[RULE] Mini-KDE

[M. Fioretti]

On Wed, Jul 14, 2004 22:15:18 PM +0100, david jamison
 david.jamison1 at ntlworld.com  wrote:
> Ive been looking at this topic over the past couple of days and it looks 
> fiendishly complicated :(
> 
> http://danb.homelinux.org:81/read/blfs/book/kde/core.html looks as
> if it might take us someway to achieving our goal Unfortunately it
> doesnt give a great description of what kdelibs is all about but
> does rather better with kde-base.
> http://developer.kde.org/documentation/other/kfmclient.html also
> looks useful.
> 
> Would it be sensible to go with the enitre kdelibs for which there
> is an rpm with an installed size of 41Mb (maybe leaving out the
> debugging code and Alsa) and just use the bits from kde-base as
> described in Marco's page on the Rule website.

Yes, I think it would be sensible. Try to build (starting from
kde-redhat source rpms, just patch the spec file) kdelibs without
arts. Without leaving anything out. Then take the corresponding source
RPM for kdebase and:

- add the --without-arts (or whatever it's called) switch
- then you might even leave the compile process go on. The important
  thing is, when it comes to the "make install" part, that you tell it
  to package into the final rpm only the applications we need. For
  example, say we do _not_ want kscreensaver: this means to find the
  section of the Makefile which says "place the kscreensaver binary,
  and all the images in these directories" and comment that
  out. Repeat for any other unwanted application. The other approach,
  mentioned in the mini-kde page, would be to try the untested
  switches which make it compile only some apps.

Once you have an RPM for this we can test it, and refine the process
in successive steps. The important thing, if I might suggest, is again
to start from already tested source RPMs and fine tune *that* building
process. We *do* need an rpm at the end because we won't be able to
repeat (due to lack of RAM and disk space) the whole building process
on the computers using RULE.

> Qt is also pretty hefty even in "stripped down" form and im not exactly 
> sure what its function is.

I'd say leave Qt as is for now, and test kdebase and kdelibs

> Is there any other websites anyone knows of that might help?
Websites no, but there is somewhere (try google) a kde-optimize
mailing list. Subscribe to that one and ask. There are very expert KDE
programmers there who can give excellent advice if you come with
detailed info (as in "the build process with this switch failed with
this error message"). I'm on that list too, although as observer, so
you won't be alone!
 
> Im sorry this is so feeble but it might start off a debate!

It's not you, don't feel sorry: it's the argument itself which is
feeble, because before RULE nobody bothered to make this kind of
optimization. We *need* to start off a debate, both here and (above)
all, in KDE lists, so *they* too start to care. Thanks for trying!

Ciao,
	Marco

-- 
Marco Fioretti                    mfioretti, at the server mclink.it
Red Hat & Fedora for low memory   http://www.rule-project.org/

We need to focus on how to be productive, not just active.
        Scott McNealy, chairman, CEO, and cofounders, Sun Microsystems.

_______________________________________________
Original home page of the RULE project: www.rule-project.org
Rule-list at rule-project.org
http://rita.choice-secure.com/mailman/listinfo/rule-list_rule-project.org