Getting Started

Getting_Started

Warning

This page is yet to be reviewed for changes required by the migration to Git. Information and commands on this page may no longer be valid and should be used with care. Please see the KDE Git hub page for more details.

Introduction

There are several possible ways to build and install KDE software and the method you choose depends on what you want to do with the software once it is built.

You may want to:

Develop a standalone application using the KDE Platform
Develop one of the KDE Applications
Develop the KDE Workspace or the KDE Platform
Test the latest KDE Software or an earlier stable version

In particular, for application development you may only need to build some parts of the KDE SC while relying on the KDE Platform stable packages from your distribution.

The table below provides some guidance in making this decision, but before you start building please read the rest of the page for more detailed information on Getting Started.

Official Release	Nightly Build	Stable from Source	Master (Recommended)
For the casual user, or for application testers and developers who are working on applications outside of KDE SC	For application testers and developers who's applications require features from the unstable branch	For KDE SC and applications developers or testers that want to spend less time setting up a build system	For developers and testers working on core KDE SC functionality for the next release. Recommended for active developers.
Use a Distribution with KDE to set up a fully functional KDE system in one step. Also install the "developer packages" if you want to compile KDE software	Download and setup KDE SC snapshots either on Kubuntu or openSUSE	Build a Stable branch from source	Build KDE Software from Source

Getting Help

If you are looking for help in using the KDE Workspace or KDE Applications then please visit the KDE UserBase.

If you have any questions or problems with building or developing KDE Software please feel free to ask for help. However, be patient while waiting for a response, and try to work through the problem yourself, we aren't going to do it all for you. Working your way through and understanding why something doesn't work is a good way to learn how to do things the right way.

Building and Running KDE Software From Source

There are a series of steps you need to understand and follow to successfully build KDE Software from source. The following sections will take you through the process:

Development Tools

There are a number of Development Tools that are either required or helpful when building KDE Software. For these you will usually want to use the stable packages provided by your distribution.

You may want to use a graphical IDE for your development work:

Contributing To KDE

Once you have a copy of KDE built you can then start contributing back to KDE. The pages below will help you find out how you can help make KDE even better.