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@@ -0,0 +1,251 @@ +In this file: + +* About kdelibs +* Licensing +* Common Mistakes +* Upgrading +* Compile Problems +* More Info + + +About kdelibs +------------- +This is version 3.5.10 of the KDE libraries. + +This package includes libraries that are central to the development and +execution of a KDE program, as well as internationalization files for these +libraries, misc HTML documentation, theme modules, and regression tests. +Here is an alphabetical list: + +* arts + ARTS (analog realtime synthesizer) is a environment of small modules + that one can plug together to process multimedia data. This directory + contains KDE wrapper and KDE user interface elements for ARTS. + +* dcop + The desktop communication program allows even shell scripts to + communicate with KDE applications. It's also the base for KParts. + +* interfaces + kparts interface for text editors, mediaplayer and scripting. + +* kab + OBSOLETE, see kabc: Used to be the address book library, but now only + used to convert kab-Addressbooks into kabc format. + +* kabc + The address book library. + +* kate + KPart for 'kate', the KDE advanced text editor. + +* kcert + Personal certification manager. + +* kconf_update + Auto-Updater for config files. + +* kdecore + This is the core collection of KDE stuff. Non GUI classes reside here. + +* kded + The KDE daemon checks for newly installed software, update files + or hostname changes and takes according actions. + +* kdefx + Library with pixmap effects. + +* kdeprint + The very versatile printing subsystem of KDE. + +* kdesu + Library for password entering and handling + +* kdeui + The main collection of misc. user interface classes (widgets). + KSpell and related classes are a frontend to ispell for use within a + GUI app. + +* kdewidgets + For developers: KDE's custom widgets for Qt Designer. + +* kdoctools + Contains mostly stuff convert XML docbook files via XSLT into + human readable stuff. + +* khtml + The next generation HTML rendering widget designed for Konqueror. This + supports HTML 4, CSS, and a variety of other web related standards. + +* kimgio + An all purpose extension to the qimgio class that supports various + image formats. + +* kinit + Process launcher, used for fast KDE startup + +* kio + Classes that fetch and decode URLs are contained here. This library also + contains "ksycoca", the system configure cache containing services, + applications, servicetypes and mimetypes. + +* kioslave + I/O subprocesses to handle files, ftp, http, gzip and bzip2 streams. + +* kjs + Implementation of ECMAScript (aka JavaScript). + +* kparts + KDE component model. + +* kstyles + The theme engine lies within. It handles nearly anything relating to + customizing the appearance of widgets. + +* kwallet + Client and backend to store values in encrypted files. + +* libkmid + MIDI file handling and midi mapper (manages output of midi files to + various devices). + +* libkscreensaver + Library for making KDE screensavers. + +* libltdl + System independed dlopen() handler. + +* licenses + Contains texts of all used licenses. + +* mimetypes + Database of mime types. + +* pics + Database of icons. + + +Licensing +--------- +The libraries themselves have been covered (since Saturday, June 21st, 1997) +by the GNU Library General Public License (LGPL). Any other programs (such +as the examples) are covered by the GNU General Public License (GPL). All +the gory details for the LGPL reside in COPYING.LIB, and for the GPL reside +in COPYING. + +Various parts are also covered under a BSD style license, detailed in +COPYING.BSD. Currently, code covered under such license is copyrighted by +Theo de Raadt. + +When in doubt, check the individual file, they should all have license +headings and other identifying marks. + + +Common Mistakes +--------------- +If configure claims Qt cannot be found, look at http://www.trolltech.com +to get a copy of Qt, version 3.3.0 or newer. If you have peeked there +already, grab the SVN module qt-copy from anonsvn.kde.org, or a snapshot +thereof. Alternatively the svn module qt-copy from svn.kde.org can also be +used. + + +Debugging +--------- +You can use --enable-debug with the configure script, if you want to have +debug code in your KDE libs. If you have the space and can stand code that's +somewhat slower, this is worth it. The extra information really +helps debugging and thus bugfixing. + +On