Running Linux, Fourth Edition

KDE Applications

Thousands of programs are available for KDE. They range from basic utilities (such as konsole, the terminal emulator, and OClock, the clock) to editors to programming aids to games to multimedia applications. The most we can provide here is a tiny slice of the software available for KDE. In this section, we’ll present those applications that all KDE users should know how to use. These aren’t necessarily the most exciting programs out there, but they should certainly be part of your toolbox. Also remember that if there really is no KDE program for a task you have to solve, you can always resort to one of the classic X applications, if available. These will not look as nice and integrate as well, but will still work on a KDE desktop.

Also, don’t forget that there are many, many more KDE applications than the few we can list here. You will make the acquaintance of some of them, like KWord, the word processor, and KMail, the mail user agent, elsewhere in this book. But others, like the Personal Information Manager KOrganizer, haven’t found space in this book, so you should search through your favorite Linux archive for more exciting KDE programs; there are hundreds of them to discover.

konsole: Your Home Base

Let’s start our exploration of X applications with the workhorse that you might be spending a lot of your time within the terminal. This is simply a window that contains a Unix shell. It displays a prompt, accepts commands, and scrolls like a terminal.

Tip

Traditionally, ...