Nepomuk. Is it just useless junk?

thisllub · 2009-03-08 22:14:51

I just killed all Nepomuk processes on my computer.
A program that uses 1.5 GB of ram and does nothing obviously worthwhile is worse than junk.

KDE 4 is actually pretty snappy without it

Can someone explain to me why I need or even want this ridiculous program?

Last edited by thisllub (2009-03-08 22:15:11)

lilsirecho · 2009-03-08 23:22:10

Having trouble with nepomuk and desire to delete same.

How did you get it removed?

dyscoria · 2009-03-08 23:29:41

I haven't tried too hard yet to compile it, but Gwenview seems to have a hard dependency on Nepomuk which is a bit annoying, considering practically all other components have it as an optional dep.

I'd say Nepomuk is an awesome feature for KDE that will no doubt improve as time goes on. I've never had a use for it though, and i'd say that most Arch users could probably do without it (the minority that use KDE instead of a WM that is).

thisllub · 2009-03-08 23:37:51

dyscoria wrote:

I'd say Nepomuk is an awesome feature for KDE that will no doubt improve as time goes on. I've never had a use for it though, and i'd say that most Arch users could probably do without it (the minority that use KDE instead of a WM that is).

I have been experimenting with KDE / OpenBox and I guess I am relatively happy with the combination.
I have a couple of widgets that amuse me at the moment yet I get all of my OpenBox key shortcuts.

However Nepomuk ground my system to a virtual halt and I had to Alt-F2 to get a terminal and kill it.

Call me stupid but I have read the stuff on the Nepomuk website and I still don't really understand what it does and why it needs 1.5 GB of resources to do it.

chair · 2009-03-09 00:00:48

You can disable it in 'System Settings' -> 'Advanced' -> 'Desktop Search.'

Strigi is the file indexing component of KDE, it allows you to search for files or add meta-data. Nepomuk I think records semantic meta-data about each file, like where a file was downloaded from or something. At the moment though it hasn't really been implemented, a few applications are using it for rating and tagging but that's about it.

Skripka · 2009-03-09 00:05:12

I think I recall reading somewhere that Nepomuk/Strigi won't actually be useful until KDE4.3. Don't quote me on that

lilsirecho · 2009-03-09 00:14:10

Unable to use system settings due to plasma crash.

Perhaps a terminal could be used to try to remove nepomuk?

Rasi · 2009-03-09 07:01:27

lilsirecho wrote:

Unable to use system settings due to plasma crash.
Perhaps a terminal could be used to try to remove nepomuk?

Now how is that related... system settings doesnt need plasma to run...

qubit · 2009-03-09 14:12:33

Nepomuk is great! You can tag your files in dolphin and then just type tag:YourTag in krunner and you get list of files with YourTag. And there is also a kio slave nepomuksearch:/ in dolhin. And strigi is desktop search so just type some keyword in krunner or nepomuksearch:/keyword and it should show something. Semantic desktop is coming ...
I don't have problems with memory, for me it takes around 300M RAM and 350M disk space for 20 000 indexed files.

Lazer · 2009-03-09 14:23:41

Nepomuk/stirgi is quite a mess in the current 4.2, because:
1) Few applications integrate the semantic concept
2) Even if they do, often it's obscure and not well documented (nepomuksearch:/ in dolphin? how am I supposed to know that?)
3) The libraries are not very stable
4) It STILL lacks a decent backend.
If you try to compile KDE from trunk things are much better. The Virtuoso backend rocks, it's FAST and overall it seems pretty stable. Still, they have to figure out a way to present all this framework to the user, because playing with metadata and semantic desktop is a very big innovation and it can be the "killer feature" of KDE4.

lilsirecho · 2009-03-09 15:50:08

Rasi;

The crash of plasma leaves the system access dead...there is just a white screen.

The only out is to go to terminal and troubleshoot...dmesg refers to nepomuk and includes an error 4.

First thoughts are to remove nepomuk... an assumption that it will aid in finding the cause...perhaps.

Otherwise, I have no clue for the crash after upgrade which seems to be becoming the norm for archlinux these days..even with frequent upgrades (every couple of days).

I would entertain a procedure in terminal to remove nepomuk (also have a problem with akonadi). Both problems occured with upgrades.

JooBlixlarz · 2009-03-09 20:46:52

I think the idea of Nepomuk and the entire semantic desktop is wonderful - if it's implemented properly, it could be a real convenience for a lot of people, me included.

The problem is that Nepomuk and Strigi do not accomplish their goals well. The problem for me is mostly performance - Dolphin is absolutely unusable with Nepomuk on.

Rasi · 2009-03-09 21:13:20

fsrunner is the best implementation of nepomuk thus far:

http://code.google.com/p/fsrunner/

Dieter@be · 2009-03-10 13:04:59

If you would meet the developers in real life and talk to them face to face, would you still call their work rediculous or "useless junk" ?
Remember that these guys put a lot of effort to provide software, including the sources to the community for free.

dyscoria · 2009-03-10 14:06:04

Dieter@be wrote:

If you would meet the developers in real life and talk to them face to face, would you still call their work rediculous or "useless junk" ?
Remember that these guys put a lot of effort to provide software, including the sources to the community for free.

+1

Well said. I feel that Nepomuk/Strigi/Soprano do perhaps deserve some of the criticism, but they are very young projects and I can only see them improving very rapidly.

