openSUSE Has A Problem, Is Seeking New Direction

[ninez]

1. "Bloated" is a word that gets thrown around a lot, but it's really meaningless to a discussion unless it's defined.

'software bloat'. it is well-defined, and you don't need to define it everytime you use it in a conversation. People can easily look it up if they are really that confused.

2. What complexity do you feel is achieved by stripping away features? As Linus Torvalds observed of Gnome, there's nothing wrong with designing for simplicity, but there is something wrong with designing only for simplicity. He saw that Gnome developers were having many discussions about what features they could remove from the product to make it "simpler". The problem is that eventually people are going to want to do more than the most basic tasks, and a KISS system either isn't going to let them or it is going to be harder to do them.

If you think having a KISS approach means that you are stripping out features, you would be wrong. it doesn't even relate to linus' comments about gnome. Gnome was dumbing down there interface, and cutting useful features.

3. I'll be honest, your earlier description "i don't use a DM (kdm/GDM/slim) as i prefer to start my machine and be greeted by the commandline (init 3 essentially). then startx with every component that i plan to use listed." sounds a lot like OCPD (Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder). Does the thought of this "bloat" lurking on your system cause you a lot of anxiety? OCPD involves anxiety when the person isn't able to control every facet of their environment/believes they're the only person who can do it "right".

LOL. well thanks for your diagnosis - ya fucking putz. I like to be greeted by CLI because I like to be greeted by CLI - that doesn't mean OCPD - and you are a retard to think it does. I grew up on interfaces like that, and if it makes you feel any better i do have a greeter for bash ..and NO - it does not cause me anxiety, i just prefer a system that doesn't have a lot of extra crap running, because 1. it is more efficient, 2 it is simpler to manage, 3. less code running (ideally) less bugs or potential of them being introduced. (there are more reasons, but those 3 should be more than good). And FYI i know what OCPD is...

4. I just tried installing OpenSUSE with KDE and with Gnome in a virtual machine. I opted to install the "Base Development" meta-package that includes a compiler and related tools. On 64-bit, it's a 3.4GB total install for the system with KDE (I think it's 3.1GB before the compiling tools) and 3.1GB for Gnome. Some of that 300MB difference is probably accounted for by package differences between the two (Evolution vs. K-Mail, Banshee vs. Amarok, Brasero vs. K3b, etc.)

size is only one consideration, you have to look at everything running, what is being used, what isnt, etc.

5. As was pointed out earlier, Windows 7 Ultimate takes up 14GB on install (some of that may be for swap file). That only accounts for the base desktop plus Internet Explorer. Meanwhile, OpenSUSE KDE is 3.1GB with full office suite, IRC client, IM client, bittorrent client, Firefox, GIMP, music manager, digital photo manager, Java, PIM suite, etc. Windows 7 can't even view PDFs or open a .zip file out of the box with that 14 GB install. Compared to the de facto desktop standard, Linux + KDE are incredibly efficient, not bloated.

Windows is the king of bloatware, saying KDE is incredibly efficient because windows is more bloated, doesn't really say a whole lot, other than KDE has managed NOT to be the king of bloatedness.

anyway, thanks for your internet forum medical diagnosis and pointing out that KDE isn't as bloated as windows. and AFAIK - i was only comparing it to other Linux DEs (i could care less about windows, since i don't use it on any machine).

[alcalde]

Already addressed in previous post. KDE is modular in Arch - but even keeping it minimal, it is bloated.



that isn't true on any machine, when i compare GS to KDE (i don't use Ubuntu, so no unity comparison). And again, you should probably go back and read how the discussion evolved - we were talking about DEs on slower H/W.

I have no issues with DEs being slow, either ~ i7 and Phenom II x4 (both using Nvidia h/w (and blob). plus, a couple core2duo's - but they aren't in heavy use... And regardless, i prefer a clean system, with a more KISS approach. You may not care if your system is bloated, but i would prefer to not have that and reduce complexity.

1. "Bloated" is a word that gets thrown around a lot, but it's really meaningless to a discussion unless it's defined.

2. What complexity do you feel is achieved by stripping away features? As Linus Torvalds observed of Gnome, there's nothing wrong with designing for simplicity, but there is something wrong with designing only for simplicity. He saw that Gnome developers were having many discussions about what features they could remove from the product to make it "simpler". The problem is that eventually people are going to want to do more than the most basic tasks, and a KISS system either isn't going to let them or it is going to be harder to do them.

