Problems with Plasma5 after upgrade

[doctordruidphd]

I posted this in the pre-release thread, but no one seemed to have any ideas about it. Among other things:

1. I cannot drag and drop items from the launcher to the desktop or panel, widgets are unlocked.

2. Most GTK applications have no icons; this remains true if I switch icon themes from Breeze to Breeze Dark, or even back to Oxygen. This happens for things like synaptic. I cannot edit the menu item using the Edit Applications item on the Launcher menu; I can choose a new icon, but it does not apply it.

3. I cannot change desktop wallpapers; the new wallpaper chooser shows a bunch of squares where the thumbnails should be, but no images. I have to manually edit ~/.config/plasma-org.kde.plasma.desktop-appletsrc .

4. The "Get New..." dialogs in themes, wallpapers, etc all come up with an error that says it can't download an xml file (sorry I can't get to my original post to find it exactly). I was told this is a "fixed bug", but it is evidently unfixed here.

These are not fatal problems, but together mean that Plasma5 is not functioning properly. and who knows what else might be or go wrong. I suspect this is not a "bug", but something that went bad with the upgrade (from 14.10).

I tried adding a new user with a blank home directory, but these problems also happen with the new user. I have also tried playing with the compositor settings, disabling desktop effects, etc., all to no avail.

Is there a way I can remove and purge everything Plasma5, including its config files, and reinstall it, or is this not a reasonable option to try?

Sorry to be a pest with this, but it really means I can't switch to Vivid if KDE isn't working properly, and as I said, who knows what else may be messed up.

[wavelike]

I have no answer to your question(s), just want to say I am in the (roughly) same boat. Three installations on three different computers and they all went wrong to different extent. One wouldn't boot (KDE) and two had different post-installation problems. And don't get me started on customization... From that very limited experience I would say that the new release just isn't ready, especially if you want to change any default setting (which is why most people use Kubuntu, I believe).
I have gone back to 14.10 and will stay there until problems have been ironed out.

Good luck.

[doctordruidphd]

Thanks for your reply.

As I said before, these problems are all similar to ones that happened with the switch from KDE3 -> KDE4. Maybe Plasma5 was pushed into Kubuntu a little too soon, before a thorough examination of potential upgrade problems was made. Doing a "clean install" is no solution, it's a lack of a solution. So I guess we keep 14.10 live for the time being.

Too bad; the switch to systemd seems to have brought a big performance improvement, at least here.

[nicols]

I

2. Most GTK applications have no icons; this remains true if I switch icon themes from Breeze to Breeze Dark, or even back to Oxygen. This happens for things like synaptic. I cannot edit the menu item using the Edit Applications item on the Launcher menu; I can choose a new icon, but it does not apply it.

I found this most annoying in kubuntu 15.04.
Any solution soon?

[Guest]

Yeah, same here. I have completely regretted my decision to upgrade.

1. The new version of KDE is far from being complete. I am surprised that the devs actually went along with this. It seems more like a rollback version than an improvement. This does not belong in an Ubuntu release. It looks like whoever is behind the decisions about the road KDE is taking have being made by one or more people who are targeting of the first time experience users of KDE. If i had a fresh install of KDE plasma everything looks cool and balanced, but for an upgrade user, most of the personalized settings are gone. I find this immature and enraging.

2. Widgets. I am absolutely stunted by the fact that, by making all those widgets obsolete, they have shed all of their third-party widget developers in ONE version upgrade. Who does this ? It is absolutely f-ing insane. Why not some backwards compatibility ? Imagine upgrading a piece of software were third-party developers are actively enhancing the experience of that piece of software and suddenly everything made by those third-party developers does not work anymore. If I was part of that team I would stop being proud working there. I am asking again: who sheds their third-party developers ? Who does that ?

3. Themes. Yes, third-party themes do not work anymore. Old Plasma 5 themes from the previous version are no longer there. It is as if one guy runs the whole KDE development and unilaterally decided to re-think stuff that already works and is being used by lots of people, because of ... REASONS.

4. I could go on but I have made myself very angry right now.

Amateur management and roadmap. On the bright side, it is not a complete "I shot myself in the foot" moment. Like the one GNOME 3 made. I find the last KDE Plasma usable but disappointing.

[richb]

I am using it, enjoying it and am not angry. I expect some growing pains in a major change as this is. For those who cannot accept growing pains, I would suggest staying with the older versions.

[Qqmike]

richb
I expect some growing pains in a major change as this is. For those who cannot accept growing pains, I would suggest staying with the older versions.

Well said.

I do happen to believe that the Kub devs should make a best effort to release versions that are fairly, basically ready-to-fly. My reason is simple: The innocents! The average users who hear about Kubuntu, maybe a latest improvement, like Plasma 5, and are eager to jump right in to try it. "We" (I realize there is no real "we" here) oughta try to avoid negative press when we disappoint the masses. Well, I guess we should, huh? This gets back to the expert-Linux-user versus the causal-Ready-to-Go user arguments--the why's for Kubuntu/Linux.

Back on point, I agree, richb, especially on major changes like we see w/15.04. Why not simply, easily, run GParted, make room for 15.04 alongside whatever your working OS is, and install 15.04 that way. Then try to run it, try to use as a daily work OS, work out the hang-ups as you can, but if there's a show-stopper for your work-day, you can always boot into your other OS and get your work-work done. But keep the new OS working, try to work with it, give time for the bugs to resolve, and learn it.

[dtr]

I am using it, enjoying it and am not angry. I expect some growing pains in a major change as this is. For those who cannot accept growing pains, I would suggest staying with the older versions.

I cannot speak for others, but part of the problem with Kubuntu deciding 15.04 to default on the latest KDE, we have a situation similar to what happened when KDE went from version 3 to 4 (although not nearly as bad). New users or users with less experience will almost always choose the new version because they expect it work and not be buggy since it's not labelled Beta. Growing pains are expected in beta release software, Kubuntu decided to remove the Beta label despite it is very much Beta quality.

Besides the more the bugs are discussed (even if it's just someone complaining) the sooner they should be fixed.

[doctordruidphd]

Well, I'm a little frustrated with it, too -- I really think it should have been an option, and not the default installation scenario. 15.04 has been pushed as a stable release, not a beta release, and it should be that. I do have both 14.10 and 15.04 installed, so I'm just frustrated, not crippled.

There is another thread in the KDE desktop section on this same topic, in which some solutions have surfaced:

https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showth...tion-questions

[richb]

Well said Qqmike. I guess I am not frustrated because it is working well for me. I would be if it were not. Not being new to Linux and having experienced "first releases" many times, I got what I expected. I had the same attitude when I migrated to early releases of KDE 4, and things were much worse then. I would like to see the "old" widgets available, but they will come. So, I understand the frustration, but as I have said, do not share it.