When will KDE4 get a desktop like in KDE3.x ?

[Marko Vojinovic]

On Monday 20 October 2008 23:50, Linuxguy123 wrote:
> Why can't we have files and icons on the desktop, ala KDE3.x ?

You can. Use folder-view widget, and point it to the Desktop folder under your 
home directory.

However...

It could be argued that files and icons do not belong on the desktop, but 
rather in home directory. It could also be argued that one should use a file 
manager rather then desktop manager to manipulate files, while the desktop 
manager should be better suited to manipulate the desktop. It could further 
be argued that files and icons were already present on the desktop up to KDE 
3.5 and that this was demonstrated to be a Bad Habbit, since the desktop 
usually becomes cluttered beyond any usability after some time. Finally, it 
could be argued that using plasmoids on the desktop rather than keeping icons 
on it enhances its usability.

I know that forcing people to change their habbits is very painful in general, 
invites a horrific amount of bitching and moaning, but --- as for example 
with taking bitter-tasting medications, learning math in school, using 
selinux --- it is for their own good.

I would suggest that you put some effort in getting yourself disciplined in 
having a directory hierarchy under your home dir to put files, and put 
plasmoids/widgets on the desktop.

OTOH, if you really really really absolutely need files and icons on the 
desktop, use folder-view widget. After a while you might get interested in 
having two or more folder-view widgets on the desktop showing the contents of 
several different directories, and then you might apreciate the hard-work of 
the KDE4 developers who made such a thing possible. In KDE 3.5 you are 
limited to just one folder, just like for ex. in Windows you are limited to 
just one desktop. Once you find out about the Better Way, you'll never look 
back... ;-)

HTH, :-)
Marko