I think it is still possible to build kde4 without akonadi/nepomuk/strigi. the result, however, would be quite useless: no kdepim (which relies entirely on akonadi now), missing basic functionality all over the place elsewhere. so, not a viable option.
Yes, that was my point. :) Possibly doable, but impractical.
looking at kde forums/lists gives the impression, that akonadi/nepomuk and kdepim have reached a usable state now (from 4.9.x), with nearly all features that were present in 3.5.10. even address completion in email composer has been reported to work now, provided nepomuk running correctly and already having indexed everything :) I plan to give it a go during the next weeks and write a short conclusion.
The ongoing problems with kmail was one reason I never considered moving to KDE4. If those problems are (finally) resolved that does not mean I'll migrate. Only that there is one less obstacle. :)
Yes, I receive the impression that the stability issues of the evil three are more or less resolved, but that does not remove their existence. I admit I'm in the minority of people who organizes files in a consistent manner. I always find files quickly, usually in only a few seconds. I don't need this indexing and caching overhead. Yes, those options can be disabled, but for me using KDE4 would remain be a long road for many of the reasons I have shared previously. Not impossible, just a long road. Perhaps I'm just getting old and cranky. My existing system works the way I want. I remain content with how Trinity fits my way of using a desktop computer.
I notice the razor-qt desktop has been updated to version 0.5. Certainly an alternative against KDE4, but there are no PIM apps. If somebody ripped the akonadi crap from kdepim and renamed to razor-qt-pim, then I suspect that would create a buzz. I suppose there would be the option of using razor-qt and then building tdelibs/tdepim....
Please do share your conclusions after testing.
Darrell