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KDE 2.2. Is Out

By

DATELINE AUGUST 15, 2001

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Free KDE Desktop Ready for Enterprise
Deployment

KDE Ships Leading Desktop with Advanced Web Browser and
Development Environment for Linux and Other UNIXes

August 15, 2001 (The INTERNET). The KDE Project today announced the immediate
release of KDE 2.2, a powerful and easy-to-use Internet-enabled
desktop for Linux. Consistent with KDE’s rapid and disciplined
development pace, the release of KDE 2.2 features an impressive
catalog of speed/performance enhancements, feature additions
and stability improvements. KDE 2.2 is available in 34 languages and
ships with the core KDE libraries, the core desktop environment,
and over 100 applications from the other base KDE packages
(administration, multimedia, network, PIM, development, etc.).

“The productivity tools and interface improvements in the new
KDE desktop provide a powerful client environment,” said Kent
Ferson, vice president of Compaq‘s Tru64 UNIX Systems Division.
“We’re pleased to offer KDE 2.2 on Tru64 UNIX and to enhance our
Linux-Tru64 UNIX affinity capabilities for
interoperability and application mobility. Compaq acknowledges
Dr. Tom
Leitner of Graz University of
Technology and the KDE development team for their support in
delivering this affinity capability.”

KDE 2.2 will be complemented later this month by the stable
release of KOffice 1.1, a comprehensive, modular, component-based
suite of office productivity applications. This combination is the
first to provide a complete Open Source desktop and productivity
environment for Linux/Unix.

KDE and all its components are available for
free under Open Source licenses from the KDE server and its
mirrors and can also
be obtained on CD-ROM.

“Thanks to the high quality of the KDE 2 development framework
and the invaluable feedback of our users we are delivering a more
polished, better integrated and more feature-rich desktop
experience in a relative short time. With the pending release of a
stable KOffice this month, KDE offers a complete high-quality
desktop and development platform without the costs and restrictions
associated with proprietary desktops,” said Waldo Bastian, release
manager for KDE 2.2 and a SuSE
Labs developer.

Dave Richards, the System Administrator for The City of Largo, Florida who recently
spearheaded the successful roll-out of KDE on 400 thin clients
serving 800 users in City offices, explained why the City selected
KDE and Linux: “All city terminals log into one big ‘desktop’
system to get the KDE desktop. Since uptime of this server is so
critical, we picked Linux. KDE gave us an excellent presentation
layer with which to run all of the City applications that are
running on other servers (both Unix and Windows).”

“It is important for enterprises to realize that the huge cost
savings they can obtain immediately upon conversion to KDE do not
require any sacrifice in terms of software available to their
users,” added Andreas Pour, Chairman of the KDE League. “The
capabilities of Konqueror, the expansive array of free software
available for KDE/Qt and the
large number of other Open
Source projects will solve most if not all problems natively.
For those applications only available for Windows at this juncture,
several alternative products, both commercial and Open Source,
exist: running Windows terminal sessions in KDE, running Windows
applications natively under KDE/Linux, and providing remote desktop
sessions. There is no reason companies cannot today shed themselves
of at least a substantial portion of wasteful licensing fees for
their desktop users.”

KDE 2: The K Desktop Environment.
Konqueror is KDE 2’s
next-generation web browser, file manager and document viewer. The
standards-compliant Konqueror has a component-based architecture
which combines the features and functionality of Internet
Explorer/Netscape Communicator and Windows Explorer. Konqueror
supports the full gamut of current Internet technologies, including
JavaScript, Java, XML, HTML 4.0, CSS-1 and -2 (Cascading Style
Sheets), SSL (Secure Socket Layer for secure communications), and
Netscape Communicator plug-ins (for
Flash, RealAudio
and RealVideo, and similar technologies; Konqueror also
supports some ActiveX
controls, such as Shockwave
Player. Support for all these features is provided through
KHTML, a KDE library widget which is available to all KDE
applications as either a widget (using normal window parenting) or
as a component (using the KParts
technology).

