My new project: KDE Plasma world domination

[Pointedstick]

Thanks Xan! I don't have a setup where I can test that, but if you find that the KF5 versions don't do what you'd like, please file a bug and I'll see what I can do.

[geaux saints]

PS,

In years past, KDE has had a reputation as being "bloated" and suitable only for more powerful machines. More recently, I have heard from several people that KDE is much more lightweight than it was previously; you seem to agree. To what do you attribute this change?

[WiseOne]

Congrats, PS, and nice to hear from you! I'm delighted you're now a Linux leader. I'll definitely keep KDE Plasma in mind - my lab uses Linux distros for some desktops to squeeze more life out of them and avoid some of the heavy handed protections on Windows boxes that limit usability. A year or two perhaps.

It sounds to me like ERE was a very good path for you in fact. If it weren't for that, you might still be living in the Bay area and working for a big Silicon Valley firm, and you certainly wouldn't be working on Linux. I view it as a backstop that lets you take advantage of opportunities that you might otherwise pass by, and also provide yourself with a better work/life balance. At my workplace the atmosphere is beyond horrible because everyone is terrified of likely impending job & pay cuts - and because of that, they aren't accomplishing very much professionally beyond the day to day tasks. But then, they mostly live in expensive homes in elite suburbs where property taxes are $30-40K/year, and a pay cut would be devastating. It's nice to be at least semi-immune, which lets me focus on work much more effectively.

[Mountaineer]

Great to hear from you, PS. I'll have to check out KDE Plasma and give it a spin.

BTW, I also totally get your ERE perspective. So many people get fixated on the not working part to escape their current rut that they lose sight of what actually makes them happy in a sustainable way. And sometimes they're so underwater emotionally that they really have no idea what makes them happy before they first extract themselves from the office. For me, financial independence is more about freedom to choose your own path regardless of financial motive. Congrats on finding your passion!

I agree with you both, regarding the ERE philosophy. The FIRE principles are still powerful, since they provide a path out of standard wage slavery, allowing individuals to identify what they're truly motivated to do in life. But the "retirement" portion is largely unhealthy/unnecessary. Humans are built to chase passions, not to retire from them.

BASIC FIRE PRINCIPLES

7-1. To build a fire, it helps to understand the basic principles of a fire. Fuel (in a nongaseous state) does not burn directly. When you apply heat to a fuel, it produces a gas. This gas, combined with oxygen in the air, burns.

7-2. Understanding the concept of the fire triangle is very important in correctly constructing and maintaining a fire. The three sides of the triangle represent air, heat, and fuel. If you remove any of these, the fire will go out. The correct ratio of these components is very important for a fire to burn at its greatest capability. The only way to learn this ratio is to practice.

All text and images from the U.S. Army Field Manual 3-05.70: Survival.

[gizmo_rat]

Humans are built to chase passions, not to retire from them.

TJLYOM

Reminded me of a somewhat tongue in cheek rejoiner or modifier I read the other day.

http://thetattooedbuddha.com/2018/02/17 ... fold-path/

[Pointedstick]

PS,

In years past, KDE has had a reputation as being "bloated" and suitable only for more powerful machines. More recently, I have heard from several people that KDE is much more lightweight than it was previously; you seem to agree. To what do you attribute this change?

1. We're benefiting from Qt's investments in slimming down, due to their push to get into the automotive and embedded markets. Qt is simply a fantastic toolkit these days.
2. We're benefiting from prior painful architectural decisions (e.g. KDE 3 -> Plasma 4 -> Plasma 5) that don't tie us down to legacy bloat.
3. We're working really hard on performance tuning ourselves. It's a strong focus.

On boot, it's not uncommon for a full KDE Plasma environment to be using under 400 MB of RAM. CPU usage is also very low. We're destroying the "lightweight" desktop environments' raison d'etre.

[Pointedstick]

But then, they mostly live in expensive homes in elite suburbs where property taxes are $30-40K/year, and a pay cut would be devastating.

[geaux saints]

PS,

In years past, KDE has had a reputation as being "bloated" and suitable only for more powerful machines. More recently, I have heard from several people that KDE is much more lightweight than it was previously; you seem to agree. To what do you attribute this change?

1. We're benefiting from Qt's investments in slimming down, due to their push to get into the automotive and embedded markets. Qt is simply a fantastic toolkit these days.
2. We're benefiting from prior painful architectural decisions (e.g. KDE 3 -> Plasma 4 -> Plasma 5) that don't tie us down to legacy bloat.
3. We're working really hard on performance tuning ourselves. It's a strong focus.

On boot, it's not uncommon for a full KDE Plasma environment to be using under 400 MB of RAM. CPU usage is also very low. We're destroying the "lightweight" desktop environments' raison d'etre.

PS,

Thanks for the thoughtful response. Please keep up the great work!

[Mountaineer]

I agree with you both, regarding the ERE philosophy. The FIRE principles are still powerful, since they provide a path out of standard wage slavery, allowing individuals to identify what they're truly motivated to do in life. But the "retirement" portion is largely unhealthy/unnecessary. Humans are built to chase passions, not to retire from them.

BASIC FIRE PRINCIPLES

7-1. To build a fire, it helps to understand the basic principles of a fire. Fuel (in a nongaseous state) does not burn directly. When you apply heat to a fuel, it produces a gas. This gas, combined with oxygen in the air, burns.

7-2. Understanding the concept of the fire triangle is very important in correctly constructing and maintaining a fire. The three sides of the triangle represent air, heat, and fuel. If you remove any of these, the fire will go out. The correct ratio of these components is very important for a fire to burn at its greatest capability. The only way to learn this ratio is to practice.

All text and images from the U.S. Army Field Manual 3-05.70: Survival.

Spoken like one of them Chem E's.

Nothing better than a Chem E quoting the Army Field Manual: Survival. Oh, here is some additional highly paraphrased FIRE advice from the Army - if you enter a cage match with ochotona, take a 45, FIRE it. It will improve your odds of winning.

[WiseOne]

But then, they mostly live in expensive homes in elite suburbs where property taxes are $30-40K/year, and a pay cut would be devastating.

Thank you PS I needed a laugh this morning!

And no, that wasn't a typo. Living in Westchester and commuting to the city every day on top of those housing costs...I just can't imagine a more depressing way to live.

[Pointedstick]

PS [or anyone],
I have a laptop with a 21GB solid state hard drive running Windows 10. It will no longer update because the current iteration of Windows takes up about 19GB and it needs another 8GB to do the update. Attaching a USB hard drive did not work as it did for a previous update. Downloading the update onto a flash drive didn't work either.

So I am thinking about wiping the HD and installing Linux. Do you think KDE Plasma would be the best choice for this laptop?

Of course, but I'm biased! would recommend Kubuntu 18.04, which comes out tomorrow (hopefully). I'm the Product Manager for it. Choose the minimal install option in the installer. Should only take up like a gig of space, maybe two.

Regardless of what you choose though, replace that SSD! 21GB isn't enough to store much actual data on, regardless of how small the OS is. SSDs are dirt cheap these days. You can get 256GG for less than $100.