InformIT: Red Hat Linux 7 Unleashed > Features of the K Desktop Environment

Features of the K Desktop Environment

One of the most popular X11 window managers for Linux is the K Desktop Environment (KDE), which is used by many other Linux distributions, and which is also available with Red Hat Linux. KDE is much more than an X11 window manager—it is a complete desktop environment with more than 150 clients and a consistent interface, much like the one provided by GNOME.

KDE supports many of the features you'd expect in a modern desktop environment, including those commonly found in commercial software libraries such as Motif and in the Common Desktop Environment (CDE). These features include

A suite of personal productivity tools, such as disk and network utilities, designed to use the desktop interface and the capability to import and export data to other tools
Session management, so open applications and window positions are remembered between sessions
"Sticky Buttons" to put an application or window on every desktop
Network Transparent Access, or NTA, so you can click or drag and drop a graphic document's icon in an FTP window to display or transfer the graphic
Pop-up menus and built-in help for nearly any desktop action and KDE client
A desktop trash can for safe file deletions
Graphic configuration of your system's desktop, keyboard, mouse, and sound
Programs and other data represented as icons on the desktop or in windows with folder icons
Drag-and-drop actions (such as copy, link, move, and delete) for files and devices

KDE Installation Components

Although KDE can be downloaded in source form from http://www.kde.org, you'll find one of the latest stable distributions included with Red Hat Linux. KDE and other KDE clients are installed from precompiled binaries in RPM files, listed in Table 5.2. Note that you can also install newer (but non-stable) versions of KDE RPMs included on the CD-ROMs.

Table 5.2. KDE `.rpm` Packages

Package Name	Description
`autologin-kde-1.0.0-2`	`kcontrol` login plugin
`kdeadmin-1.1.2*`	KDE system administration tools
`kdebase-1.1.2*`	KDE's window manager and other base clients, such as `kdehelp`
`kdegames-1.1.2*`	More than a dozen KDE games, such as `ksame`
`kdegraphics-1.1.2*`	KDE graphics clients, such as `kghostview`
`kdelibs-1.1.2*`	Shared software libraries
`kdelibs-devel-1.1.2*`	Development software libraries
`kdemultimedia-1.1.2*`	KDE media and sound clients, such as the `kscd` audio CD player
`kdenetwork-1.1.2*`	KDE network clients and utilities
`kdesupport-1.1.2*`	Software support libraries
`kdesupport-devel-1.1.2*`	Software support development libraries
`kdetoys-1.1.2*`	`kworldwatch` client and others
`kdeutils-1.1.2*`	Various KDE utilities, such as the `kvt` or `konsole` emulators
`kdoc-2.0-1`	KDE documentation files
`kpackage-1.1.2*`	KDE RPM utility client
`kpilot-2.2.1`	KDE Palm connectivity client
`kpppload-1.04-16`	PPP load monitor client

KDE clients under Red Hat Linux are installed in the /usr/bin directory. Support and configuration files will be found in a directory named .kde in your home directory. KDE may be installed during your initial Red Hat Linux installation, or afterward using the gnorpm or rpm commands.

KDE, like GNOME, is under rapid development, and new releases appear with some regularity. As of this writing the next release of KDE will be version 2.0. According the KDE developers at http://www.kde.org, you can expect a number of new features, including

Diagnostic feedback via an information dialog during startup
New window controls
Enhanced toolbars
New desktop pager and clock on the panel
Browser bookmarks available via drop-down menu on the taskbar
Major improvements to elements of the KOffice office suite

Logging In with `kdm`

The kdm, or K display manager (shown in Figure 5.11), is KDE's replacement of xdm or gdm. Using kdm is one way to boot directly to X and KDE after you start your computer.

To log in, enter your username and type in your password. Like gdm, kdm offers a choice of session types. Click the drop-down menu by the kdm Session Type field and then click the Go! button to log in to your favorite desktop environment. To shut down, reboot your computer, or restart your X server, click the Shutdown button on the kdm dialog box, and select the desired action.

