The state of KDE4

Kicking a software release out the door is always a chaotic time; the developers never feel like the software is ready while project management is trying to put a box around something that can be shipped. KDE 4, which is the first major K Desktop Environment release since KDE 3.5 in 2005, is currently in this stage. Questions are being asked about changing deadlines, beta versus alpha quality software, whether a stable release can be delivered on time, and so on. The questions reflect an underlying concern for the quality of the final release.

Part of the problem, it seems, is that earlier beta versions of KDE 4 did not get widespread use. There were enough fundamental problems that users, even those expecting a rough ride, were unable to get things going enough to start filing bugs. Torsten Rahn reported on some feedback he received at a show:

It is a difficult problem, a beta must be usable enough for people to work with it. But if it worked correctly all the time, it would already be released. For KDE 4, part of the difficulty is that the platform and underlying libraries are in pretty good shape, "release candidate" worthy, but the workspace (Plasma) and applications have lagged. Those are things that users see first, of course; fundamental bugs will turn them away from testing further.

One project that is helping get more beta testers is the KDE Four Live CD which is an openSUSE-based live distribution with KDE 4 as the desktop. Beta testers will not have to build everything from source, nor have to install anything on their machines. Screenshots from the Beta 4 release version of the live CD accompany this article.

There were some discussions on the kde-core-devel mailing list regarding whether to call things release candidates, betas, or alphas, with some advocating recognizing the quality of the code and sticking with a beta label. In response, Aaron Seigo makes a good point about the difference between software releases in the volunteer-driven free software world as opposed to paid developers in more traditional development shops:

The distinction is not quite as stark as Seigo paints it, "lines in the sand" are important tools for any project, volunteer or otherwise. It is the tension between getting it right and getting it into the hands of users that cause these conflicts as releases approach. There are an awful lot of "I can deal with that later" problems that come due. Determining which are critical and which can be deferred further is difficult and error-prone. It is much easier for developers to decide that they are all critical and the release needs to slip.

Sticking to previously established schedules can help by forcing things out the door, even if they aren't quite ready. Betas and release candidates are meant to be used, regardless of what they are called – they are also expected to have bugs. The flip side, of course, is that if a release is unusable, it will be largely ignored. This is what the early betas of KDE 4 seem to have run into.

In a casual test drive of the Beta 4 release, there were plenty of problems to be found, but, by and large, it worked. It doesn't seem ready to run as a day-to-day desktop, yet, but testers and others interested should be able to assist in finding and tracking down bugs. The existence of a live CD should help, as will integration with existing installations; imagine being able to boot the live CD and have it work with the existing users, preferences, filesystems, etc. on the underlying system. If a showstopping bug comes along, reboot to the installed OS and file a bug. Perhaps KDE Four Live does some of this integration with an installed openSUSE, but it did not with the Kubuntu installed on the test machine.

Conflicts in the development process often come to a head when a release is imminent, KDE 4 is hardly alone in seeing these kinds of disagreements. Software is difficult to develop and is even harder to release, opinions will differ on the best approach. In general, though, everyone has an interest in the same end result – a solid, working final release – keeping that in mind can help defuse things. The release of KDE 4 is planned for December 2007, we look forward to seeing it.

Not to be too much of a troll here, but if there are significant problems with the beta
software even at this stage, is it really plausible that we are going to see a usable release
within the next 1-2 months?

It depends. 

Are people like you and I going to try to help KDE out by being beta testers and documenting
all these issues and trying to find out fixes?

> Are people like you and I going to try to help KDE out by being
> beta testers and documenting all these issues and trying to find
> out fixes?

So I am not permitted to ask the question if I am not a KDE user?  Interesting.

Well, as it is mentioned in the article, the underlying libraries are in good shape. Plasma
needs work and it is a very visible part. It is improving rappidly.

That's at least my understanding based on reading Planet KDE and dot.kde.org.

For those who prefer Debian, there is a Debian-based KDE4 LiveCD too:

http://pkg-kde.alioth.debian.org/kde4livecd.html

Thanks very much for the link :-) Perfect for giving it a try without messing up with my etch.

Kubuntu did not (yet) to release packages for KDE 4 beta 4, but I promise to test it as soon
as they do. The final result should be really awesome!

Am I the only one who thinks that the panel looks ridiculous?

No, you are not the only one. But it is only incomplete, not meant to be like that.

About getting people involved, this is no surprise for me, it would have been an absolute
surprise if it was the other way.
Reasons:
The docs are by no means straightforward. I am a diehard KDE fan, by no means stupid and I
have decent knowledge about computers, yet it took me more than one day to get the thing
compiled.
The taskbar and the system tray are very important and they are not ready. The tray is lying
around in a small black square, the taskbar gave me problems with the clock. Even setting
things up as described in the docs, starting a program for KDE 3 crushed the settings and the
clock mixed with the taksbar, and that because the KDE 3 program got the same directories as
the KDE 4 environment. I would have expected that to be managed somehow automaticaly.

Yet, Kate looks even better than before, the programs are quite fast. KDE 4 will be a hit
someday.

SuSE say they handled that, /opt/kde3 has been replaced by direct install 
in /usr (slightly scary that!), I'd prefer /usr/kde, /usr/kde4, 
or /opt/kde4 for sys admin reasons.

It uses .kde4, and .kde3 directories, they mention KDE:KDE3 has had tweaks 
to support KDE4 applications, and I have run some under KDE3 desktop on 
occassion.

The problem is, it's all so messy, you have to wonder whether the Bug 
Reports will be worthy anything to developers...

There was an issue with Live CD, being out of date, but now it's got the 
KDE 4.0 Beta and it thinks  "KDE-Four-Live.i686-0.6.1.iso            
11-Nov-2007    590M  KDE 4.0 Beta 4+" on day lwn.net say "Headlines for 
November 9, 2007".  Someone's getting their act together!

I tried the KDE4 Beta 2 option during OS install, but I got even few 
packages in the KDE4 desktop, probably due to the de-bundling, and some 
conflicts if I added in lots of KDE4 packages.

SuSE provide KDE4 beta via repo and there's a 1 click install which seems 
to download snapshot of the SVN, so I'll try that and see if I get a 
workable desktop to test.  (Switching to a 2nd session with KDE3 running 
didn't even get me a login though).

Testing has to be convenient and workable, and it just wasn't, hopefully 
it will be and then things will happen, as more ppl work in KDE4.