Linux in a Nutshell, Third Edition

Chapter 16. KDE

KDE, the K Desktop Environment, is an open source software project that aims at providing a consistent, user-friendly, contemporary desktop for Unix and Linux systems. KDE is not simply a window manager like fvwm but a whole desktop system that integrates the window manager functions into its own graphical configuration. The KDE interface makes full use of drag-and-drop functionality, so you can grab an icon for a text file in the file manager and drag it to a text editor window to open it. Full network integration of KDE applications allows you to transparently access files from other computers or FTP sites and manipulate them as if they were local.

KDE also implements a standard help system based on HTML. Applications that display a Help button can open a specific help file in the help viewer.

One goal of KDE is to provide the user with system information and configuration through easy-to-use graphical interfaces of the desktop. The KDE Control Center is a central utility for desktop and application configuration, as well as a source of information for important system components. The Information module of the Control Center can retrieve and display status information for your processor, memory, PCI bus, and network devices.

A wide variety of applications have been developed to take advantage of KDE’s features and provide the user with a wealth of productive applications. The base package comes with programs such as a mail client, a calendar and organizer, a CD ...