[Updated 5 December to include an additional pair of apps the broke with the upgrade. - Peng]
I love being able to run KDE on Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE), even if it is just KDE 4.6.5. I was able to install it without jumping through any hoops or using any repositories not counted among in the default Linux Mint software repos. Boo had been working on getting Linux Mint 11 KDE ready for release, but before we could get to a release candidate The Powers That Be realized that a ton of work would be needed to get Mint 11 KDE, based on Kubuntu, ready for release, and that rather than fix the problems they’d move Mint KDE to the LMDE base. Before that could start clem, the founder of Linux Mint, had to get LMDE Update Pack 3 released to the user base, and he needed to get Mint 12 out. Unfortunately before Mint 12 was released boo found that he couldn’t continue being the lead maintainer of Mint KDE any longer, so now all the work of getting LMDE KDE ready falls on clem’s plate, along with everything else he has to do.
But back in August I noticed a thread on the Linux Mint Forums called “KDE SC 4.7.2 enters Debian (only amd64).” Since Kathryn runs the amd64 version LMDE I was eager to get KDE 4.7.2, and all I needed to do first was get some other work out of the way and have some time to make sure the updates I would get wouldn’t break my system. This is especially important since the first step is to upgrade to the Debian Testing repos rather than using the Linux Mint Incoming repos and I was already seeing posts in a thread about broken apps in Testing upgrades. This wasn’t that big of a problem to me because I’ve run nightly and testing builds of software before and knew how to be careful. But there was a huge issue in the fact that I couldn’t find the information I needed to switch to the testing repos, the first step in getting ready to get KDE 4.7.2. Luckily GeneC gave me the information I was looking for, and since it was so hard to find I’m going to list the steps you need if you want to get KDE 4.7.2, or even just get packages from Debian Testing rather than even LMDE incoming.
Important: Please read the entire post and make sure you understand what you’ll be doing and have backed up your system before performing any of the steps I lay out. I’d hate to get you partway to the new KDE and have you stuck with something you don’t understand. Also, the KDE 4.7.2 update is a semi-official Debian-kde build so you’ll be using different repositories to get it. All the information on this release of KDE 4.7.2 is available on the qt-kde Debian site.
Disclaimer: These steps are not to be taken lightly. There is a very good chance that you may get an upgrade that breaks your system, leaving you to hunt for a fix (if there is one) or even having to reinstall LMDE all over again. If you’re not not comfortable with the risk of completely wrecking your computer don’t perform these steps. And even if you are willing to take that very real risk, check the latest posts in this thread on the Linux Mint Forums to see what problems are cropping up lately. Even if the coast looks clear think long and hard about taking these steps on the computer you use on a daily basis. And of course don’t forget the most important step: Back up your system before doing any of this.
You’re still here? You must be a glutton for punishment, and I’m not even going to make too many puns. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.) After you’ve backed up your system (I’m not kidding about that step), start by making sure your system is up to date by running this in your terminal:
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
When you have made sure your system is up to date you need to back up your sources.list file before you start changing anything there. An easy way to backup the file is by running this command in a terminal
kdesudo cp /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.backup
Now open sources.list by running this command in your terminal
sudo kate /etc/apt/sources.list
Your current sources.list should contain entries very close to this:
deb http://packages.linuxmint.com/ debian main upstream import
deb http://debian.linuxmint.com/incoming testing main contrib non-free
deb http://debian.linuxmint.com/incoming/security testing/updates main contrib non-free
deb http://debian.linuxmint.com/incoming/multimedia testing main non-free
Comment out those lines, except for the very first line, by putting “#” as the very first character in each line (except the one for packages.linuxmint.com). Before you can snag the new KDE 4.7.2 packages you need to upgrade your system to use the Linux Mint Sid (testing) repos. First let’s get you updated to the Linux Mint Incoming repos. To do that add these lines at the bottom of your sources.list.
