It was 2 years ago when we started working in KDE 4 packages, and exactly 20 months ago when we started uploading KDE 4.0.0 beta 1 to experimental. Finally, we are working in packages that are targeted to unstable \o/.
As announced in the users mailing list, we will be uploading KDE 4.2.2 to unstable in the next days, so look carefully at what you update :)
We have worked very hard in providing a smooth upgrade, but given the
change is so big, some new (little!) problems will be discovered. One of
the most problematic points is we were using .kde4 to store user data
and settings of KDE 4 and now it is time to switch back to the default
.kde. There are several possible migration cases here and for allow
users select the case they prefer, a migration wizard tool named
Kaboom
has been created inside the Debian KDE team.
Be aware that there will be some inconsistencies in unstable the following days after KDE 4.2.2 reaches the archive. So please, be patient.
We are still testing and we are not uploading until we think it is good to go, so next days could become 2 weeks. Again, be patient :)
If you want to keep using KDE 3.5.10 for a few weeks more, just do not upgrade yet. But if you want to keep using KDE 3.5.10 for months, maybe you should consider become a Lenny user.
If you have questions, doubts and/or suggestions, you can check our Debian KDE Team website where we try to add information and the archive of the Debian KDE users mailing list.
Time for a personal note. KDE 4.2 is a huge change from KDE 3.5, and it is normal if you do not fully like it in the beginning. But I do think most of users of KDE 3 will feel very comfortable in KDE 4 after some days using it. You just need to discover the new ways of doing some tasks. Also, once KDE 4.2 is sitting in unstable, a lot of third party applications (specially plasma widgets) for KDE 4 will be finally uploaded to the Debian archive, making KDE 4 even better.
Comments
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Oren said, on 2009-04-02 19:18:33+02:00:
Great news, woohoo! :)
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Llegó la hora de KDE 4.2 en unstable at Ana’s blog said, on 2009-04-02 19:21:21+02:00:
[...] (Spanish translation of this english post.) [...]
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Karellen said, on 2009-04-02 22:50:51+02:00:
You guys - the Debian QT/KDE Maintainers - are full of awesome. Thanks for all the great work.
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Dread Knight said, on 2009-04-02 23:13:01+02:00:
Migration tool ftw!
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Michael Leupold said, on 2009-04-02 23:18:42+02:00:
Great news. I've been on experimental since KDE 4.1 aired and I've been holding my breath for this to happen.
Thanks a lot guys!
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fyanardi said, on 2009-04-03 01:38:09+02:00:
Thanks for your great work! It's time for a farewell for the beloved KDE 3.5.10 ...
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adi said, on 2009-04-03 06:54:03+02:00:
dont know if this is the right place to ask, but let me do it nonetheless...
i'm using 4.2 from experimental, will the transition be smooth for me too (.kde4 -> .kde)? will kaboom work for this situation?
will 4.2.2 hit experimental before unstable or go directly?
I also use some kde3 apps which still have no good enough kde4 (qt4) version, e.g. kile. Those will still be usable, right?
anyway, thanks for all the good work ...
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devil said, on 2009-04-03 06:58:27+02:00:
http://pkg-kde.alioth.debian.org/kaboom.html should answer your questions
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adi said, on 2009-04-03 07:25:02+02:00:
ah, ok, thanks, I keep trying to remember to read all relevant things before the comment ...
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Thomas Zander said, on 2009-04-03 10:30:57+02:00:
The way I read your blog I conclude that debian will ship kdelibs to have the preferences in $HOME/.kde/ instead of the default $HOME/.kde4/
If I am reading that correctly I think you are making a big mistake as there are a lot of reasons why a user would still have a kde3 applications on his system which would then make the kde-wide databases of different versions conflict with each other making one or the other fail.
Unless you are forbidding the kde3-libs to be installed, I think its a good idea to use the .kde4 default setting.
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ldlabs.org - Blog » kde4 verso unstable said, on 2009-04-03 12:53:53+02:00:
[...] si può leggere dalla mailing list e da questo post sul blog di Ana Guerrero finalmente kde4 inizia a spostarsi ufficialmente dai repository [...]
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Geoff said, on 2009-04-03 20:01:53+02:00:
CRINGE
I was really hoping Debian would keep waiting for a lot more of the usability gaps to get filled in before moving KDE4 out of experimental. Not to mention the major performance issues (on my hardware at least - a 7200GS with zero 3d performance to speak of is much, much faster than my 8600GT in KDE4).
I would be quite happy to wait until 4.3 or later before switching from KDE3 again. Perhaps I will have to learn to compile KDE3 myself and stick with it indefinitely. Not at all looking forward to the day when I decide that's the best course of action.
Oh well I guess, I knew this day would come eventually. If Debian Developers think it's ready enough, who am I to argue? Here's hoping I don't have to spend the rest of my video card's useful life waiting for Nvidia to fix something also before KDE4 can hold a candle to KDE3 in the "click something and get a result - IMMEDIATELY" department.
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Geoff said, on 2009-04-09 09:26:16+02:00:
I feel I must appologize for my premature and caps-ified cringing and whinging. My initial completely subjective impression of 4.2.2 is that it seems to be at least as much better than 4.2.0 as 4.2.0 was better than 4.1.x, it really is another big step up. I still like KDE3 more, but KDE4 is almost a match for it at this point and I was definitely jumping the gun with my previous post. Sorry for not having just kept my ranting to myself.
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Long live Debian! « Web 0.2 said, on 2009-04-13 19:33:06+02:00:
[...] Furthermore, nobody can say that sid(unstable) is not bleeding edge enough. Especially after kde4.2 made it into sid. The kde4.2 upgrade process succeeded smoothly on my place. I’ve also [...]