3. I'll be honest, your earlier description "i don't use a DM (kdm/GDM/slim) as i prefer to start my machine and be greeted by the commandline (init 3 essentially). then startx with every component that i plan to use listed." sounds a lot like OCPD (Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder). Does the thought of this "bloat" lurking on your system cause you a lot of anxiety? OCPD involves anxiety when the person isn't able to control every facet of their environment/believes they're the only person who can do it "right".

4. I just tried installing OpenSUSE with KDE and with Gnome in a virtual machine. I opted to install the "Base Development" meta-package that includes a compiler and related tools. On 64-bit, it's a 3.4GB total install for the system with KDE (I think it's 3.1GB before the compiling tools) and 3.1GB for Gnome. Some of that 300MB difference is probably accounted for by package differences between the two (Evolution vs. K-Mail, Banshee vs. Amarok, Brasero vs. K3b, etc.)

5. As was pointed out earlier, Windows 7 Ultimate takes up 14GB on install (some of that may be for swap file). That only accounts for the base desktop plus Internet Explorer. Meanwhile, OpenSUSE KDE is 3.1GB with full office suite, IRC client, IM client, bittorrent client, Firefox, GIMP, music manager, digital photo manager, Java, PIM suite, etc. Windows 7 can't even view PDFs or open a .zip file out of the box with that 14 GB install. Compared to the de facto desktop standard, Linux + KDE are incredibly efficient, not bloated.

[ninez]

The enormous list of default packages in the KDE group in no way indicates how much bloat the desktop environment has. You've essentially shown us that KDE has many games and addons but the fact that they are under the KDE group is up to the Arch maintainers. These games and addons aren't loaded on start up or some such.

Already addressed in previous post. KDE is modular in Arch - but even keeping it minimal, it is bloated.

In my experience KDE 4.8.x, Gnome shell, and Unity are all roughly equivalent when it comes to legitimate bloat. If you have an ancient computer I could somewhat understand the concern but people spend far too much time worrying about "bloat." I have no issues with any of the desktop environments being slow.

that isn't true on any machine, when i compare GS to KDE (i don't use Ubuntu, so no unity comparison). And again, you should probably go back and read how the discussion evolved - we were talking about DEs on slower H/W.

I have no issues with DEs being slow, either ~ i7 and Phenom II x4 (both using Nvidia h/w (and blob). plus, a couple core2duo's - but they aren't in heavy use... And regardless, i prefer a clean system, with a more KISS approach. You may not care if your system is bloated, but i would prefer to not have that and reduce complexity.

[dalingrin]

Vista and win7 aren't bloated, either - they have features ... just like KDE has lots of features. </sarcasm>



So it would appear then that Prophet5's KDE problems probably were a regression or some upgrade issue, since you are able to run it okay - what is your resource usage? and are you using things like plasma - or have you disabled things in KDE, to better work on your hardware?

I know when i had 4.7 installed on this machine, it was using twice as much resources as the default Gnome(Shell) experience, and 3 times 4X what my trimmed-down Gnome/Compiz desktop uses. it also happens to pull in a lot of packages and take up a lot of space;



KDE pulls in 240 packages, not including the packages that i already have installed (such as QT4). Now, some of these i can ditch, but it's still quite large. if i was to do the same thing for Gnome - i would see like 50 packages (if even). So yes, KDE is bloated compared to most other DEs, it is feature rich, but that doesn't mean it isn't bloated. if i had KDE installed, i would be using very few of the features offered by the DE - therefore, i would be running a bloated desktop, because that is exactly what software bloat is - including more and more features that aren't being used. Which is why i ditched KDE the last time i delved in it.

The enormous list of default packages in the KDE group in no way indicates how much bloat the desktop environment has. You've essentially shown us that KDE has many games and addons but the fact that they are under the KDE group is up to the Arch maintainers. These games and addons aren't loaded on start up or some such.

In my experience KDE 4.8.x, Gnome shell, and Unity are all roughly equivalent when it comes to legitimate bloat. If you have an ancient computer I could somewhat understand the concern but people spend far too much time worrying about "bloat." I have no issues with any of the desktop environments being slow.

