[[PageOutline]]
= KDE =
KDE is a world-wide community of hundreds of programmers producing Free Open Source Software (FOSS). Its central product is a desktop system equivalent to Apple Mac OS X or Microsoft Windows, but running on Linux and UNIX-based operating systems.

KDE also produces a range of applications, system programs, tools and utilities, many of which will run on Mac OS X or Windows, because they are based on the [http://qt-project.org Qt] framework, a set of C++ libraries and tools that is portable to several operating systems and hardware types.

== KDE on Mac ==
On Mac OS X, Qt uses the OS X (Cocoa) widgets and window style, which means that KDE and Qt applications look and feel like other OS X applications. However, KDE is primarily meant to work on Linux and UNIX systems. Its use on Mac is still experimental. Many packages will work if you follow the instructions below, but some parts of KDE are not designed to work on this platform.

Some unexpected behaviours and glitches should be expected. Please provide feedback to the macports-users mailing list of your experiences, both good and bad.

= Installing KDE with MacPorts =

The KDE ports can be installed with MacPorts as other ports, such as here for the kdelibs4 port:
{{{
sudo port install kdelibs4
}}}
The dependencies are handled by MacPorts and should be installed automatically. Please note that several large packages are required by KDE, so that the installation may take a long time. 

The ports contained in MacPorts essentially match the packages provided on [http://download.kde.org/extra/mirrors.html KDE mirrors]. Several ports end however with a "4", or start with "kde4-" in order to differentiate the ports from the ones of the older KDE version 3. A list of the available ports is provided [wiki:KDE#Listofports below]. It is also possible to get a full list by issuing the command
{{{
port echo categories:kde4
}}}

== User-required steps == 

Unfortunately, MacPorts **does not provide an out-of-the-box working installation**. There are some small steps which need to be performed by the user, which are listed below.

 Dbus:: Dbus is a messaging system between applications, which is mandatory for the KDE system. It is required to ensure that dbus is running by issuing the following commands after installation by MacPorts:
{{{
sudo launchctl load -w /Library/LaunchDaemons/org.freedesktop.dbus-system.plist
launchctl load -w /Library/LaunchAgents/org.freedesktop.dbus-session.plist
}}}
If these commands are not issued, **KDE applications will crash without warning**. 
 Kbuildsycoca:: Kbuildsycoca4 is a command which refreshes the cache of KDE, which is required for many applications to work properly. In UNIX, this command is automatically run periodically, but this is not the case on OS X. The recommended way is to use this command to automate its use, after installation of kdelibs4 by MacPorts:
{{{
launchctl load -w /Library/LaunchAgents/org.macports.kdecache.plist
}}}
The command can also be used manually: 
{{{
kbuildsycoca4
}}}
If the command is not issued periodically (either automatically through the script above or manually), **applications may run erratically**. 

== Installation location ==

Like most of MacPorts ports, KDE ones install most of the applications in ${prefix}/bin, which defaults to /opt/local/bin. However, most of the KDE end-user applications are built as Apple's bundles (double-clickable apps), which are then installed in ${applications_dir}/KDE4, which defaults to /Applications/MacPorts/KDE4.

One should note that several applications save their preferences within a directory outside the MacPorts structure, located at ~/Library/Preferences/KDE. This implies that preferences are maintained throughout upgrades, but also that these files would not be handled by MacPorts upon uninstallation.

= List of ports =

List of main ports and structure.

//In construction//

[wiki:KDEPackages List of Meta ports]

= Port-specific notes =

Some ports require special instructions in order to work, which are listed below.

 Okular:: This port requires a specific variant of plopper, being +qt4 +quartz. If the installation of okular fails due to this dependency, the following commands should be issued:
{{{
sudo port install poppler +qt4 +quartz
sudo port clean okular
sudo port install okular
}}}

= Additional information =

* Homepage of the KDE project: [http://www.kde.org KDE]
* Information about [http://community.kde.org/Mac?id=build KDE on Mac] (somewhat outdated)