Bug 136602 – Why I prefer monolithic KDE

• Product: Gentoo Linux
• Status: VERIFIED DUPLICATE

[Description Kevin O'Gorman 2006-06-12 19:15:28 UTC]

The web page http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/kde-split-ebuilds.xml
requested a bug if there are reasons I prefer monolithic KDE.

First let me admit I have a system both fast enough and large
enough not to be bothered by the fairly long compiles.  The
reason I favor monliths is that they seemed to work.  The
changeover has already made my system sufficiently unstable that
I have no confidence in the process.  I understand that gentoo
is a DIY distro, but management of 330 packages that I don't
really even *want* to understand is a bit much.  I just want it
to Just Work (TM).

1) I'm distressed to find myself right now with an unmaintainable
   system where "emerge -aDvu world" won't work because parts of
   KDE are blocking each other.  The above web page promised that
   would not happen.  In particular, it's suggested fix of
   "emerge kde-meta" fails for the same reason.

2) For more of the distress this is causing, here is an excerpt from
   a gentoo-users mail I'm sending right now explaining a few things
   about what is hard about this situation:  It begins by making
   reference to the above web page, which was offered as "everything
   I need to know".  It ain't, as I try to explain below.

Hmm..  I read this.  It's *very far* from being everything I need to know.  It says portage protects me from an illegal state.  I surmise this is false, because I cannot now do a simple emerge -aDvu world.  I need to know how to get to a legal state, and all that page provides is background; it leaves figuring it out up to me.  And frankly, it looks like a lot of work just to figure out.  Besides being scary because it seems likely I'll have to emerge everything the eye can normally see and hope that it will come up working again.

I first guess is to unmerge everything KDE, but even then, I'm not quite sure what I should emerge in its place.  kde-meta?  And what will my system be capable of in the meantime?  Is there some subset that will get my desktop back in working order relatively quickly  (would "emerge konsole kalarm" do? What's the name of the app that displays a panel/taskbar).  Dang, but this is a lot to figure out and trust that I've got it right while I destroy my ability to ask for help if I get it wrong.

What's the name of the gizmo that puts the clock in my panel/taskbar?  Is that a panel or a taskbar, and will a mistake in terminology prevent my system from ever looking like this again?  Is there some little gizmo I'm used to using hat
will suddenly disappear, and how will I know what its name anyway when I can no longer see it?

Does this communicate my premonitions of impending doom?

Would some kind soul who understands such stuff spell out the steps to get to a useable and maintainable system.  I no longer have a maintainable one.

That web page said that if one prefers the monolithic KDE one should tell them why.  I think I just did (I submitted a bug).

++ kevin

[Comment 1 Jakub Moc (RETIRED) 2006-06-13 00:08:07 UTC]

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 136491 ***

[Comment 2 Jakub Moc (RETIRED) 2006-06-13 00:08:17 UTC]

.