13 This is version 4.0 of the KDE libraries.
15 This package includes libraries that are central to the development and
16 execution of a KDE program, as well as internationalization files for these
17 libraries, misc HTML documentation, theme modules, and regression tests.
18 Here is an alphabetical list:
21 Interface to the DNS-SD (Zeroconf) support.
24 kparts interface for text editors, mediaplayer and scripting.
27 The address book library.
30 KPart for 'kate', the KDE advanced text editor.
33 Personal certification manager.
36 KControl Module interface
39 Auto-Updater for config files.
42 This contains libraries that were part of KDE3, but have been replaced for KDE4
45 This is the core collection of KDE stuff. Non GUI classes reside here.
48 The KDE daemon checks for newly installed software, update files
49 or hostname changes and takes according actions.
52 Library with pixmap effects.
55 The very versatile printing subsystem of KDE.
58 Library for password entering and handling
61 The main collection of misc. user interface classes (widgets).
64 For developers: KDE's custom widgets for Qt Designer.
67 Contains mostly stuff convert XML docbook files via XSLT into
71 The next generation HTML rendering widget designed for Konqueror. This
72 supports HTML 4, CSS, and a variety of other web related standards.
75 An all purpose extension to the qimgio class that supports various
79 Process launcher (kdeinit), used for fast KDE startup and to launch kioslaves.
82 Classes that fetch and decode URLs are contained here. This library also
83 contains "ksycoca", the system configure cache containing services,
84 applications, servicetypes and mimetypes.
87 I/O subprocesses to handle files, ftp, http, gzip and bzip2 streams.
90 Implementation of ECMAScript (aka JavaScript).
93 A binding of the ECMAScript language to interface with KDE code.
96 Allows applications to easily download data from the Internet to add
97 new information to the program. e.g. wallpapers, translation packs, etc.
100 Handles user notifications, including sounds, logging to files, etc.
106 KDE Resource management framework. Used for Address Book for example.
109 The theme engine lies within. It handles nearly anything relating to
110 customizing the appearance of widgets.
113 Client and backend to store values in encrypted files.
116 System independent dlopen() handler.
119 Contains texts of all used licenses.
122 Database of mime types.
125 KDE 4 Multimedia Framework.
131 Tools for natural language processing, including spell and grammar check.
132 Includes gui widgets.
135 Support code for KDE on Win32.
139 The libraries themselves have been covered (since Saturday, June 21st, 1997)
140 by the GNU Library General Public License (LGPL). Any other programs (such
141 as the examples) are covered by the GNU General Public License (GPL). All
142 the gory details for the LGPL reside in COPYING.LIB, and for the GPL reside
145 Various parts are also covered under a BSD style license, detailed in
146 licenses/BSD. Currently, code covered under such license is copyrighted by
149 When in doubt, check the individual file, they should all have license
150 headings and other identifying marks.
155 If cmake claims Qt cannot be found, look at http://www.trolltech.com/
156 to get a copy of Qt, version 4.2 or newer. If you have peeked there
157 already, grab the SVN module qt-copy from anonsvn.kde.org, or a snapshot
158 thereof. Alternatively the svn module qt-copy from svn.kde.org can also be
161 If you know you have the latest Qt 4, another reason it may not be able to
162 'find' QT is because it's finding an older version of QT 4. Make sure that
163 your PATH is set appropriately to find the qmake from the latest Qt 4, and
164 LD_LIBRARY_PATH is set to include $QTDIR/lib.
168 You can set the CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE option with the cmake, if you want to have
169 debug code in your KDE libs. If you have the space and can stand code that's
170 somewhat slower, this is worth it. The extra information really
171 helps debugging and thus bugfixing.
173 Available options as of CMake 2.4.2:
174 Release: Compile with no debugging information, optimization enabled.
175 Debug: Minimal optimization, with debugging information.
176 RelWithDebInfo: Normal optimization, with debugging information.
177 MinSizeRel: No debugging information, with optimization for smallest size.
179 e.g.: "cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug" when running cmake.
181 See also the file DEBUG.
186 KDE 4 applications will try to migrate settings from your KDE 3 installation
192 Often, KDE compile failures are not KDE's fault, but the fault of the
193 compiler or the distribution used. For that reason, please have a look at
194 http://developer.kde.org/build/compilationfaq.html for known issues in certain
195 OS environments before reporting bugs or going mad :).
197 KDE 4 requires gcc 3.3 or better as the compiler.
201 Reporting bugs is an art. Why? Because bug reports can help and hinder.
203 They hinder if the developers are just buried in an avalanche of bug reports.
204 They spend hours figuring out which bug reports are valid and which aren't,
205 which bug reports are due to bugs or due to installation problems.
207 They can be of tremendous help to notify developers on problems in areas that
208 they normally don't have access (e.g. KDE on AIX) to.
210 So, here are some tips on bug reporting:
212 * Make sure your bug is due to KDE ... and not due to a packaging problem of
213 your OS distributor. For example, most "I can not install the XYZ.rpm"
214 problem are due to packaging issues. Refer with such questions to your
215 OS Distributor and his appropriate mailing list or bug reporting tool.
217 * The chance is high that your bug has already been dealt with ... so look
218 if there is a newer version of kdelibs available. Reporting bugs for
219 older, deprecated versions usually don't get that much attention :-)
221 * Also the chance is high that another one experienced your problem. The
222 bug report wizard at http://bugs.kde.org/ will help you to find out if your
223 problem has already been reported.
225 * KDE Applications come with a Report Bug option in the Help menu that will
226 fill out many of the forms on the bug reporter tool at http://bugs.kde.org/
229 * The best bug report for a project based on voluntary work is of course one
230 that comes with a patch that solves the problem. :-)
235 http://www.kde.org/ is a good starting point for info on KDE. If you are a
236 developer, you may also point your browser to http://developer.kde.org/.
237 There is a plethora of mailing lists available, you can gain an overview
238 quickly by looking at http://lists.kde.org/.