Hi Ashok,

Another proof that KDE stuff is only available for RHEL 7 - but NOT for RHEL 8 : Red Hat Package Browser -> kde-baseapps ... :)

$ sudo dnf list kde-baseapps
Updating Subscription Management repositories.
Last metadata expiration check: 0:13:16 ago on Fr 28 Feb 2020 10:53:49 CET.
Error: No matching Packages to list

$ sudo dnf list kde*
Updating Subscription Management repositories.
Last metadata expiration check: 0:13:22 ago on Fr 28 Feb 2020 10:53:49 CET.
Error: No matching Packages to list

Regards,
Christian

Hi Ashok,

I found out that KDE Plasma Workspaces is available from the EPEL repositories - but I do not recommend to install it, though. :)

$ sudo rpm -ivh https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/epel-release-latest-8.noarch.rpm

$ sudo dnf upgrade

$ sudo dnf group list
Updating Subscription Management repositories.
Last metadata expiration check: 0:22:48 ago on Fr 28 Feb 2020 11:22:59 CET.
Available Environment Groups:
   Server with GUI
   Server
   Minimal Install
   Workstation
   KDE Plasma Workspaces
   Virtualization Host
   Custom Operating System
Available Groups:
   .NET Core Development
   RPM Development Tools
   Container Management
   Development Tools
   Smart Card Support
   Scientific Support
   Network Servers
   Graphical Administration Tools
   Legacy UNIX Compatibility
   Headless Management
   System Tools
   Security Tools
   Fedora Packager
   Xfce

$ sudo dnf group info "KDE Plasma Workspaces"
Updating Subscription Management repositories.
Last metadata expiration check: 0:01:05 ago on Fr 28 Feb 2020 11:22:59 CET.
Environment Group: KDE Plasma Workspaces
 Description: The KDE Plasma Workspaces, a highly-configurable graphical user interface which includes a panel, desktop, system icons and desktop widgets, and many powerful KDE applications.
no group '3d-printing' from environment 'kde-desktop-environment'
no group 'cloud-management' from environment 'kde-desktop-environment'
no group 'firefox' from environment 'kde-desktop-environment'
no group 'kde-telepathy' from environment 'kde-desktop-environment'
 Mandatory Groups:
   KDE
 Optional Groups:
   KDE Applications
   KDE Educational applications
   KDE Multimedia support
   KDE Office

Regards,
Christian

Ashok,

I know some dearly/sorely miss KDE. Christian and Jan Gerrit Kootstra made good points, and highlighted that it's not officially supported by Red Hat. You can put it in on your own via EPEL such as Christian mentions, however, since KDE is based in EPEL, there is no guarantee that it will function with ongoing updates with RHEL.

Here's my reason why I'd recommend against it...

Fedora has the leading/bleeding edge of software and fast-major version releases (every 6 months). Both the Fedora Linux® distribution and Red Hat® Enterprise Linux are open source technologies. Fedora is built by the community (getfedora.org) for the benefit of the community. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is developed by Red Hat with the explicit intent of being used as an enterprise IT platform.

• Fedora—rapid development of the latest technology

  The Fedora community has thousands of users, contributors, and supporters, who interact through various online forums, email lists, and wikis to support each other. With a rapid development and release cycle, Fedora provides the latest technology on current hardware platforms. 
  

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux—stable, supported open source platform

  When you choose to run Red Hat Enterprise Linux, you have a relationship with the leading provider of open source solutions. Not only do you get a robust and stable platform with as much as a 10-year lifecycle, you also get the benefits of global engineering, consulting, and support organizations. A Red Hat Enterprise subscription gives you access to high-quality software and maintenance along with information and support services that span your entire application infrastructure lifecycle and architecture. Learn more about the value of a Red Hat subscription.
  

  Source for above quote with more detail at this link

• Is EPEL commercially supported by Red Hat?

  No. EPEL is a volunteer effort from the Fedora community. Just like Fedora itself, Red Hat hosts infrastructure for this project and Red Hat engineers are involved as maintainers and leaders but there are no commercial support contracts or service level agreements provided by Red Hat for packages in EPEL. 
  

  Source for above quote

  Red Hat Linux/CentOS Linux is intended to be more "stable". Fedora has a new major release very 6 months. Red Hat has a major release that lasts 10 years (longer with specific support solution).

Long story short, KDE is now no longer officially supported in RHEL 8 and resides in the EPEL project. The nature of EPEL is in the quote above, it's community supported.

Putting community-supported software such as KDE on RHEL 8 goes against the nature of Red Hat Enterprise Linux - which is intended for "Enterprise" operations/business models. Obvious exceptions exist for rpms such as htop, iftop, ntfs and other lower-risk things. However for a graphical interface, ** I would recommend against KDE on RHEL since it could be unreliable and since Red Hat dropped it for RHEL8. If you have a bunch of people who can't log into KDE one day after you install patches, you might be in a "jamb" to figure out out how to resolve it for people who can not log into KDE and rely on it. So that for example could explain potential issues of having KDE on RHEL 8. You might "get away" with running KDE on RHEL 8, but know the risk in advance (and tell all you support who might use KDE on Red Hat) that there is zero support for KDE on RHEL 8 besides community support. It may work for a while, even a long while, but at some point it could break, so be aware of the risk. EPEL is not highly responsive to production issues, if your workstations break, you might be in a tough spot to make things work that are not supported. Just be aware.

Kind Regards,
RJ

Gladly Christian, thanks for your always-spot-on points above as well

Regards,
RJ

Thanks Christian :)

Thank you all for your posts and info/explanations. Because of these posts I have decided not to go down the dark road :) of KDE and will stay on the RHEL 8 path.

Thanks again! Rob

Good call Robert Silvey