Kde4 Plasma5 Upgrade

KDE SC 4 (KDE Software Compilation 4) is a collection of software developed by the KDE Community. KDE SC 4 includes the Plasma desktop environment (Plasma 4), a number of tightly integrated Applications, and a common platform of libraries and services. KDE SC 4 is based on the Qt framework.

KDE Plasma 4 was released in 2008 [1] and development ceased in 2015 [2]. Some packages within KDE SC 4 continue to receive updates and bugfixes. Plasma 4 was succeeded by Plasma 5 in 2014 [3].

Funtoo Linux continues to offer KDE SC 4.

The aim of this guide is to detail the steps required to complete a default installation of KDE SC 4 on x86 architectures. It assumes the initial completion of the Install guide.

To install KDE Plasma 5 instead see the page KDE Plasma 5.

Pre-Installation

The following instructions are written for a new installation of Funtoo Linux performed using the Install guide.

Funtoo Profiles

Correctly setting Funtoo Profiles is required to install KDE. Review the selected profiles using epro.

root # epro show

=== Enabled Profiles: ===

        arch: x86-64bit
       build: current
     subarch: intel64-haswell
      flavor: core
     mix-ins: (not set)


=== All inherited flavors from core flavor: ===

                         minimal (from core flavor)

The recommended flavor for KDE is desktop. This can be selected with the command epro flavor desktop

root # epro flavor desktop

=== Enabled Profiles: ===

        arch: x86-64bit
       build: current
     subarch: intel64-haswell
      flavor: desktop
     mix-ins: (not set)

>>> Set flavor to desktop.

Following a flavor change an update of Funtoo packages is required

root # emerge --ask --update --verbose --deep --newuse --with-bdeps=y @world

   Tip

This command can be shortened to

root # emerge -auvDN --with-bdeps=y @world

Install the X Window System

KDE requires the X Window System (X11) to present graphics (video) and receive input (keyboard, mouse, joystick, etc.). Configuration is required for X11 to work with the video card on the target hardware. Use the Video guide to determine the appropriate VIDEO_CARDS entry for Funtoo Linux. With your favorite editor, edit make.conf to include the setting appropriate for the target video hardware.

   /etc/portage/make.conf - example for Intel HD Graphics

VIDEO_CARDS="intel i965"

Now install the X Window System by merging the meta-package No results

root # emerge --ask --verbose x11-base/xorg-x11

Localization

To install KDE for a language other than English (United States) add an appropriate LINGUAS entry to /etc/portage/make.conf

   /etc/portage/make.conf - Example for English (United Kingdom)

LINGUAS="en_GB"

   Tip

More information on Localization can be found at Funtoo Linux Localization.

Emerge KDE SC 4

The Funtoo Profiles were earlier set to the desktop flavor. Now an additional mix-in profile is required to provide a smooth installation of KDE SC 4.

There are two KDE-related mix-ins available in Funtoo: kde and kde-plasma-5.

For KDE SC 4 the correct mix-in is "kde". Do select "kde-plasma-5" by mistake or combine the two.

Add the mix-in using epro

root # epro mix-in kde

=== Enabled Profiles: ===

        arch: x86-64bit
       build: current
     subarch: intel64-haswell
      flavor: desktop
     mix-ins: kde

>>> Added kde mix-in.

Now KDE SC 4 can be merged.

This is performed by merging the package kde-apps/kde-meta. With the mix-in kde added this will install KDE SC 4 including the Plasma Desktop (Plasma 4), KDE Applications and common libraries from KDE and Qt.

Since the Profile has changed (added mix-in) the world set of packages must be updated as well. These actions can be performed in one step

root # emerge -auvDN --with-bdeps=y @world kde-apps/kde-meta

Once completed proceed to the chapter Configure and Start KDE.

Configure and Start KDE

OpenRC

After the many packages have been merged portage will present a variety of post-install messages. A number of these will request that critical services are started first in order for KDE to work. Typically these are ALSA (No results), ConsoleKit (No results), DBus (sys-apps/dbus), and UDev (No results). Since the desktop flavor has been set CUPS (No results) will also be included.

Issue the following commands to set these essential services to start automatically via OpenRC (sys-apps/openrc)

root # rc-update add alsasound boot
root # rc-update add cupsd default
root # rc-update add consolekit default

DBus is usually started when these services start.

UDev is usually rebuilt during an install of KDE due to changes in USE flags from changing Profile flavor and mix-ins. To accommodate changes it is best to restart the service.

root # /etc/init.d/udev --nodeps restart

   Tip

Do not confuse the UDev package eudev (sys-fs/eudev) with evdev! evdev is the generic input device driver for the X Window System (x11-drivers/xf86-input-evdev)!

Create a User Account

Now is the appropriate point to create a user account for use with KDE Plasma. The following example creates a user alice and associates that account with the Groups lp, lpadmin, plugdev, users, video and wheel. A home directory for the account alice will be created at /home/alice.

root # useradd -m -G games,lp,lpadmin,plugdev,users,video,wheel alice

Now set a password for alice

root # passwd alice

Starting KDE with a Display (Login) Manager

The default Display Manager for KDE Plasma 4 is KDM (kde-base/kdm).

To use KDM first edit /etc/conf.d/xdm with your favorite editor, updating the DISPLAYMANAGER entry to equal 'kdm'

   /etc/conf.d/xdm

DISPLAYMANAGER="kdm"

Now add xdm to the default runlevel of OpenRC.

root # rc-update add xdm default

The display manager KDM should appear at the end of computer boot. To avoid an unnecessary restart you can launch KDM/KDE from here with a simple command

root # rc

You should be presented with a graphical login screen. Input devices (mouse, keyboard) should be working at this stage. Logging in will take you to the KDE Plasma desktop of KDE SC 4.

This concludes the basic installation of KDE Plasma on Funtoo Linux.

External Links

KDE.org - www.kde.org

KDE Plasma Desktop - www.kde.org/workspaces/plasmadesktop/

KDE Applications - www.kde.org/applications/

Gentoo Linux Wiki - wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/KDE