You know how a lot of people say they would love to contribute to Free Software but can’t code? No more! Become a KDE Booth Buddy and help out at ScaLE!
This is @druonysus and he needs help managing the KDE booth at Scale 21x.
https://floss.social/@druonysus@mstdn.io/111887967308318720
If you are located in or visiting the Los Angeles area on the days of the event, DM Drew so you can just turn up and help!
@kde @druonysus @kde L.A. is a bit far for me, but I do hope he get lot of helpers.
And while I’m at it, thanks to all the good people at #KDE for their excellent work on Plasma and all their apps.
(I just wish Kmail wasn’t that far embedded into the desktop env’, so I could uninstall it without causing problem in my system, since I don’t use it. But that’s just me nitpicking, and might even be more a distro problem than a Plasma/KDE one.)
AFAIK Plasma does not need KMail or even Kontact to work 100%. Where are you getting that from?
@Bro666 My second to last install of Fedora which broke when I uninstalled some Kmail adjacent package. (Kcontacts among others.)
But you’re right, uninstalling Kmail itself doesn’t break Plasma.
Note that uninstalling (or choosing to not install) any part of KDE PIM (KMail, Kontact, Korganiser, Akonadi, etc.) should not affect Plasma or any other of its components*. if it does, you should notify your distro, because that is a bug in the packaging.
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* For example, the calendar that pops up when you click the digital clock in the panel, should not be broken. It just won’t show events or tasks from KDE PIM… Because PIM isn’t there. Otherwise it should be fine.
@Bro666 @Bigou It shouldn’t break anything. We explicitly have KDE PIM as a separate install group because people want to remove it or make custom minimal installs. It *does* reduce the functionality of KDE Plasma, but it shouldn’t break it.
Yeah… I was surprised too.
@Bigou@social.marud.fr 👆 from the horse’s mouth. Neal is a seasoned Fedora/KDE dev.
@Conan_Kudo @Bro666 Yeah, I will see with the Fedora team why it made my install refuse to run. Might also switch to KDE Neon.
While KMail isn’t necessary at all to use KDE (even Neon uses Thunderbird as its default email app) I think I know what you’re getting at. The issue isn’t KMail itself. Installing KMail will also install Kontact, which runs with Akonadi server on the back end, and Akonadi is the culprit for it being so “far embedded” into Plasma and on some setups can use up just as much RAM as Plasma itself on its own. It’s my main complaint about KMail/Kontact/Akonadi, if they could get the RAM usage under control (you seriously don’t need to use almost a freaking GB of RAM just to keep track of email, contacts and a calendar, Thunderbird does it using less than half the memory), it would be a really nice system for one bundled with a DE.
Wrong. You can remove Akonadi no problem and it will not affect Plasma’s workings. Plasma does not depend on any PIM component to be fully functional.
Yes, I know that or else Plasma wouldn’t work for most people. What I mean is that it’s so “far embedded” in the sense that it uses an outsized amount of resources to do what it does compared to the rest of Plasma when it is installed, mainly for the sake of integration with those other parts of Plasma. But as far as I’m aware, KMail and other Kontact programs depend on it so you can’t remove it and have them work. Which is Kontact’s big problem, IMO. Way too taxing on the system for too little functionality at the end of the day.
Ok. You have ton understand that neither Kmail nor Kontact are part of the Plasma project in any shape or form. The same way as Krita, Kdenlive, KDE Connect, GCompris, etc. are not part of Plasma. Plasma does not need any of them to be fully functional and, conversely, none of them need Plasma. Hell, most of them don’t even need Linux, being able to work on Windows, macOS, Android, etc.
Are KMail and Kontact dependant on Akonadi? Yes, but, again, Akonadi is not part of Plasma either. All are KDE, but they are all different projects, and none of them are Plasma.
YES I UNDERSTAND THAT. I feel you’re not reading me right here. You’re getting hung up on the literal sense of the word “embedded” when I am just using it to relate it to the OP’s concerns.
II had to specifically download kmail to use it. Your packages are poorly made.
Harsh, but true. There is no reason why any Kontact (KMail, KOrganiser, Akonadi, etc.) component should be required by Plasma. These things are independent. Sounds like someone has made a mistake somewhere with the dependencies on your distro.