assorted problems: Debian potato + KDE 2.0.1
Hi, everyone.
I recently installed KDE 2.0.1 on a couple of Debian potato system using
the command:
apt-get -f install task-kde
I'm having a number of problems which are described below. I'm not sure
that this is the correct list to direct any or all of these questions to,
but I would appreciate hints regarding whom the questions should be sent
to. We also have KDE 2.0 installed on a number of Slackware
machines. Some of the problems I'm experiencing with Debian/KDE 2.0.1 are
NOT a problem on the Slackware/2.0 machines as noted below.
1.
All of our user passwords are maintained on an old Sun OS NIS server with
shadow passwords enabled. When I use the KDE lock screen, my password
won't authenticate me (i.e. I get an incorrect password message). To add
insult to injury, the KDE lock screen is not compiled or configured to
always authenticate the root password (as xlock does), which is local.
To add further insult to injury, when I <Ctrl>-<Alt>-<F1> to kill the lock
process, there is no identifiable process to kill. I basically ended up
having to abort my entire session to get out of the screen lock. Note
that this is NOT a problem on the Slackware/2.0 machines -- my password
authenticates normally. (I didn't test to see if the root password
authenticates.)
2.
kmail doesn't work, at least not when configured to use a local mail
server. First, when started, various of what appear to be debugging
messages appear on the console:
::jScriptEnabled: so: 0, sf: 0, se: 0
repeated several times. After configuring it to use the local mail spool,
no messages ever show up in the inbox. Again, this works fine on the
Slakeware/2.0 systems, although I'd love to know how to turn the really
annoying notification receipt off.
3. kicker dies periodically. On a regular basis (say once every couple of
days), when I launch a konsole from kicker, the entire kicker panel just
disappears. I can then restart it from a konsole, but it doesn't really
work any more; i.e. you can't launch any applications from it. The only
fix seems to be to log out (using <Ctrl>-<Alt>-<Backspace>). Needless to
say, this is a pain when I'm logged in to 8-10 different systems with 4-5
netscape windows up. I don't know if the same happens on the Slackware
systems, since I don't use them myself, but certainly no user has
complained yet.
4.
Inexplicably, scrolling in Netscape (4.76) will slow to a crawl. When I
restart using fvwm2 or some such and go to the same page, there is no
problem.
----
The rest of my stuff is more along the lines of questions. In particular,
I have a few Solaris users who are used to using CDE desktop. I'm really
tired of supporting Solaris on the desktop and am trying to convince them
to switch to KDE on a PC; unfortunately, some feature they consider to be
critical seem to be missing.
----
5.
It doesn't seem to be possible to mount a CD in Konquerer -- I tried for a
while and then gave up, running
mount /cdrom
from a konsole (after which the files do appear in Konquerer). However,
then the only way to unmount the CD again is to completely quit out of
Konquerer, since looking at the files on the CD from Konqueror seems to
make them perpetually "in use". This is way too complicated for most
users, IMHO.
6.
One of the features of CDE is that the user can save the current desktop
state at any point, so that this precise state restored when he/she logs
in again. Is there any way to do this in KDE without logging out and
clicking save current session? Furthermore, CDE is able to restart
netscape; KDE will only, as far as I can tell, restart konsoles, which has
limited utility. Is there any way to have some set of applications (not
necessarily konsoles or KDE apps) which start automatically when the user
logs in?
7.
One of my users likes to keep the icons for links to papers he is working
on on his desktop; this seems to work by dragging the file from Konqueror
to the desktop. Unfortunately, he wants to be able to have different file
icons on different virtual desktops (corresponding to different project
groups, for example). This, as far as I can tell, is not
possible; i.e. all the desktop icons are contained in the root window and
can not be associated with any particular virtual desktop. Is there any
way to make this work? Admittedly, this could be a sticky issue if the
user decides, for example, to change the number of virtual desktops, but
this feature is available in CDE, hence the complaints.
---
finally...
----
I've been following this list since about mid-December, and at the moment
I'm somewhat confused about what precisely is going on with Debian KDE.
Are the 2.0.1 packages still being maintained or is all the effort going
towards the 2.1 beta packages? A short orientation readme (including some
instructions on how to install what) would be very helpful.
Thanks, and sorry for the long (perhaps off-topic) post.
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