Figure 5.11 The K display manager manages logins and desktop sessions when you boot directly to X11.

Features of the KDE Desktop

The KDE desktop is an alternative X11 session offered through the gdm client's Options, Sessions menu or the kdm client's Session Type menu. If you do not use a display manager to boot directly to X after starting Red Hat Linux, you can start KDE manually from the command line of your console. Insert the command startkde in the .xinitrc file in your home directory, and then start X11 with the startx command:


   # startx

You'll see an initial diagnostic splash screen; the screen will clear and you'll see a desktop similar to that shown in Figure 5.12. When KDE first starts, a Desktop and .kde directory will be created in your home directory (according to the skeleton file system configuration under the /etc/skel directory). Changes, configurations, or modifications to your desktop or KDE clients will be saved under your .kde directory. The KDE desktop is a directory named Desktop in your home directory, and represents your KDE home folder.

The KDE desktop may be customized using a variety of techniques. You can run KDE's configuration wizard from the KDE welcome screen (shown in Figure 5.12), or by using various system and panel menus and dialogs.

Figure 5.12 The KDE is one of the most popular of the newer desktop environments for the X Window System and Linux.

Performing Basic Desktop Actions

When you first start KDE, you see the kfm, or K file manager window, and a root display, or desktop, as shown in Figure 5.12.

The KDE desktop consists of several elements: a taskbar menu across the top of the display, the root background (or root display), and the desktop panel along the bottom of your screen. In the panel, starting from the left, is the Application Starter button (the large K), followed by several icons representing different applications, folders, devices (floppy, printer, or CD-ROM drive) and directories. There are four buttons on the panel representing the default four virtual desktops, or displays, along with application icons.

Using the Desktop Panel

The KDE panel, like the GNOME panel, is used to hold the Application Starter menu (accessed when you click the Application Starter menu), other application icons, the screen lock or logout button, virtual desktop buttons, and other program icons. KDE also uses a separate taskbar menu, unlike the GNOME panel, to store buttons of currently running clients or to quickly access client menus.

To change the panel's size or orientation, click the Application Starter button and click Control Center. Next, select Look and Feel from the Control Center's Modules menu, then click the Panel menu item. You can also right-click a blank area of the Panel to access the Configuration dialog box. A dialog box will appear, as shown in Figure 5.13, from which you can select different settings. When you're finished, click Apply and OK.

If you want to change how icons are placed or arranged on the panel, right-click a desired icon, and then select Remove (to delete the item) or Move from the small pop-up menu. If you click Move, you can drag the icon across the panel to a different place. If the panel is getting in the way during your KDE session, click the small button to the far left or right of the panel to temporarily hide the panel from your screen. To restore the panel, click the small button again.

Figure 5.13 The KDE Control Center's Panel Configuration dialog box is used to change the panel and taskbar appearance and location.

Using KDE's `konqueror` or the K File Manager

The newest K file manager, known as konqueror, is near the center of the magic of new versions of KDE. This file manager (included with the newer, but not stable version of KDE on your CD-ROMs) will eventually replace KDE's current kfm client, and provides a usable desktop where you can drag, drop, multiple-select, copy, move, or delete icons of data files or programs. Many of the desktop actions supported by konqueror become apparent when you drag or right-click a file's icon.

The konqueror client is launched like the kfm client when you ask for help or click on your KDE panel's home directory icon. After installation, this client may also be launched as a Web browser from the panel's Internet menu. Like kfm, if you have an active Internet connection, you can browse to remote Web sites and FTP files directly from remote computers by dragging icons of files from the konqueror window to your desktop.

The root display, which includes your home directory and your root display, is represented by the directory named Desktop in your home directory. If you drag files to this folder, the files' icons appear on your root display. Similarly, if you drag a file from another folder or directory to the desktop, it appears in your Desktop directory.

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