I've been using KDE for over a year now, and it is running quite well. Thought,
I'm not playing with kmail. All the "integrated stuff" seems to reside in the
akonadi project[1] which I barely use. I mean, it's just weird and I don't
understand it. I had to create a database, and they wanted me to install mySQL.
So I told akonadi that sqlite would do fine, and it is indeed fine. But I
digress.

As of now, KDE itself is less of a ressource hog than firefox. It is somewhat
modular, as in you can chose not to run various 'K' services and the basic DE
will be just fine. KDE became helpful, providing tools that does work with you.

KDE implement defaults you'd expect from a desktop environment, beyond handling
windows I mean. It's been out of my way, while fielding powerful tools. I didn't
have to configure konsole, I didn't have to tinker with dolphin. I really
appreciate that I simply installed the DE, and then went on my day without any
Gnomish BS. It's as if the people who designed KDE actively use it and, like me,
prefer practicality over fine arts.

Cheers,
                 Ludovic

[1]: https://community.kde.org/KDE_PIM/Akonadi#Mission_Statement

On Wed, 10 Jul 2024, Steve Litt wrote:

>
>Here's what I know from personal experience...
>
>In the early 00's my old, poorly provisioned and glitchy travelling
>mid-tower used KDE and could not make it the whole way through a
>demonstration or presentation. I replaced KDE with IceWM and it became
>a very capable machine.
>
>In the early 10's a KDE app, I think Kmail, produced instances of
>dbus-daemon that consumed well over 90% of CPU. I had to create a
>looping daemon that, if dbus-daemon was over 90% twice in 3 seconds,
>killed dbus-daemon.
>
>Kmail2 was a showcase for the KDE philosophy: "Include everything you
>can, and bind as tightly as you can with the most complex interfaces
>you can." All of a second there was a conspicuous time and CPU
>consuming Akonadi, and some gigantic pig named Nepomuk. And don't
>forget that the 1.6GB soprano-virtuoso.db file.
>
>My philosophy is "make everything as simple as possible". KDE's
>philosophy is "weld in everything you possibly can".
>
>I suppose it's possible that in the 12 years I haven't used KDE that
>they've somehow made it simple and more modular. But it's really not
>worth the time to find out. If they've simplified, they'd be the only
>software project to do so.
>
>The last time I used KDE it was a horrendous resource hog, and
>I didn't need a top or vmstat command to tell me so: A stop watch was
>sufficient.
>
>SteveT
>
>Steve Litt
>
>http://444domains.com