By the way Dieter you're installation images are useless junk!

foolosophy · 2009-04-22 00:14:59

Rasi wrote:

fsrunner is the best implementation of nepomuk thus far:
http://code.google.com/p/fsrunner/

It actually isn't: it does not do any "semantic" indexing, there's no metadata. fsrunner just indexes file and directories names. It's pretty handy for what it is meant, but just that.

I sort of like Strigi integrating with krunner, but it just isn't mature enough. Does anyone know if there is progress being made? Strigi's website looks a bit abandoned: I would like to see more kind of files added to the indexer: Kopete conversations, PDF's and some other files.

bernarcher · 2009-04-22 09:36:51

Recently there was an Aaron Seigo interview about the future of KDE 4. (http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/osrc/a … Future.htm) where he stated that Nepomuk integration will really start only with version 4.3 or even 4.4!

Mikko777 · 2009-04-23 11:02:53

more info here:

http://rudd-o.com/en/linux-and-free-sof … tributions

wrc1944 · 2009-04-23 11:08:32

If they integrate Nepomuk/Strigi/Soprano to the extent that you can't completely disable it, and other kde apps have a hard dependency on it, I'll have to seriously consider leaving kde. And I'm a big kde fan- used all versions since 2.0, and run kde-svn on all my Linux installs.

However, Nepomuk/Strigi/Soprano is essentially a glorified "File Indexing" service such as in Windows, which most knowledgeable Windows users immediately disable after installing Windows.

Unless you are running an extremely powerful top-end multi-core cpu and an OS that has the ability to permanently assign the Nepomuk/Strigi/Soprano complex to it's own dedicated core where it never takes any cpu cycles from other running core processes, this "service" is always going to be a big performance drag for very little return for most users.

Of course if cpu/motherboard performance increases far beyond today's top end stuff, it might make no difference and cause no noticeable performance hit, and we all might come to take a complete multifaceted and continuous file indexing service for granted, indeed a vital feature.

b9anders · 2009-04-23 12:15:45

I am running 4.3 with akonadi, strigi and nepomuk all enabled (and all the bells and whistles of kwin as well). Cpu usage with opera, dolphin, a java app and Kontact running in the tray sits at a 2.6-3.9% idle (suspending strigi file indexing takes of 0.6% of that), this on a Intel Celeron M 530 / 1.73 GHz processor. It took its toll on the cpu the first few days, but with the home directory thoroughly indexed now there is only an occasional cpu stir from strigi, which the tray icon allows you to suspend if you don't like it. When you then have minor apps like skype taking up way more cpu in idle state, I really don't think we're dealing with a major resource problem here.

FWIW, I can see the potential. Korganizer, kaddressbook and kmail are being integrated in akondadi at the moment, which should allow you to tie emails to events and contacts and vice versa.
It's still very raw, but the semantic desktop is a very exciting project.

Imagine typing in 'lil brother' in krunner, and his contact details in kaddressbook props up, along with his kopete profile, emails received from him, tagged pictures, the event next week in korganizer where you have tagged him as being present and his current status on facebook. All of it cross-integreated into the various apps. Add another keyword to zoom in on what you were looking for. Its a different way of thinking about your desktop, but ultiamtely a more powerful, intuitive and organic indexing.

test1000 · 2009-04-23 15:42:50

Our brains work by references to words, pictures, sounds, smell, taste, touch etc etc. Tagging could be the start of getting a computer that works like this too

There's a million oppurtunities with this, which is why we'll eventually be internet-connected drones salivating over all the input

farvardin · 2009-06-23 16:31:14

I think they should disable nepomuk at the moment if it's not yet usable. And I hope it will always remain optional, even though I may use it in the future.

Arch Linux

#1 2009-03-08 22:14:51

Nepomuk. Is it just useless junk?

#2 2009-03-08 23:22:10

Re: Nepomuk. Is it just useless junk?

#3 2009-03-08 23:29:41

Re: Nepomuk. Is it just useless junk?

#4 2009-03-08 23:37:51

Re: Nepomuk. Is it just useless junk?

#5 2009-03-09 00:00:48

Re: Nepomuk. Is it just useless junk?

#6 2009-03-09 00:05:12

Re: Nepomuk. Is it just useless junk?

#7 2009-03-09 00:14:10

Re: Nepomuk. Is it just useless junk?

#8 2009-03-09 07:01:27

Re: Nepomuk. Is it just useless junk?

#9 2009-03-09 14:12:33

Re: Nepomuk. Is it just useless junk?

#10 2009-03-09 14:23:41

Re: Nepomuk. Is it just useless junk?

#11 2009-03-09 15:50:08

Re: Nepomuk. Is it just useless junk?

#12 2009-03-09 20:46:52

Re: Nepomuk. Is it just useless junk?

#13 2009-03-09 21:13:20

Re: Nepomuk. Is it just useless junk?

#14 2009-03-10 13:04:59

Re: Nepomuk. Is it just useless junk?

#15 2009-03-10 14:06:04

Re: Nepomuk. Is it just useless junk?

#16 2009-04-22 00:14:59

Re: Nepomuk. Is it just useless junk?

#17 2009-04-22 09:36:51

Re: Nepomuk. Is it just useless junk?

#18 2009-04-23 11:02:53

Re: Nepomuk. Is it just useless junk?

#19 2009-04-23 11:08:32

Re: Nepomuk. Is it just useless junk?

#20 2009-04-23 12:15:45

Re: Nepomuk. Is it just useless junk?

#21 2009-04-23 15:42:50

Re: Nepomuk. Is it just useless junk?

#22 2009-06-23 16:31:14

Re: Nepomuk. Is it just useless junk?

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