[gentoo-desktop] Re: Dependencies of KDE 3

[Duncan]

E. Liddell posted on Tue, 27 Nov 2012 06:51:47 -0500 as excerpted:

> Let's see here.  Ignore packages with the -meta suffix, first off, since
> they're just aggregators for other packages.  Secondly, since Portage's
> dependency identification sometimes messes up in --keep-going runs,
> attempt to individually re-emerge any package that didn't get far enough
> to produce a log.  Start with the kde-base packages:
>
>>  *  (kde-base/kdm-3.5.10::kde-sunset, ebuild scheduled for merge)
>>  *  (kde-base/kdebase-startkde-3.5.10-r5::kde-sunset, ebuild scheduled
>>  for merge)
>>  *  (kde-base/konqueror-3.5.10::kde-sunset, ebuild scheduled for merge)
>>  *  (kde-base/kdesktop-3.5.10::kde-sunset, ebuild scheduled for merge)
>>  *  (kde-base/konsole-3.5.10::kde-sunset, ebuild scheduled for merge)

Note that kdm is only necessary if you use it as a graphical login.  If 
you login at the (CLI) shell and run startx (with kde3 set as your 
XSESSION), you can avoid it entirely.  I've never had it installed here, 
for kde3 or kde4, as I've preferred a text login and the startx method 
since my mandrake era, before gentoo (mandrake broke the *dm at one point 
and I decided I didn't need it working anyway... and have never looked 
back).

And if you DO prefer a graphical login, there's other *DMs available.  
You aren't limited to kdm.  So if it won't build for you, you can try one 
of the others.  If I used a *dm and not a shell login, I may be able to 
list a few more, but there's at least the kde4 kdm, gdm (gtk/gnome), xdm 
(generic X), and some other, slim dm (sdm?), IIRC.  There may be others 
I'm not aware of.

Since you already mentioned having gtk2/gnome2 on your system, gdm 
shouldn't pull in too many additional deps, and xdm similarly.  Others, I 
don't know, except that kdm for kde4 would probably pull in more, if you 
don't already have kdelibs4 installed, anyway.

kdebase-startkde provides the session files necessary for a kde xsession, 
so that's the alternative to kdm for a shell login.  I'm not sure whether 
you can avoid it if you're using a *dm or not, but you'll for sure need 
it if you're using a CLI/shell login and the startx method, as I do.

konqueror, kdesktop and konsole are run-time substitutable for other 
alternatives (say gterm or xterm, there are others, for konsole), but 
they may provide components that are assumed by other bits of kde (the 
konsole kpart, for instance, used in kwrite/kate, konqueror, etc), so may 
be required to build other bits of kde, even if you don't actually use 
the apps themselves at runtime.  And kdesktop is a necessary part of a 
kde3 session, unless you hack that bit out of the session scripts.  It 
provides the actual desktop root-window, tho if it crashes you can still 
continue using the rest of the kde session without it, so as I said, you 
could probably hack it out of the session and replace it with something 
else if you're desperate.

But for sure kdm is optional.  I KNOW that, since as I said, I don't 
believe I've used it since well before I switched to gentoo, and I don't 
believe I've ever had it installed on gentoo since gentoo switched to the 
split ebuilds (IIRC kde 3.4 era or so, definitely WELL before kde4) and I 
could thus avoid it.  Of course that means the metapackages that pull it 
in won't install either, but you don't actually need them either, as long 
as you have all the packages they pull in that you actually want, 
installed, since all a metapackage is, is a list of other packages as 
deps, for the convenience of those wishing to install the whole group of 
dependent packages as one.

-- 
Duncan - List replies preferred.   No HTML msgs.
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
and if you use the program, he is your master."  Richard Stallman