Stretch - Ough!

[Radvan]

I have installed Stretch (KDE). And I have got a lot of problems. The most annoying ones:

apper: Apper can be run only from the KDE menu. When I create a link or a copy (of the desktop file) in my "util" folder and run apper from there, it will run but on closing I get "KDEInit - cannot run /usr/bin/apper" and a bang. Only when running from the KDE menu, apper will close quietly.
sound: Sound resets itself to 100% repeatedly. For example, the bang from apper is really a bang. Lowering the sound volume in the settings is futile, next time I get another bang.
desktop files: Plenty of nuisances, sorry. Sometimes, copying a desktop file results in making a link instead of a copy (libre office), sometimes the desktop files are plain text (yes, they are, but they should be run). Sometimes, renaming the desktop file (for example, removing the .desktop extent) loses icon and functionality.

On the other hand, firefox can play videos. Splendid! Copying big data from a DVD seems to copy what should be copied. Splendid! I like Stretch... well, except apper and sound control and...

HW: Dell Inspiron 17R. 8 GB memory, 1 TB disc. Debian installation: netinst CD, no meddling with the installation.

[None1975]

sound: Sound resets itself to 100% repeatedly. For example, the bang from apper is really a bang. Lowering the sound volume in the settings is futile, next time I get another bang.

Hello. Just add a line to /etc/pulse/daemon.conf

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flat-volumes = no

. Also, Debian wiki is your friend.

[steve_v]

Stretch - Ough!

Perhaps you mean "Plasma 5.8.6 - Ough!"
Plasma in Stretch has plenty of irritating bugs IME, so much so that I broke my rule and decided to run testing for a while.

Here's another one you're just going to love:

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du -h ~/.xsession-errors
12G     /home/steve/.xsession-errors

KDE, why you log STDOUT to disk?

[bw123]

desktop files: Plenty of nuisances, sorry. Sometimes, copying a desktop file results in making a link instead of a copy (libre office), sometimes the desktop files are plain text (yes, they are, but they should be run). Sometimes, renaming the desktop file (for example, removing the .desktop extent) loses icon and functionality.

I agree that the .desktop idea is nuisance-prone, but it is what it is. It's what we have. Nothing works as well as a nice simple wm and some shell scripts. Fluxbox with mc, feh, xpdf, nvlc or avplay (ffplay now?) is hard to beat.

When you copy a .desktop file in dolphin creates a link instead of a copy? Sounds buggy, about renaming and removing the extension, not sure but .desktop files should probably have a .desktop extension right?

I haven't noticed any problem on stretch from launching .desktop files from dolphin, except it throws up two or three dialogs in a row asking what to do. I do most file management with midnight commander anyway.

Sounds like your issues are minor so far, I had a LOT worse for awhile. Thanks for the review.

[bw123]

Here's another one you're just going to love:

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du -h ~/.xsession-errors
12G     /home/steve/.xsession-errors

KDE, why you log STDOUT to disk?

Wow, that's impressive. I managed to get mine under control, I think installing lightdm has a way of rotating this. Also, there's a package called kdebugsettings that helped turn off a LOT OF CRAP going into the logs.

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$ du -h .xsess*
412K    .xsession-errors
32K     .xsession-errors.old
$ uptime
 11:42:53 up 10 days,  3:49,  5 users,  load average: 0.69, 0.35, 0.34


[Radvan]

Thanks for "flat-volumes = no". It works here. As for the worse issues:

I have installed Qt SDK and tried to build a simple project. The project did compile but the resulting file is a shared library instead of an executable. It refuses to run from the desktop, nevertheless, it can be run from within the Qt Creator and it can also run from a command promt (?!) Yes, the profile contains "TEMPLATE = app". Yes, the app wasn't compiled for a prompt. It is a simple windowed app. I tried QtCentre forum but it is silent so far. Therefore, I cannot compile anything right now. Ough!

[stevepusser]

I have some people wanting me to roll a KDE version of Stretch-based MX 17 like I did for the Jessie version, so I'll try and pick up some tips here. Not a big fan of Apper myself. Have you looked at plasma-discover?

[steve_v]

Not a big fan of Apper myself. Have you looked at plasma-discover?

*Cringe* You actually like that... thing?
Personally, I think Discover has the single worst UI I have ever encountered. It's slightly less ghastly in 5.10, but still, the only usable GUI package manager I know of is synaptic.

[bw123]

Not a big fan of Apper myself. Have you looked at plasma-discover?

*Cringe* You actually like that... thing?
Personally, I think Discover has the single worst UI I have ever encountered. It's slightly less ghastly in 5.10, but still, the only usable GUI package manager I know of is synaptic.

I didn't like discover or apper, purged and gone, along with a lot of other stuff. I'm just such a big fan of ncurses I can't let it go. Even when using kde, I can't stop. Opening a pic in feh takes like 0.5 seconds, same for xpdf. With ocular or gwenview I'm waiting 3-5 sec for the app to open, it's just bloat and eye candy with no added functionality.

or maybe it's too much functionality? Too many features I don't use.

[stevepusser]

Not a big fan of Apper myself. Have you looked at plasma-discover?

*Cringe* You actually like that... thing?
Personally, I think Discover has the single worst UI I have ever encountered. It's slightly less ghastly in 5.10, but still, the only usable GUI package manager I know of is synaptic.

I didn't say I liked it, I was just trying to think of package manager GUIs in the stock repos. A KDE MX respin would be using the bespoke MX package installer and MX updater, as well as Synaptic for full coverage.

[Radvan]

Ough! Some apps got hint boxes "white on white" apparently. Placing a mouse on an icon, I get a white rectangle instead of a hint now. For example, gimp or isomaster. It is rather annoying, especially with apps, which use only many icons and rely on hintboxes with explanations (gimp, for example). How can I change hintbox background or font color in Debian 9? Ough.

[bw123]

Ough! Some apps got hint boxes "white on white" apparently. Placing a mouse on an icon, I get a white rectangle instead of a hint now. For example, gimp or isomaster. It is rather annoying, especially with apps, which use only many icons and rely on hintboxes with explanations (gimp, for example). How can I change hintbox background or font color in Debian 9? Ough.

It's all in the systems settings somewhere...

I use zion(reversed) color and oxygen on everything else I could find, gtk2 breeze gtk3 default. The only one I still haven't figured out is desktop settings dropdown boxes, they are still white on white.

These issues are not stretch or debian issues, it's kde/qt and the kde forums are about worthless. Trying to find anything on there or the net in general brings up 5 yr old posts that don't apply.

p.s. if you can figure out for me how to make red look red instead of pink you get a bonus.

[sunrat]

Install and use qt4-qtconfig