Tutorials/Install KDE software

Install KDE software

To install KDE software we recommend using the means of your distribution. Here is how you find your distribution's name.

Tip

When you see mono-spaced text on a yellow background like this that is something that you need to type in, exactly as it appears there.

Using Package Managers

openSUSE

You find openSUSE's package management tool in the Computer tab of the start menu. Open that and click on the Software management icon to start the package manager.

Searching for Kate; libkate1 is already installed, kate has been marked for installation.

Use the search field to find the package that you wish to install; you can search on the package name or the package description, and you only need to enter part of the name. You will then be presented with a list of packages matching your search. Click the selection boxes for the packages to to be installed and then click Accept. See this page for more on package management and openSUSE.

Alternatively, you can use KPackageKit for installing software in openSUSE.

Ubuntu/Kubuntu

In Kubuntu the default way to install software is using KPackageKit (as of Kubuntu 11.04, this may change in future releases). Most software installation is described in the KPackageKit article. Unless you have been instructed to add additional software sources, you should not need the information below.

The only real difference is in choosing sources for your software. Kubuntu is set up already with most of what you should need, but if you are instructed to add another software source then you need to go to Settings tab to the left side of the KPackageKit window. If the software source is not already listed (see screenshot below) then you can click on Edit origins towards the bottom of the window.

Browsing software sources in KPackageKit. If you want to add another one, click on "Edit origins" button.

You will be prompted for your user account password and then see a window like this:

Software sources settings - you normally do not need to change anything here, but rather should go to the second tab "Other software".

You normally do not need to change these setttings. The software sources can be added by going to the Other software tab, where you can click on the add button and type (or copy and paste) the software source address in the dialog that opens:

After clicking on the "Add" button, you can type in the location of the software source directly.

Fedora

yumex will start the graphical package manager. When you start it, the first thing it will do is check to see whether you need any updates. Usually it is best to accept all the updates. If you click on Groups above the file list you will see it re-ordered, showing how a group of packages can be installed by a single click. Look for the cursor in the left panel, touching the arrow:

Clicking on the arrow-head rotates it,listing the package options for that group. This is where you can install the base KDE if it wasn't installed originally.

Mageia and Mandriva

KDE is the default desktop in Mageia and Mandriva. You can install KDE software using Mageia/Mandriva Control Center (mcc). Just use Favorites -> Mageia/Mandriva Control Center then go to Software Management -> Install & Remove Software page and choose Graphical desktop -> KDE. Standalone graphical installer can be launched from KRunner, just enter drakrpm into the in[ut box.

Installing Kdenlive from Mageia Control Center.

Other distros

Other distros will offer a package manager. You will need to find it from your menu, but once found, one of these descriptions above should have something similar to yours. If in doubt, ask on IRC and someone will help you. If you've never used IRC, here is a guide to starting to chat with other users.

From the command line

If you find that using a package manager is unbearably slow, you will want to use command-line installation. This is much faster, but the disadvantage is that you need to know the exact name of the package you want to install. Each system has helpful commands for searching, for instance, so try using the first word of install command below, with --help appended. As an example, yum --help will list the commands you can use for Fedora, but they are many and can be confusing at first.

openSUSE

With openSUSE you install software using zypper for example to install KWrite you will open a console and enter zypper in kwrite. In older installations of openSUSE, yast was used like this: yast -i kwrite. You can still use yast if you prefer.

Ubuntu

With Ubuntu Linux you install software using apt-get. For example to install KWrite you will open a console and enter sudo apt-get install kwrite

Fedora

Fedora uses yum so to install KWrite you would open a console and type yum install kwrite

Mageia and Mandriva

You can use urpmi to install KDE software from a command line.