KDE Launcher 2.1.2 is now out - August 13th, 2005

I think this version fixes any remaining Tiger generated bugs, none of which were critical anyway. If this version is Ok for another few days I am going to post it as FINAL.

I updated the v2.1.2 build with some new insights I now have into some Tiger related AppleScript Studio quirks, and I upated the documentation withTiger details including some help installing KDE (by Fink) in Tiger. - August 18th, 2005

Download KDE Launcher 2.1.2

Oops, this top Link was broken...now fixed.

KDE and KDE Launcher Working in Tiger - August 8th, 2005

I had to compile from source from the unstable tree after having to update packags from CVS just to find mention of KDE but it worked. More importantly KDE Launcher worked too. I have not done much testing, just ran it and saw it worked, but it is unlikely to have any problems.

If you download KDE Launcher and KDE Launcher itself will not start in Tiger (icon just bounces a couple of times then dissappears) please let me know. This is an issue relating to Tiger, Xcode 2 and compile profiles which seems to show up on machines without the developer tools. If the posted version has the problem I need to know since every machine I have access to has the developer tools on it.

KDE Launcher 2.1.1 beta is now out (fixes small Tiger bug)

KDE Launcher is now at version 2.1.1. The only change is to address the startup error that occurs when KDE Launcher is started in Tiger. Otherwise KDE Launcher appears to work fine.

KDE Launcher 2.1 beta is Now Available

Version 2.1 tries to address issues with 2.0-2.01rd along with adding some obvious missing options. In general this version largely re-works the launch shell scripts to try and improve function and consistency and also cleans up the user interface. Some experimental options are added, some partially tested, like restoring the original .xinitrc file, and some totally untested, like redirecting the KDE path to use KDE installs by other than Fink.

Mostly however this version is concerned with the integrity of the user's system, both in reality and in their perception, and tries to address recovery from the state any settings might be left in if KDE Launcher just DOES NOT WORK for some user, crashes, and leaves a user who has no idea how to revert his .xinitrc file back, or what full screen X11 looks like. Unwarned X11's full screen sans applications can scare users. Some can even think their system is hosed. To limit user confusion this version adds reasonably good tracking of what was restored and missed so KDE Launcher can complete any missed or partial settings restorations the next run. It also enhances the custom .xinitrc file to prevent users from thinking they are trapped in an odd crash if they see full screen X11 but don't realize what they are seeing. I added (very rough) code to the custom .xinitrc to have a retained one "know" when it is being used external to KDE Launcher, automatically come out of full screen X11, inform the user of what is happening and how to get out of full screen manually, plus provide options to revert to the original .xinitrc file that was present when KDE Launcher first ran, or continue starting.

The troubleshooting section in the User's Guide is improved. In general the Documentation is not much different from that in 2.01rd.

If an option works or doesn't work for you, please give me some details of your setup and LET ME KNOW!.

Version 2.01 beta released 4/9/05.

It is currently beta but seems to be working well. It is currently at version 2.01 with the changes being an improved icon for X11-KDE (I thought the other one was hard to read from the Dock) and continued improvements to the documentation, which is still rough draft and full of typos. This version seems stable by report so I am going to leave it until version 2.1.

Prior X11-KDE Icon

New X11-KDE Icon

Hey, I never claimed to be an artist!

Version 2.0 beta released 4/7/05

I tried to address several issues with this version. Firstly I tightened up how it handles varied or odd configurations to hopefully maintain function over a wider variety of system and minimize the "logout" crashes, although I personally cannot reproduce them. There are now two different options for how KDE Launcher sets up and runs KDE in case one gives problems. The first is the original way Launch KDE did it, and the second a newer more "correct" way that is possible now that KDE is getting more polished (on OS X). I also added a GUI to allow for some configuration options and finally figured out how to avoid the KDE menu bar being randomly offset (it ain't random). Lastly I gave the dedicated temporary copy of X11 that KDE Launcher makes its own icon so it is not so damned ugly in the Dock.

I am working on adding support for other KDE installs, which should be trivial except I don't have them installed. I am also part-way through adding XDarwin support.

KDE Launcher's Requirements

KDE Launcher is not KDE or X11. It is only a configuration and startup utility for them so in order to run it needs to have those already installed. I use Apple's X11 and Fink so that is what I created this to work with.

The general requirements are:

Apple Macintosh OS X 10.3 or 10.4
Apple's X11 (an optional install on the 10.3/10.4 disks)
Fink (free Unix software package manager for OS X)
KDE (installed by Fink)

I am currently adding or looking to add wider support, which should be easy. I am hoping to have KDE Launcher use the XDarwin application or the X11 application depending on which the user has. I also suspect other installs of KDE would work as well but I have not added an option to direct KDE Launcher to look outside of the Fink default directory of /sw/bin.

What is KDE Launcher?

KDE Launcher is an AppleScript Studio application that starts a Fink install of KDE with functional settings that actually work for OS X without changing all X11's configurations so X11 works poorly for everything else. It also runs KDE in a separate and distinct instance of X11 allowing the user to run KDE in an optimized environment using its window manager and with its own unique (if ugley) Dock icon, while simultaneously running other X11 applications in their regular Apple X11 using Apple's quartz-wm for its Aqua look and feel and better speed and with that X11 identified via the standard Apple X11 Dock icon.

Why I wrote KDE Launcher?

When I was first playing with Apple's X11 and KDE I noticed that KDE ran like a dog (that would be, it was unusable) with its default behavior of using Apple's X11 window manager, but it did fine running its own window manager kwin. Figuring out how to get KDE to cooperate and do this was a pain. I knew that X11 and Unix experts do this stuff all the time, but each time I wanted to do it I had to spend two hours looking up all the commands and figuring out how to modified the X11 and KDE startup scripts, and even then it didn't do what it was supposed to do without me manually forcing changing of the window managers. The result was delicate (easily messed up by updates), not very portable, and would not allow me to run KDE and run Apple's X11 using its native window manager at the same time. Just to go back and forth between running them at different times I had to rotate out some of the scripts. In the end I wrote an AppleScript (that became Launch KDE 1.0) to automate this reliably (so I didn't have to figure it out each time) and safely without any requirement for modifying startkde, Apple's X11, or .xinitrc. This AppleScript also allowed me to use KDE like a regular separate program seemingly distinct from Apple's X11 application.

Download KDE Launcher 2.1

Download from this server here , or from .mac here.

Contact Information

rwikoff@mac.com

Or visit my website at

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Created 04/08/05

Modified 05/07/05 - Added v2.1.1

Modified 06/17/05 - Added counter, mintor HTML/font glitches

Modified 07/17/05 - Add Page Counter

Modified 08/09/05 - Updated to reflect KDE and KDE Launcher now working in Tiger

Modified 08/13/05 - KDE Launcher 2.1.2 posted

Modified 08/19/05 - KDE Launcher 2.1.2 (revised to build 236) posted