In addition, KDE offers seamless network transparency for
accessing or browsing files on Linux, NFS shares, MS Windows SMB
shares, HTTP pages, FTP directories, LDAP directories, digital
cameras and audio CDs. The modular, plug-in nature of KDE’s file
architecture makes it simple to add additional protocols (such as
IPX or WebDAV) to KDE, which would then automatically be available
to all KDE applications.

Besides the exceptional compliance with Internet and
file-sharing standards mentioned above,
KDE 2 is a leader in compliance with the available Linux desktop
standards. KWin, KDE’s new re-engineered window manager, complies
to the new Window Manager
Specification. Konqueror and KDE comply with the
Desktop Entry Standard. Konqueror uses the XBEL
standard for its bookmarks. KDE 2 largely complies with the
X Drag-and-Drop
(XDND) protocol as well as with the X11R6
session management protocol (XSMP).

The KDE 2.2 release features a number of enhancements which
remove any potential obstacles to widespread, productive enterprise
adoption of the free KDE desktop:

  • up to 50% improvement in application startup time on GNU/Linux
    systems using an experimental object file
    pre-linking method    ;
  • stability and capabilities of HTML rendering and
    JavaScript;
  • increased stability and capabilities of HTML rendering and
    JavaScript;
  • the addition of IMAP support (including SSL and TLS) to KDE’s
    mail client KMail;
  • a new plugin-based print architecture with integrated filter
    and page layout capabilities (currently supports LPR, CUPS, RLPR,
    external command, generic LPD and pseudo-printers such as
    print-to-fax or print-to-email gateways);
  • enhanced startup speed and user feedback;
  • a number of new plugins for Konqueror, including a Babelfish translator, an
    image gallery generator, an HTML validator and a web archiver;
  • native iCalendar support in KOrganizer, KDE’s PIM tool;
    and
  • a new personalization wizard.

KDE 2: The K Development Environment.
KDE 2.2 offers developers a sophisticated IDE as well as a rich set
of major technological improvements over the critically acclaimed
KDE 1 series. Chief among the technologies are the Desktop COmmunication Protocol (DCOP), the I/O libraries (KIO), the component
object model (KParts), an XML-based GUI
class, and a standards-compliant HTML
rendering engine (KHTML).

KDevelop is a leading Linux IDE with numerous features for rapid
application development, including a GUI dialog builder, integrated
debugging, project management, documentation and translation
facilities, built-in concurrent development support, and much more.
This release includes a number of new features, including a setup
wizard, code navigation, a console, man page support and colored
text, as well as a number of new project templates, including
KControl modules, Kicker (panel) applets, kio-slaves, Konqueror
plugins and desktop themes.

KParts, KDE 2’s proven
component object model, handles all aspects of application
embedding, such as positioning toolbars and inserting the proper
menus when the embedded component is activated or deactivated.
KParts can also interface with the KIO trader to locate available
handlers for specific mimetypes or services/protocols. This
technology is used extensively by the KOffice suite and Konqueror.

KIO implements application I/O in a
separate process to enable a non-blocking GUI without the use of
threads. The class is network and protocol transparent and hence
can be used seamlessly to access HTTP, FTP, POP, IMAP, NFS, SMB,
LDAP and local files. Moreover, its modular and extensible design
permits developers to “drop in” additional protocols, such as
WebDAV, which will then automatically be available to all KDE
applications. KIO also implements a trader which can locate
handlers for specified mimetypes; these handlers can then be
embedded within the requesting application using the KParts
technology.

DCOP is a client-to-client
communications protocol intermediated by a server over the standard
X11 ICE library. The protocol supports both message passing and
remote procedure calls using an XML-RPC to DCOP “gateway”. Bindings
for C, C++ and Python, as well as experimental Java bindings, are
available.

KDE also provides a number of language bindings. In particular,
KDE kdejava provides full Java bindings for KDE and Qt, which look
and behave identically to a C++ version, including access to the
C++ signals/slots.

Installing Binary Packages

Binary Packages. All major Linux distributors and some
Unix distributors have provided binary packages of KDE 2.2 for
recent versions of their distribution. Some of these binary
packages are available for free download under http://master.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/2.2/
or under the equivalent directory at one of the many KDE ftp server
mirrors. Please note
that the KDE team is not responsible for these packages as they are
provided by third parties — typically, but not always, the
distributor of the relevant distribution (if you cannot find a
binary package for your distribution, please read the KDE Binary Package Policy).

