KDE 3.x apps on KDE 4.2.90

[liferules04]

A long time Gnome user has finnaly been converted to KDE. I love KDE 4.2.90!

That being said I am trying to learn all new interface and I have tried to install new apps I have run into an. There are I lot of 3.x apps and I am not able to install them because the 3.x libs are not present. It there a work around for this problem until the developers have the apps I am interested in port to KDE 4.x? I have searched for tutorials on how to install KDE 3.5 to coexist with 4.2.90 but I do not really want to install the entire 3.5 desktop.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[lmilano]

Re: KDE 3.x apps on KDE 4.2.90

Hi. Welcome to Kubuntu, I also used to use Gnome (I thought it was better back in the day, but starting with KDE-2 I liked KDE better, oh well).

If you really need some KDE-3 apps in KDE-4, you would need to first install them side by side, and then get things set up for the particular apps you want to run from KDE3 in KDE4. This is not trivial, and probably not worth the trouble. Kubuntu did that work for us in the first release to use KDE-4 (because there was so much missing), but now it's pure KDE-4, as you noted. Sorry!

[liferules04]

Re: KDE 3.x apps on KDE 4.2.90

I had someone on the forums suggest kdesvn-build (http://kdesvn-build.kde.org/). Have you had any experience with that?

[lmilano]

Re: KDE 3.x apps on KDE 4.2.90

Not really! It seems like the hard way, no?

I think I found exactly what you were looking for:
https://wiki.kubuntu.org/Kubuntu/Kde3/Jaunty

Not everything in there, but just these sections:

Installing KDE3.5 applications

* To install the KDE3.5 version of a desired application, append a -kde3 suffix onto the package name. For example, to install the KDE3.5 version of Amarok instead of the KDE4 version, install the 'amarok-kde3' package instead of the 'amarok' package. This will be persistent across future upgrades. Also, the KDE3.5 and KDE4 versions of most applications can be installed at the same time with no problems.

Executing KDE3.5 applications from another DE

* KDE3.5 applications now require a special environment to be set up in order to run properly; this prevents conflicts with any portion of KDE4. If you are using these applications from within KDE3.5, then this is automatic and you do not need to do anything to have them run properly. However, if you are attempting to use KDE3.5 applications from within KDE4, Gnome, or XFCE/Fluxbox, you will need to set the following environment variables before execution:
o PATH=/opt/kde3/bin:/opt/kde3/games:/opt/kde3/bin:$PATH
o KDEDIRS=/usr/:/opt/kde3/
o KDEHOME=$HOME/.kde3
o XDG_DATA_DIRS=/opt/kde3/share/:/usr/share/
o MANPATH=/opt/kde3/share/man

* KDE3.5 applications and libraries now reside in the /opt/kde3 prefix. This means that you must have the kdelibs-data-kde3 package installed, as it creates the correct ldconfig path search file. Without it, none of the KDE3.5 applications will be able to find their library files, and will therefore refuse to run.

* It is very simple to create a shortcut that can properly run KDE3.5 applications. Simply type the following into the "command to run" textbox when creating a shortcut in your environment (all one line):
PATH=/opt/kde3/bin:/opt/kde3/games:/opt/kde3/bin:$PATH KDEDIRS=/usr/:/opt/kde3/ KDEHOME=$HOME/.kde3 XDG_DATA_DIRS=/opt/kde3/share/:/usr/share/ MANPATH=/opt/kde3/share/man <original application command, e.g. k3b or amarok>

[Fintan]

Re: KDE 3.x apps on KDE 4.2.90

welcome to the party

There are I lot of 3.x apps and I am not able to install them because the 3.x libs are not present.

Which ones would those be??

[liferules04]

Re: KDE 3.x apps on KDE 4.2.90

Well for starters I would like a nice mail checking program that runs in the system tray. The only ones I have found are 3.x apps. That is just one example.

[lmilano]

Re: KDE 3.x apps on KDE 4.2.90

These days it's a lot lot better than the first KDE-4, but for instance in System Settings you still can't configure sysv startup services (hal, dbus, cron, etc). I ended up a curses console app (sysv-rc-config I think)

[lmilano]

Re: KDE 3.x apps on KDE 4.2.90

Well for starters I would like a nice mail checking program that runs in the system tray. The only ones I have found are 3.x apps. That is just one example.

For that I think there is a widget in the latest KDE-4, make sure you get all the widgets (search in Synaptic or Adept)

[liferules04]

Re: KDE 3.x apps on KDE 4.2.90

I have installed all the widgets and have seen nothing that really appeals to me. I am looking for a system tray or taskbar applet. I do not want a desktop applet. I need to be able to see if mail has arrived without looking at the desktop.

[lmilano]

Re: KDE 3.x apps on KDE 4.2.90

I'll check later at home. I know you are starting to expore KDE-4. Many widgets can be added to the task bar, like an "applet" in Gnome or KDE-3. Please post a reminder in a few hours if I haven't posted ... (I may forget)

[Fintan]

Re: KDE 3.x apps on KDE 4.2.90

You can either add directly to the panel or drag and drop.

For more on getting great widgets:
https://edge.launchpad.net/~samrog131/+archive/ppa

[lmilano]

Re: KDE 3.x apps on KDE 4.2.90

I just got it running with gmail pop, it is called mail_applet, the package is plasma-widget-mail.

[liferules04]

Re: KDE 3.x apps on KDE 4.2.90

Looks good, but I need something more robust. I have 3 gmail accounts, and two pop accounts to keep up with. I could use mail-notification from Gnome, but it was buggy in the KDE environment and did not always work. This is the kind of app I am looking for. there are several of this application on KDE-apps but they are all 3.x.

[lmilano]

Re: KDE 3.x apps on KDE 4.2.90

Fair enough, again, the link and info I posted above should get you going

[Fintan]

Re: KDE 3.x apps on KDE 4.2.90

I use the gmail plasmoid for my 4 gmail accounts and kontact (with notification) for my pop accounts.