Amarok 2 - from the best of KDE to the worst

Amarok is the best media player software out there. Period.

• Excellent portable media device support.

• Automated media tagging with musicbrainz second to none.

• Perfect podcast management.

All this and more makes Amarok the only true iTunes killer app out there.
All this and more makes Amarok the perfect argument to make users switch to KDE.

Unfortunately all of this can only be enjoyed if you are lucky to use a Linux distribution that has the mercy to still provide Amarok version 1.4.10 for KDE 3.5.10.

Since the complete rewrite of Amarok 2 for KDE 4, all of the great features given above must be marked off as either unusable incomplete or simply discontinued and gone for bad.
And I have not even mentioned the new bugs, going as far as data corruption.

In consequence, as much as Amarok 1.4.10 was the killer app for KDE 3, Amarok 2 is the last remaining argument against switching to KDE 4.

To all you KDE users in need of a working media manager: Do not bother trying Amarok 2 at all! Stick with Amarok 1.4.10 as long as you can! It 's just the best.

If all else fails, just try Banshee!

Desperate call for help to any willing developer: Please fork Amarok 1.4.10 as a feature complete migration to KDE 4!

werner habel, kde, amarok, banshee

KDE 4.3 - Now you can even use it!

I admit it. KDE4 and me are still in a "love to hate"-relationship. Of course there was no alternative to move on beyond KDE 3.5.10, as feature complete and stable as it was. But to release anything earlier than 4.2 for productive use to end users sure was no thought through decision but just a bad joke with even worse consequences for the cause of KDE that only now become more and more apparent.

The historic chance of the misery that is Vista should have been used to pick up windows converts to an ready and inviting KDE 3.x by the minute, while simultaneously perfecting KDE 4 to true final release qualitity. Instead KDE4 seemed to be trying to imitate every one of Vista 's mistakes, in general everything that can go wrong with a complete rewrite.

The time that could have been used to compete with Vista, was lost to catch up with KDE3. Now that KDE4 is finally there, where KDE3 already was, Windows 7 is getting ready to make good for every failure of Vista.

What could have been a lead ahead for KDE4, may once again be only a head to head run.

Do not get me wrong. There is no alternative to KDE4 and that is a good thing. The future of KDE looks beautiful, not only because KDE4 is the first to look beautiful right out of the box. With KDE 4.3 everything is finally set to the right direction.

Just let us acknowledge the mistake to push an unfinished product to the user and to loose all that already built up trust and reputation as a consequence.

Let us make the next KDE be done when it is done.

werner habel, kde, windows, vista, 7

Free your Eee! Or how to install openSUSE on an Eee PC 901

For long i had resisted the netbook bug, that has turned the personal computing world downside up. But now, having made the plunge for an ASUS Eee PC 901, the convenience of true everywhere computing, including on this sofa, has proven priceless.
The true geek challenge of course, is not to go with the installed proprietary youknowwhich OS but instead install your Linux distribution of choice. In my case this is openSUSE, the tried and true Volvo to the fancy and unreliable Porsche that is Ubuntu. Flames useless ;-)

Now, with the help given here and here, the installation itself turned out no challenge at all. What indeed did border on frustration, was to find the right driver for the wirless lan chipset RT2860. After hunting high and low over Google, it finally was found here, after requiered registration as well as download and rebuild of a source .rpm. Attention! For the least trouble always go for the source .rpm rebuild!

werner habel, asus eee pc 901, opensuse, rt2860