[Wyatt]

Vista and win7 aren't bloated, either - they have features ... just like KDE has lots of features. </sarcasm>

Odd comparison. Despite the number of packages, you could still install KDE something like five times in the disk space required by the basic Vista/7 install. More, if you remove the additions in KDE that put it above parity with the feature set of Windows.

[Alex Sarmiento]

I tried the 12.2 beta version but ... it didn't have Mesa installed by default. I was scratching my head because i didn't know why i wasn't able to have have any efects on kde... and that's a funny disaster.

I was waiting for the 12.2 release since the kernel has all the proper drivers for my laptop... but im not gonna wait anymore. I had to install fedora, wich to my surprise works very well and is up to date, almost like Archlinux

[ninez]

You should also check how much crap there is in GNOME land. Hint: a comparable amount, as both of these DE's strive for feature completeness so they each have their respective apps for everything that you might want to do. The difference is that the KDE apps use a common set of features, stuff like e.g. the ability to put a URL in the file open dialog and it will get the file from the net and open it.

Anyway - why the hate? You don't like large DE's, then it's your choice, be happy with your LXDE.

When did i say i 'hated' KDE, exactly?? in fact, i said the opposite (i said KDE is good!). Saying it's bloated doesn't mean i hate it, it means i think it is bloated. Hate and bloat are not the same thing.

and FYI i don't use LXDE. i don't know where you got that from... i don't use a DM (kdm/GDM/slim) as i prefer to start my machine and be greeted by the commandline (init 3 essentially). then startx with every component that i plan to use listed. i use compiz-bzr as WM. My desktop 'leans' towards Gnome, but doesn't actually use big parts of the Gnome Desktop (no GS, obviously) no network manager, no gnome-panel, no pulseaudio, etc.

I did try to have a lite KDE desktop, at one point - but doing what i am doing now - works much better, and is less-resource heavy.

[Cyber Killer]

You should also check how much crap there is in GNOME land. Hint: a comparable amount, as both of these DE's strive for feature completeness so they each have their respective apps for everything that you might want to do. The difference is that the KDE apps use a common set of features, stuff like e.g. the ability to put a URL in the file open dialog and it will get the file from the net and open it.

Anyway - why the hate? You don't like large DE's, then it's your choice, be happy with your LXDE.

[ninez]

The list that you posted shows that somebody who made a metapackage to install KDE on your disto is clueless as to what is needed in KDE.

That was there to show how much 'crap' there is in KDE land. Furthermore, yes i posted the output from the kde meta package, that does not mean i would have to install all of that. KDE is broken up in Arch, you can install whatever you like.

This is what the base KDE metapackage pulls on openSUSE:
that would be... 6 packages. Yeah, right... bloated ;-P

And those 6 packages still are more resource heavy than any other DE that i've ever used in linux land.

EDIT: AHA! now you change your tune - 'sorry i didn't mean 6 - i really mean you need a bunch.' lol...and on closer inspection i get i would find that i actually would need more than you are posting to have a 'good experience'...

[Cyber Killer]

The list that you posted shows that somebody who made a metapackage to install KDE on your disto is clueless as to what is needed in KDE.

This is what the base KDE metapackage pulls on openSUSE:

kdebase4-workspace
dolphin
kwin
kdebase4-session
kwrite
plasmoid-folderview

that would be... 6 packages. Yeah, right... bloated ;-P

ok, ok, for reference here is the full list of recommended packages to pull with the ones above:

avahi
pulseaudio
MozillaFirefox
susehelp
desktop-data-openSUSE
gdb
kwebkitpart
droid-fonts
xdg-user-dirs
plasma-addons
kdm
polkit-default-privs
pulseaudio-utils
yast2-control-center-qt
skanlite
konqueror
pulseaudio-module-bluetooth
pulseaudio-module-lirc
pulseaudio-module-x11
pulseaudio-module-zeroconf
alsa-plugins-pulse
kaddressbook
kmail
knotes
konsole
kontact
korganizer
soprano-backend-redland
oxygen-gtk
akregator
kdepim4-wizards
kio_iso
plasmoid-networkmanagement
plasmoid-quickaccess
soprano-backend-virtuoso
kcm_gtk
kdebase4-nsplugin
kdenetwork4-filesharing
kdepasswd
keditbookmarks
kvkbd
pinentry-qt4
pulseaudio-module-jack
synaptiks

Still far from even 100, not to mention 240.