Fedora/KDE4 FAQ
Why didn't you wait for KDE 4.1 before making it default KDE in Fedora 9?
QT 3, the underlying toolkit for KDE 3 has been unmaintained from July 2007. KDE 4.1 release is soon after the Fedora 9 release. If KDE 4.0.3 wasn't introduced in Fedora 9, updating to KDE 4.1 post release is difficult and disruptive. Providing the latest software to Fedora users and supporting upstream projects such as KDE is among the Fedora objectives . KDE 4.0.5 is now available as a update in Fedora 9 and KDE 4.1 is planned to follow soon after it's release and Fedora users don't have to wait for the next Fedora release to get the benefits of the latest KDE updates.
Will KDE4 be released for F7, F8?
Yes and no.
Yes, KDE4 Development Platform packages are available, which provide the ability build and run KDE4 applications.
No, a full KDE4 Desktop is not available for previous releases, and will included only in F9 and on .
Why not? Can't you install both KDE3 and KDE4?
In short, no. Upstream does not support this configuration.
But, but, other distros are doing it.
True, while theoretically possible to do, it involves what we consider pervasive hacks including (at least) violating the FHS and/or installing into separate prefixes/roots, and additional hacks to make both KDE3/KDE4 environments not stomp on each other. None of these things we would willingly want to even try to fix and support, nor to inflict upon our userbase.
Have we mentioned that upstream doesn't support it? :)
Pretty please?
OK, OK, for those die-hard fedora/kde fans, you've got a couple options.
We have built some completely unofficial kde-4.0 packages hosted outside of Fedora at the KDE RedHat project (in the unstable section). Be warned, however, that these packages replace KDE 3.
Or you can just upgrade to Fedora 9 which includes KDE 4 instead of KDE 3 (see below).
Will KDE 3 be released for F9 and later?
The answer is similar to the above: Fedora 9 does not include a complete KDE 3 desktop nor the KDE 3 versions of applications which are included in KDE 4, such as Konqueror. What is provided:
- compatibility libraries and a compatibility development platform, allowing to build and run KDE 3 applications. These will stay as long as needed, probably for several years.
- in Fedora 9, KDE 3 versions of modules not available or missing their main application in KDE 4.0: kdepim (not in 4.0), kdevelop (not in 4.0 nor 4.1), kdewebdev (no Quanta in 4.0 nor 4.1). kdepim will be replaced by the version from KDE 4.1 in Fedora 10. The others will probably be replaced by KDE 4.2 versions starting from Fedora 11.
- several third-party KDE 3 applications: third-party applications like K3b, Amarok and many others will continue to be shipped in KDE 3 versions as long as the KDE 4 version is not ready. In future versions of Fedora, these will be gradually replaced by KDE 4 versions as they become available.
- a kdegames3 package containing the KDE 3 games not available in the KDE 4 kdegames. These are expected to become less over time.
If you do not want to move to KDE 4 yet, feel free to keep Fedora 8 which will get updates until 1 month after the Fedora 10 release.
How can I package kde4 software for fedora?
Included is a sample File:SIGs KDE KDE4FAQ kde4 foo.spec to use as a template starting point. Please use the rpm macros as defined in /etc/rpm/macros.kde4 whenever possible.