Anno domini 2024 Thu, 30 May 21:52:05 -0500
Darrell Anderson via tde-users scripsit:
On 5/20/24 3:14 PM, Mike Bird via tde-users wrote:
Sounds like a reviewer had issues with a HiDPI
laptop. The article is here
but a subscription is needed to view it before May 30th 2024:
https://lwn.net/Articles/973130/
Today the article became available to non subscribers. Please read
before replying. :)
Did read it - including the comments :)
Possible helpful points:
"None of the major Linux distributions have an official TDE spin or
include its packages in their official repositories...."
The Q4OS folks officially support TDE, but Q4OS probably is not
considered a major distro. Does having a "Tubuntu" spin improve
credibility? That TDE is not part of official repos does seem to raise
eyebrows when other "lesser" desktop environments such as MATE, Xfce,
Cinnamon, Budgie, LXQt, LXDE, and Enlightenment are supported
officially. Would be nice to see TDE receive more positive support
upstream, but is being included in official repos important?
IMO there should be an "official" distribution to battle that argument.
Exegnulinux would fit the bill. I have my own spin of Ceres + TDE and regularly get bitten
by changes in refractrasnapshot that are no fun dealing with (e.g. initrds created from
refractasnapshot are broken but fmsmith does not integrate patches). Anyway, might be
thing to consider. Also "Dark Theme" - I still use the defalt light one but it
looks like it might be time to change that.
"Though the Trinity web site claims compatibility
with newer hardware,
it had some significant issues with a high-resolution (HiDPI) laptop
display and external monitors over Thunderbolt connections."
Outside of KDE and GNOME, a lazy web search seems to indicate none of
the other "lesser" desktop environments provide a Thunderbolt management
front-end.
"For example, on a 13" laptop display with 2256x1504 resolution, TDE's
user-interface elements were too small to use comfortably."
A 13" inch display seems small. Maybe not. In today's world where many
computer users wear eyeglasses, how many people can "comfortably" use a
13" inch display at such high resolutions? How do other desktop
environments or window managers fare in that same environment? High
resolution support probably is something that should be addressed in
TDE, but this complaint seems to be a nit pick outside an area of how
many people use computers.
I use HiDPI and it is no issue to TDE. Problem might be that you need more than 10 seconds
to figure that out. A 13" 16:9 display is as tall as a 12" X61 4:3 - and these
were considered to be just readable when the devices came to the market (1024x786 pixel).
Eyes of humans have not changed since then. Anybody remembers the
"Gamboy-magnifying-glasses" you stuck on top the gamboys displays?
"Trying to use the network settings utility pops
up an "unsupported
platform" warning, and provides a list of supported distributions: the
most recent of which is from 2015. The backend for the network settings
is the knetworkconf package, a collection of Perl scripts that are far
out of date for managing networking on current Linux systems."
Fair enough. Conversely, if the scripts remain functional then should
they be labeled "far out of date"? Perhaps as long as this specific
backend exists, a tracking item should exist that the visible
distributions list is updated before release. At least provide the
illusion of being current.
The author expose a profund ignorance about hardware. Wired internat works without a htch
- that's been for ages ad will as long as no GUI crap interferes. I hate
network-manager, but as the time beeing it works as a (inferior) replacement for wicd.
That's no different to any other DE.
"Network configuration is still possible with
NetworkManager, but it
isn't integrated into TDE."
Perhaps the author was unaware of the tdenetworkmanager package. I have
not used the package and can't vouch for usability. Does the TDE package
function similarly to the KDE NetworkManager front-end or the GTK
nmcli-applet?
Maybe it would be a good idea to include "network-manager-tde" as a recommended
then?
"Users have plenty of configuration options for
mice, but no trackpad
options at all."
The lack of a trackpad/touchpad front-end seems a fair point. KDE has an
extensive configuration module for touchpads, while Xfce has a nominal
config module. Probably the other "lesser" desktop environments have
modules too. There is an active feature request (tdebase 481) about
adding TDE Control Center support features. Is this a critical issue?
I trackpints on my thinkpads. There are only 2 things need to be configured: speed
(transformtion matrix - which is quite straight forward). And the scrolling (press MMB +
move trackpoint scroll in 2D) for which I did not find a solution. And then there are GTK3
applications that may or may not require LMB pressed to make scrolling happen, which is so
GNOMEish ...
"Konqueror is still a decent file manager, but it
doesn't handle modern
web sites well at all."
Subjective, but Konqueror still rates as one of the finest file
managers. Using Konqueror as a web browser has been debated for years,
within KDE circles and back in the KDE 3 days. Konqueror remains part of
KDE although the underlying web engine has been updated. How well does
KDE Konqueror handle "modern web sites"?
It works quite fine on simple pages with CSS1 and JS code from < 2010 - that is, it is
quite useless nowadays on webpages. But it's rendering engine is used in kmail for
HTML mails, too. Maybe it would just be fine to insert firefox as the defaullt in the XDG
settings?
"The Kopete instant-messaging application offers
to connect users to
networks and protocols that are either dead and gone (AIM, Yahoo,
Windows WinPopup) or well out of mainstream use (Novell GroupWise, Lotus
Sametime)."
Perhaps the dead and obsolete protocols should be purged from the TDE
source code.
+1
"Support for more recent protocols, such as
Matrix instant messaging, is
not to be found."
Matrix is a relatively new kid on the block. The first official release
was 2019. KDE has an "umbrella" project called neochat. Outside of KDE,
most if not all of the current Matrix clients seem to be third-party
rather than desktop natives. Possibly a fine feather in the cap, but
should TDE developers be expected to provide a Matrix client?
All the "new" messenger services provide a dedicated messenger. All are moving
targets (but ICQ, and that will be shut down in some weeks). Where to start, where to
stop?
"The vintage version of Amarok that is included
still lists internet
radio services that are defunct, and it immediately crashes when trying
to play AAC files."
If true then perhaps the defunct services should be pulled from the
code. Has anybody confirmed the AAC issue?
I don't have any AAC files. But the internet radio stuff is definitly a papercut
"bug". Bat then there are alo corners in the wiki and help files that point to
sites long gone (should be replaced by local copies or
archive.org) - if somebody finds
the time to do so.
Personal thoughts:
Commenters offered points about interface design and usability
requirements for why TDE remains a valid option.
Some of the article issues seem reasonable, but mostly I am reminded
that articles with these kinds of titles are written and published for
click-bait value. Rather than a muckraking article, this article could
have been written with a perspective and title of "Trinity Continues the
KDE 3 Spirit and Design." These types of articles are not what I expect
from
lwn.net.
"shiny KDE6" vs "retro desktop". He does not like it. And he comes
from a windows background, where there's no border between desktop and OS.
Nik
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