 2004-04-21

Posts: 884

Re: Minimal KDE Install & Other Questions

1 - install kdemod http://www.kdemod.ath.cx/

2 - Everybody talks about how Arch never breaks the system on updates, even if you have 600MB to update. There is only one change for this to happen. You don't read. Example: when arch switched to udev, pacman showed during months a message saying that devfs support was going to be dropped. So, the only "pain" is to read pacman messages after upgrades (that is no pain)

3 - OpenOffice performance is more than well. it boots it about 10 seconds. There's also no type delay. My brother switched from arch to ubuntu, and one thing that he misses from arch is the speed.

4 - CUPS? Just install cups, start the daemon and add it to rc.conf so that it gets started automatically on after rebooting.
- To setup you printer: http://localhost:631/
- To find your printer: (change the 192.168.0. to what corresponds in your network)

for i in $(seq 1 254); do ping -c 1 192.168.0.$i|grep icmp_seq& done;

Pajaro

Member

Registered: 2004-04-21

Posts: 884

Re: Minimal KDE Install & Other Questions

jwbirdsong, we wrote at the same time