KDE 2.0.1 was released on December 5, 2000. Read the official announcement and the list of changes compared to 2.0.

For a high-level overview of the features of KDE, see the KDE info page

For a graphical tutorial on using KDE 2, see this tutorial page from Linux Mandrake

Updates

Meanwhile, KDE 2.1 has been released. It contains many new features and bug fixes, so we strongly encourage to upgrade to 2.1. This page will no longer be updated.

FAQ

Most KDE applications crash immediately

Reason:Conflict with libpng version 1.0.8

Qt 2.2.1 conflicted with libpng 1.0.8. Either downgrade libpng to version 1.0.7 or update to Qt 2.2.2 which contains a proper fix for this (and other) problems.

Most KDE applications crash immediately

Reason:Environment variables set incorrectly

The environment variables KDEDIR, KDEHOME, PATH and LD_LIBRARY_PATH, if set, must point to the correct KDE 2.0 locations. RedHat users should make sure to change their kde.csh and kde.sh scripts.

Most KDE applications crash immediately

Reason:Missing ksycoca database

In some installations the KDE program kbuildsycoca fails to properly create a file called ksycoca. This file is needed by KDE to operate properly. Depending on the environment variable $KDEHOME this file should either be found in ~/.kde/share/config/ksycoca or ~/.kde2/share/config/ksycoca.

Make sure that your $KDEHOME environment variable is always set to the same value. Leaving it empty is ok, it will then assume ~/.kde in which case you should have a recent ksycoca in ~/.kde/share/config/ksycoca.

Run kbuildsycoca from a command line to generate the ksycoca file.

DCOPServer fails to start

Reason:Too old version of Qt

You need to have at least Qt version 2.2.1. Version 2.2.0 is NOT sufficient, no matter what your RPM says. Qt 2.2.2 is recommended, though.

Logout problems

Various people have reported that they are not able to log out from KDE. Others have reported that logging out takes a very long time. No exact reason for this failure is currently known.

Why can't I hear any sound ?

Stefan Westerfeld has compiled a aRts FAQ that will help you going.

Why is Konqueror/khtml unable to display some images on the web?

Reason:You didn't compile Qt to include support for those formats

Make sure that you included support for them while compiling Qt.

Konqueror problems

See the Konqueror FAQ for Frequently Asked Questions and their answers concerning KDEs webbrowser and file-manager.

Logout and other tasks take very long

Reason:Problems resolving your hostname

Upon certain action KDE does a lookup of your hostname. If you rely on DNS for resolving and the network is slow or down this will lead to a immense slowdown.

Fix: add your host with name and IP address to /etc/hosts and make sure that /etc/host.conf contains order hosts,bind (or similar).

Download and Installation

See the links listed in the announcement. The KDE Installation FAQ provides generic instruction about installation issues.

If you want to compile from sources we offer instructions and help for common problems in the Compilation FAQ.

Updates

KDE 2.1 has superceeded this version.

Security Issues

NOTE:This section is no longer maintained. Please refer to the 2.2.2 Info page instead.

Bugs

Here we will provide a list of grave bugs or common pitfalls surfacing after the release date.

Please check the bug database before filing any bug reports. Also check for possible updates that might fix your problem.

Developer Info

If you need help porting your application to KDE 2.0 see the porting guide or discuss your problems with fellow developers on the kde-devel@kde.org mailing list.

There is also info on the architecture and the programming interface.