deb http://debian.linuxmint.com/incoming testing main contrib non-free
deb-src http://debian.linuxmint.com/incoming testing main contrib non-free
Save the file and update your package list and software again, and let’s apply the first batch of updates if you don’t have them already. Run this command in your terminal
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
The upgrade could take some time, so have some coffee or a soda, and a smoke if you are part of the wonderful group of folks on the planet that smoke. Don’t go too far though because the process will have some questions about the upgrades for you to answer. When it’s done you will probably need to apply more updates after rebooting your system. Why reboot your system? You may be getting updates that can only be applied with a system reboot, the only kind of updates and installs in Linux that require a reboot, unlike Windows’ insistence on reboots after installing anything. You may also have other updates waiting for you after the reboot, and apply them with
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade
Make sure you’re happy with your system after the updates, and don’t apply any more updates from this post until you’re happy with how your system is operating. Did something break already? It’s time to hunt down what got broken and how to fix it. Once you are completely up to date with incoming and happy with your system you need to update your system to Mint Sid (unstable testing). Here’s where you can really hose your system, so don’t do the steps below unless you’re willing to risk making your system completely unusable. Ready to take the risk? Comment out the lines for the Testing repo and add these lines at the bottom of your sources.list
deb http://packages.linuxmint.com/ debian main upstream import backport
deb http://security.debian.org/ testing/updates main contrib non-free
deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org sid main non-free
deb http://http.us.debian.org/debian/ unstable main contrib non-free
Update and upgrade again, and again this could take some time and it could have some questions for you to answer again. Reboot your system after it’s done because once again you’ve got updates that can’t be applied and used until you reboot your system. Again, make sure you’re happy with how your system operates, and if you’re not bookmark this page and come back to it after you’ve resolved the problems you’ve discovered.
/me fires up the David Wax Museum and enjoys their tunes while you take care of your new issues
Welcome back. Everything copacetic now? Cool. Let’s get you KDE 4.7.2. Backup your sources list again, and if you’ve done other things since you got Sid installed backup your system again, just to be on the safe side. Like I said at the top of the post, this update isn’t coming from the standard Debian repos, so you’ll need to add the appropriate repos to your sources.list file. Open the file and see if you have the following lines, and if so remove them.
deb http://qt-kde.debian.net/debian experimental-snapshots main
deb-src http://qt-kde.debian.net/debian experimental-snapshots main
deb http://qt-kde2.debian.net/debian experimental-snapshots main
deb-src http://qt-kde2.debian.net/debian experimental-snapshots main
Update your system again with
sudo apt-get update
and let’s tell your system that the packages from those repos are trusted. Run this line in your terminal
sudo apt-get install pkg-kde-archive-keyring
Once it’s installed update your package list and make sure your system is updated one more time with
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
Everything green? Let’s get you upgraded to KDE 4.7.2. This update is different from most upgrades you run, including dist-upgrades. This time you want to run
sudo apt-get -t experimental-snapshots dist-upgrade
This upgrade could be the longest of the bunch, and you’ll definitely need to stay close by to answer some questions the upgrade process will ask you. When it’s all done go ahead and do one more reboot to apply the last set of upgrades. When you log back in your desktop may not look all that different, but checking About KDE in System Settings will have a new version number for you to see. Here are a pair of screenshots of my system after the upgrade.
Clean
Dirty
Updated 5 December: It turns out two other apps died with this upgrade. Electric Sheep broke because I had to reinstall xscreensaver. The wallpaper finder and changer app Webilder also broke, but this is due to the fact that python-appindicator is not available in my current repos. Unfortunately I don’t see a way to fix it
What the hell happened to my Chromium???
There’s one big casualty in the upgrade process to KDE 4.7.2, and that’s the fact that the Chromium browser is borked. Every time you launch chromium-browser all your pages show the “Snap!” error, even the preferences page. It’s a known issue and to fix it you’ll have to install Google Chrome instead. The Google Linux repos are borked so you’ll have to install the it manually. Go to the Google Chrome website and download the package. Open the directory you downloaded it into and run this command in Terminal
sudo dpkg-i google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb
You can also install the package from Dolphin by double-clicking it, but if it opens in Ark you need to install a package.
sudo apt-get install gdebi-kde
That package will let you install packages with a graphical installer. Many Linux hate using graphical package installers like this, but it’s a matter of personal preference. I love being able to use Gdebi and had to do some searching to find it when I installed KDE on top of LMDE.
There’s one more thing to to before you launch Chrome for the first time. You’ll want to import your Chromium settings into Chrome, but there’s no settings import option that I was able to find. Luckily it’s easy to do. Just copy everything from ~/.config/chromium/ into ~/.config/google-chrome and all of your settings from Chromium will be available in Chrome, including your passwords, cookies, extensions and search engine settings.
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Today as I was catching up with the Linux Mint Forums I saw a thread about the Mint Spirit fonts. I’m always on the lookout for a new font to use, and when I looked at the preview PDF (which is in French but that shouldn’t be a problem regardless of which languages you speak) I found a very nice font. The font is available in both the standard TrueType Collection (TTC) and Opentype PS outlines (OTF) formats and they’re both in the single ZIP file you can download. One of the best parts? All of the fonts from Arkandis Digital Foundry (ADF) are free.