the other hand, --disable-debug removes all debug messages, leading +to a faster and cleaner desktop. + +See also the file DEBUG. + + +Upgrading +--------- +If you have an kdebase older than 3.0 installed, just copy all your .k*rc +files from $HOME to $HOME/.kde/share/config. In the other case, default +values are used for most apps. + + +Compile Problems +---------------- +Often, KDE compile failures are not KDE's faults but the one of the +compiler or the distribution used. For that reason, please have a look at +http://developer.kde.org/build/compilationfaq.html for known issues in certain OS +environments before reporting bugs or going mad :). + +gcc 3.0/3.0.1 is not yet able to compile all of KDE without errors, mostly +due to bugs in this version of the compiler. Some older version of gcc 2.96 +also have problems compiling KDE due to compiler bugs. Even though +compilation may not report errors with these compiler, the usage of these +compilers may cause crashes when using the resulting executables. + +If you are running a FreeBSD system, you will need to make sure that LIBS +is set to "-Wl,-export-dynamic". The easiest way to do this is to prefix +configure with it, i.e.: LIBS="-Wl,-export-dynamic" ./configure. Thanks to +Will Andrews <will@FreeBSD.org> and Arun Sharma <adsharma@sharmas.dhs.org> +for identifying what needed to be done, and how to do it, and such. + +If you get odd error such as: + +as: Error: /var/tmp/ccK1Cfxa.s, line 2827: Truncating token: +__t4pair2Zt18__rb_tree_iterator3Zt4pair2ZCt12basic_string3ZcZt18string_char_trai +ts1ZcZt24__default_alloc_template2b0i0Zt12basic_string3ZcZt18string_char_traits1 +ZcZt24__default_alloc_template2b0i0ZRt4pair2ZCt12basic_string3ZcZt18string_char_ +traits1ZcZt24__default_alloc_template2b0i0Zt12basic_string3ZcZt18string_char_tra +its1ZcZt24__default_alloc_template2b0i0ZPt4pair2ZCt12basic_string3ZcZt18string_c +har_traits1ZcZt24__default_alloc_template2b0i0Zt12basic_string3ZcZt18string_char +_traits1ZcZt24__default_alloc_template2b0i0ZbRCt18__rb_tree_iterator3Zt4pair2ZCt +12basic_string3ZcZt18string_char_traits1ZcZt24__default_alloc_template2b0i0Zt12b +asic_string3ZcZt18string_char_traits1ZcZt24__default_alloc_template2b0i0ZRt4pair +2ZCt12basic_string3ZcZt18string_char_traits1ZcZt24__default_alloc_template2b0i0Z +t12basic_string3ZcZt18string_char_traits1ZcZt24__default_alloc_template2b0i0ZPt4 +pair2ZCt12basic_string3ZcZt18string_char_traits1ZcZt24__default_alloc_template2b +0i0Zt12basic_string3ZcZt18strin! +g_char_traits1ZcZt24__default_al + +and you're using egcs, try re-compiling all your C++ libs with -fsquangle, +and then recompiling whatever you were working on with -fsquangle. It +should help, and more information about this is available on the egcs FAQ +available at http://egcs.cygnus.com + + +How to report +------------- +Reporting bugs is an art. Why? Because bug reports can help and hinder. + +They hinder if the developers are just buried in an avalanche of bug reports. +They spend hours figuring out which bug reports are valid and which aren't, +which bug reports are due to bugs or due to installation problems. + +They can be of tremendous help to notify developers on problems in areas that +they normally don't have access (e.g. KDE on AIX) to. + +So, here are some tips on bug reporting: + +* make sure your bug is due to KDE ... and not due to a packaging problem of + your Linux distributor. For example, most "I can not install the XYZ.rpm" + problem are due to packaging issues. Refer with such questions to your + Linux Distributor and his appropriate mailing list or bug reporting tool. + +* The chance is high that your bug has already been dealt with ... so look + if there is a newer version of kdelibs available. Reporting bugs for + older, deprecated versions usually don't get that much attention :-) + +* Also the chance is high that another one experienced your problem. The + bug report wizard at http://bugs.kde.org will help you to find out if your + problem has already been reported. + +* The best bug report for a project based on voluntary work is of course one + that comes with a patch that solves the problem. :-) + + +More info +--------- +http://www.kde.org is a good starting point for info on KDE. If you are a +developer, you may also point your browser to http://developer.kde.org. +There is a plethora of mailing lists available, you can gain an overview +quickly by looking at http://lists.kde.org. |