Library Requirements. The library requirements for a
particular binary package vary with the system on which the package
was compiled. Please bear in mind that some binary packages may
require a newer version of Qt and other libraries than was included
with the applicable distribution (e.g., LinuxDistro 8.0 may have
shipped with qt-2.2.3 but the packages below may require qt-2.3.x).
For general library requirements for KDE, please see the text at
Source Code – Library
Requirements below.

Package
Locations. At the time of this release, pre-compiled
packages are available for:

Please check the servers periodically for pre-compiled packages for
other distributions. More binary packages will become available
over the coming days and weeks.

Downloading and Compiling KDE 2.2

Library
Requirements. KDE 2.2 requires qt-2.2.4, which is available in
source code from Trolltech as qt-x11-2.2.4.tar.gz.
In addition, for SSL support, KDE 2.2 requires OpenSSL >= 0.9.6x; versions 0.9.5x
are no longer supported. For Java support, KDE 2.2 requires a JVM
>= 1.3. For Netscape plugin support, KDE requires a recent
version of Lesstif or Motif.
Searching local documentation requires htdig. Other special features, such as
drag’n’drop audio CD ripping, require other packages.

Compiler Requirements. Please note that some components
of KDE 2.2 will not compile with older versions of gcc/egcs, such as egcs-1.1.2 or
gcc-2.7.2. At a minimum gcc-2.95-* is required. In addition, some
components of KDE 2.2 (such as the multimedia backbone of KDE,
aRts) will not compile
with gcc 3.0
(the problems are being corrected by the KDE and GCC teams).

Source
Code/RPMs. The complete source code for KDE 2.2 is available
for free download at http://master.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/2.2/src/
or in the equivalent directory at one of the many KDE ftp server
mirrors.
Additionally, source rpms are available for the following
distributions:

Further Information. For further instructions on
compiling and installing KDE 2.2, please consult the installation
instructions and, if you should encounter problems, the
compilation
FAQ. For problems with source rpms, please contact the person
listed in the .spec file.

About KDE

KDE is an independent, collaborative project by hundreds of
developers worldwide working over the Internet to create a
sophisticated, customizable and stable desktop environment
employing a component-based, network-transparent architecture. KDE
is working proof of the power of the Open Source “Bazaar-style”
software development model to create first-rate technologies on par
with and superior to even the most complex commercial software.

Please visit the KDE family of web sites for the KDE FAQ, screenshots,
KOffice information and
developer
information. Much more information about KDE is
available from KDE’s family of web sites.

Corporate KDE Sponsors

Besides the valuable and excellent efforts by the KDE developers
themselves, significant support for KDE development has been
provided by MandrakeSoft
and SuSE. Thanks!

Trademarks Notices. KDE, K Desktop
Environment and KOffice are trademarks of KDE e.V. Linux is a
registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Unix and Motif are
registered trademarks of The Open Group. Trolltech and Qt are
trademarks of Trolltech AS. MS Windows, Internet Explorer, Windows
Explorer and ActiveX are trademarks or registered trademarks of
Microsoft Corporation. Shockwave is a trademark or registered
trademark of Macromedia, Inc. in the United States and/or other
countries. Netscape and Netscape Communicator are trademarks or
registered trademarks of Netscape Communications Corporation in the
United States and other countries and JavaScript is a trademark of
Netscape Communications Corporation. Java is a trademark of Sun
Microsystems, Inc. Flash is a trademark or registered trademark of
Macromedia, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.
RealAudio and RealVideo are trademarks or registered trademarks of
RealNetworks, Inc. All other trademarks and copyrights referred to
in this announcement are the property of their respective
owners.

Press Contacts:
United States: Eunice Kim
The Terpin Group
[email protected]
(1) 650 344 4944 ext. 105
 
Kurt Granroth
[email protected]
(1) 480 732 1752
 
Andreas Pour
KDE League, Inc.
[email protected]
(1) 917 312 3122
Europe (French and English): David Faure
[email protected]
(44) 1225 837409
Europe (English and German): Ralf Nolden
[email protected]
(49) 2421 502758

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