For those pining for KDE 4 days

[dequire]

Well, this is Linux, after all, so there's a distro for that!

SlackEX

What's surprising about this release is that it's using the very latest (as of yesterday) Linux kernel - 4.10.2. I might have to fire this up in a VM to see how fast KDE 4 runs on a modern kernel, as well as to take a trip down memory lane.

[GreyGeek]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with KDE 4 from the user's point of view. While Plasma 5 has made great strides, Plasma 4 was several years in the polishing and presented a beautiful and functional user interface. Being Slakware, I suspect that it is not using systemd, either.

I'm with you, desquire, SlackEX deserves a download and look-see!

https://sourceforge.net/projects/sla...urce=directory

EDIT:
Has an odd install procedure. Some USB sticks may not work if you can't rename the top level to slackex.
How to install it on Linux

EDIT:EDIT-

My first attempt failed because when I formated the USB stick with FAT32 and didn't give it a label it created a random numeric lable: /dev/sdb1/0818106 and when I copied the contents of the zip file I got
/dev/sdb1/0818106/slackex/boot/bootinst.sh
What the boot up expected was
/sdb1/slackex/boot/bootinst.sh

So, I gave it a label of "slackex" but gparted converted it to SLACKEX. So, my boot path will be
/dev/sb1/SLACKEX/boot/bootinst.sh

After copying the contents of the zip file to the mounted and FAT32 formated USB stick one has to execute:

jerry@jerry-Aspire-V3-771:/media/jerry/SLACKEX/boot$ sudo sh bootinst.sh
[sudo] password for jerry:
. is device /dev/sdb1
Boot installation finished.
jerry@jerry-Aspire-V3-771:/media/jerry/SLACKEX/boot$

Now I am going to try to boot using this. IF it doesn't work I'll try burning it to a DVD.

EDIT-EDIT-EDIT:

The same thing in Linux (for example in Slackware)
1. Copy the folder slackex to your USB stick after you have mounted it. For example mount /dev/sdc1 /mnt/sdc1
2. Run the command cd /mnt/sdc1/slackex/boot
3. And finally the command sh bootinst.sh

Easy to do in theory. In practice it ALL depends on the kind of USB stick you are using.

NOTE: It appears that not all USB sticks are suitable for topical purposes. I. e. they can not be made bootable. I myself have experience of brands Kingston DataTraveler 3.0, SanDisk Cruzer Micro, SanDisk Extreme USB 3.0 and Sony Micro Vault. The first three works (for me). You may not use USB sticks of older model. They may work, but mostly bad. If you - after the installation of SlackEX to the USB stick - get different error messages when you try to run the system from the stick it is because the stick is not "good enough".

You can add Verbatim to that list of "not good enough" USB sticks. In my case I cannot install the ISO by either unizpping and copying it or by using an ISO installer like Etcher, which works fast but can't overcome the double "slackex/slackex" problem Verbatim makes.

Another thing. SlackEX is STILL using LILO It's time Slackware moved into the 21st century.

I may try to burn it to a DVD. Or not. Such an odd and archaic installation procedure has left me less than enthused.

[GreyGeek]

Well, I never got the LiveUSB stick to work but the LiveDVD booted and ran fine.

When the row of Penquins appeared across the top of the boot screen, followed by a long listing of every command the boot process was running my first impression was that they borrowed KANOPPIX's boot process. Then the login screen for root appeared and I entered the password (root). My next view was of the STUNNING KDE 4 desktop in all of its glory. Did I say it was fast? It was! And from a DVD no less. Everything ran like lightening. I checked my screen and my NVidia GT650M card was configured as the primary (just like it is on my Neon) and the desktop was running at a stable 65 fps. I checked about all the apps. Everything was well polished. So well polished, in fact, that slackEX is more polished than the last Plasma 4 desktop I ran under Kubuntu. However, I don't know how many developers are using the old Qt4 API to create new applications or patch or update old Qt4 apps. Using KDE4 might put you on an island that is gradually sinking into the ocean. But, slackEX is now the second KDE4 focused distro, Trinity being the first. So, who knows? Honey may continue to be extracted from the worker Bees for a long time to come.

I just checked the FPS on my Neon and it gives the same as KDE4 - 60-65 fps.

For all you KDE4 lovers out there, you've found a home you will enjoy, as long as the slack team is willing and able to support you. Unless you are lucky enough to have the right kind of USB sticks you'll want to use the LiveDVD instead to play around with, or install. You can get it here:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/slackex/


I'm sticking with Neon. I can't leave something that is running so good and looks great as well.

[GreyGeek]

PS - I recalled incorrectly. Trinity is a KDE3 resurrection, not KDE4. So, slackEX is the only KDE4 distro I'm aware of.


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[dequire]

Thanks for all your dilligent experimentation, Jerry! It looked great from the pictures and I'd imagine it may appeal to some people who are less then anthusiastic about Plasma 5 but don't want to go all the way back to 2009 with KDE 3 (ala Trinity). BTW - For those who do want to check out KDE 3.5 (also known as Trinity Desktop Environment) a partial list of distros supporting or featuring Trinity is here: https://wiki.trinitydesktop.org/LiveCDs

They even have Ubuntu versions. So, Plasma 5, KDE 4, and KDE 3 are all quite maintained and available. It's probably worth downloading the images and keeping a copy, even if it's just for perpetuation and history's sake.

[wizard10000]

...slackEX is the only KDE4 distro I'm aware of.

Debian Stable and Oldstable. Testing and Unstable are using Plasma5, Stable is still on KDE4.

edit: KDE isn't Debian's default desktop, though, GNOME is. Netinstall images will let you choose, not sure about live CDs.

[vinnywright]

?,,,,,,,, Kubuntu 14.04 is KDE4

VINNY

[GreyGeek]

Ya, your right, and so are the previous releases of Kubuntu. IIRC, 14.04 has a 4/17 EOL. (Too lazy to look it up)


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[dequire]

Sure - you're right Vinny! Also, in the name of 'completeness of the thread', you can 'Oxygen-ize' your Plasma 5 setup via Look & Fell Packs in the KDE Store.

https://store.kde.org/p/1084930/