Problems
The biggest minor issue is that occasionally the content of a window will turn to crap for no apparent reason (see Figure 6). The workaround is to refresh the window by minimizing and reopening the window, to scroll up or down and back in a document, or wave the mouse cursor around the corrupted part of the window.
Figure 6 KDE video problem
The fbreader e-book reader app locks up when one changes the default "read from this directory" path. The problem is caused by its use of a default GTK+ library in the repository installation instead of the latest Qt library required for KDE4.2.x. I have already reported this as a bug to fbreader developers.
The workaround is the following:
- Add the fbreader repository according to the instructions here.
- $ sudo aptitude install libzlui-qt4_0.10.7-1_i386.deb
- $ sudo aptitude install fbreader
The bug fixes are showing up. An annoying bug with respect to updating the packages database (instead of the progress bar going to 100% and the window disappearing, it kept recycling) showed up in the bug updates within a couple of days of my noticing it before I got around to reporting it. I installed the bug fix via point-and-click and the problem is no more.
Be careful about installing KDE3.5 applications to KDE4.x. Don't do it unless you really need the app because problems can result.
If you're in doubt about the package, check out the Ubuntu page for the distribution/application at the Ubuntu packages site.
If it lists as a packages dependency below it anything with 4:3.5.x libraries in it, it's for KDE3.5.x, and you should avoid it if you can. What's after the colon is the distro reference.
You can also find out more about a KDE application at the KDE-Apps site. If KDE3.x is listed in "depends on," avoid it. This is most likely to be a problem with older applications that haven't been upgraded. However, this potential problem is disappearing along with the obsolete packages that trigger it.
Conclusion
Come on in; the water's fine. It works well enough that I'm seriously considering replacing the Debian-testing distribution on my desktop with it.