Getting Started

    From KDE TechBase


    Getting_Started


    Determine Your Needs

    KDE versions are split into branches off of the Trunk. The steps to build most branches are very similar. However, each branch has different prerequisites.

    You will need to know what version you want, how often you will use the development environment (more work upfront may be justified if you intend to use it more).

    Our content is generally written with KDE4 and Linux in mind. For Windows, BSD, and KDE3 look at the other Supported Platforms page.

    Choose Version

    Distribution synchronized
    To ease finding dependencies, See Distributions with KDE, or you may have a requirement to support a version supplied by a vendor.
    As a developer looking to develop a patch against an existing application, you might want to look at this.
    Latest Features for production
    branch (stable / beta)
    Core Development
    trunk Where new features grow (may have build problems on Mondays)
    Browse availability
    http://websvn.kde.org/branches/KDE/

    Choose Location

    Choose where you want to put the KDE installation, and keep source and build directories. (The QCA plugin may have to be installed as root if using system Qt).

    Source and Build Directories

    suggested: ~/kde/src and ~/kde/build (where ~ is the home directory of the user who runs KDE)
    possibly /usr/src/ if building as root.

    Installation Directory

    These are the recommended installation directories for the different situations:

    Casual Curiosity
    development user home if you do not want to mess up your production KDE
    your home directory if you are willing to use environment variables to keep versions separate (using scripts) or have no other access to the machine
    As root not advised unless you have a dedicated machine
    Application Developer
    development user home same as for curious user
    as root will be more useful to simulate environment of customers
    your home directory may simplify your development
    Distribution Manager
    To test KDM, you may want to install as root and/or on a virtual machine so you do not damage a production system.
    Contributor
    keeping your system similar to other developers will help make troubleshooting easier, see Developer Setups

    Gather Prerequisites

    Your build will fail if you are missing one of them, and the list changes. There are some options, however the make system can often find optional packages even if you do not intend to use them, so you may need to pass disable options.

    Qt

    System Qt
    Often the easiest way to go, because most people have it already, you may have to install the QCA plugin as root though.
    KDE-Qt
    Previously known as qt-copy -- This is the minimum version of Qt any of your users are expected to have. Some bugs may be fixed in new Qt, so you may have to work-around bugs in lower versions, including this one.
    Main Qt
    Get it straight from Nokia, experience the latest cool features, but note that many people will be using older distributions with older Qt.

    Getting the Source

    We are migrating from SVN to git. We have extensive infrastructure that is being converted, but please know that this is a much anticipated, complex, and popular change. http://www.omat.nl/2010/07/07/move-to-git-the-progress-so-far/

    Build it

    Manual Steps
    augmented with bash functions.
    Getting_Started/Increased_Productivity_in_KDE4_with_Scripts
    Specific examples:Build KDE4.6 on Kubuntu
    distribution specific

    There may be pre-made builds for your distribution, For example, in Kubuntu, Project Neon, aims to provide a recent trunk build environment, and PPA's provide latest branch versions.

    kdesrc-build

    This script will do most of the downloading and compiling for you. It can be configured to build most versions, by default it builds Trunk. There full-process instructions at http://kdesrc-build.kde.org and more here kdesrc-build, and here is a list of working configuration files.

    Troubleshooting the build

    Troubleshooting information is similar between branches as well.

    Compile and Linking errors are frequent sources of discouragement. Make careful note of the first occurrence of an error in your build process. It could be as simple as a bad environment variable, an unexpected version of a library or missing prerequisite.

    Please review your logs and do searches for fixes. If you cannot find a solution, try Build/KDE4/Errors, the IRC channel, and the mailing lists. Build/Stories

    Using your KDE

    After KDE has been built, you'll want a good way to launch apps and perform your regular development tasks:

    Environment Variables

    Your system won't know to use your new KDE until you tell it how to find the KDE applications and libraries.

    Set up Development Tools

    You may need to set up or use, you will likely want to use a stable package from your distribution.

    it is unclear if the kde-devel user or your normal user will be running the development tools. Please Help

    For most development topics, and documentation, see Development

    Opening and creating KDE project files


    This is a stub, please help.

    Contribution

    You may not need the latest bleeding-edge version of KDE with which to develop. Much of the code will be similar between versions and your patch might work. However, Trunk is where major changes are introduced, and branches are mostly for maintenance/bug fixes.