KDE Install Guide

The 3 different types of KDE

The old 'kde' ebuild package is the old monolithic way of installing KDE.
Which WILL cause problems later on when you want to install other small KDE applications.

The Slim version of KDE which is 'kdebase-meta' is just the "base" of KDE.
This will install everything you need for a KDE desktop, including kdm and all the necessary things to run "KDE"

The fat version is 'kde-meta' which installs all the main kde meta packages
kdeaddons-meta kdeadmin-meta kdebase-meta kdeedu-meta kdegames-meta kdegraphics-meta kdemultimedia-meta kdenetwork-meta kdepim-meta kdetoys-meta kdeutils-meta kdeartwork-meta kdewebdev-meta kde-i18n
So ya... its a lot.

You can always go back and install any kde or kde meta package you want

One major side note: If you try to re emerge a meta package or delete a meta package it WILL NOT install/delete thouse packages of which it installed.
In the help section ill have code that you can use to uninstall all the KDE packages

Its best to go with the 'kdebase-meta' package.

Official KDE guide: http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/kde-config.xml
It will give you a good overview on whats going on.

USE Flags

If you used this pages install guide good, if not things might be a bit different for you.

Always always check your use flags before installing anything. AND after you made a change in the make.conf

First thing you want to do is comment out your USE in the /etc/make.conf
#USE=""

This next part no one else does, and makes life easier later on.

This USE flag setup is made for 'kde-meta' and will work just fine for 'kdebase-meta'

ALL of this goes into your make.conf make sure you get all the " and spacing right
#-----------------------------
XUSE="truetype X new-login xorg xscreensaver xv xcomposite xinerama opengl aiglx"
IMAGEUSE="jpeg gif tiff png svg pdf"
MEDIAUSE="alsa mad vidix asf win32codecs dvd mp4 aac x264 xvid nsplugin mp3 real"
GENERAL="samba java bzip2 symlink sqlite spell xml"
SYSTEM="hal fam dbus aoss threads"
NOTUSE="-arts -qt4 -ipv6"
KDEUSE="kde kdeenablefinal qt3 rdesktop"

USE="${NOTUSE} ${SYSTEM} ${GENERAL} ${IMAGEUSE} ${XUSE} ${KDEUSE} ${MEDIAUSE}"
#------------------------------

Before you commit to the emerge of KDE you might want to check out the master USE list
http://www.gentoo.org/dyn/use-index.xml
During your picking that will help you out a lot!

Picking use flags for someone is like picking out shoes for someone without even knowing them.

Here are a few more use flags: -cups logitech-mouse acpi pcmcia zeroconf pda gphoto2 scanner

In the linux world theres 2 major desktop managers which use different tool sets. KDE uses qt, Gnome uses gtk.
On both sides each can use each others libraries. In time you WILL have both on your system.
Its 100% up to you, but you can include these use flags right now:
GNOMEUSE="gtk cairo glitz gnome"
And add ${GNOMEUSE} in your USE line.

Always, ALWAYS, go back and check to see what changed in your -pv output, most of the time it will have a new package listed.. which will have its own set of use flags.

One last use flag: xine
This is a video/audio player which has its own set of use flags, as with anything else -pv and look to see what its going to install if you add this use flag.

The emerge of KDE

SETUP YOUR USE FLAGS NOW

1: edit your /etc/make.conf to the first green sections listings

2: emerge -pv kdebase-meta OR kde-meta

3: LOOK and review your use flags

4: Remove or add to /etc/make.conf

5: Repeat step 2

6: emerge kdebase-meta OR kde-meta

7: goto bed or take a very long nap

The amount of time it will take is all based on YOUR computer and YOUR use flags.

As noted before 'kdebase-meta' will be much quicker then 'kde-meta'

Over time you will get use to installing applications in Gentoo.
Gentoo gives you a lot of choices, which the other distribution's do not give you.

ALWAYS check your use flags before you install anything.

Final setup

YOU need to make your /etc/X11/xorg.conf
One way is to run: xorgcfg
You can read this guide http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/xorg-config.xml

Once your done with that, go back and go though the xorg.conf to make sure everything is ok
I will have an xorg.conf guide on this site.. all in time.

emerge alsa-utils pmount

rc-update add alsasound default
rc-update add dbus default
rc-update add hald default
rc-update add xdm default

gpasswd -a YOURUSERNAME plugdev

Now just set your login manager to kdm
nano /etc/conf.d/xdm
and change to:
DISPLAYMANAGER="kdm"

reboot

This guide isnt 100% its just a simple guide to help you along in the right direction thats all.

Functions

KDE Install Guide