This is the community page for the KDE on Mac team. It is also a stand-in for the http://mac.kde.org website which is currently very outdated and so has been taken offline.
Several KDE applications have downloads with application bundles for macOS available.
KDE does not currently provide binary downloads for Mac OSX. Instead you need to build KDE for yourself from source. The easiest way to do this is to use one of the Mac build systems which will automatically resolve all the dependencies for you. Unfortunately, this can be a very long process, taking up to 2 or more days. As at 23 June 2011 MacPorts is currently recommended as it is the most up-to-date.
As at 23 June 2011, MacPorts has KDE 4.6.4 and KDE 3.5.10 available for installation. Note that KDE3 is unsupported by both KDE and MacPorts.
* [https://labplot.kde.org/download/ LabPlot]
Instructions are provided on TechBase for [http://techbase.kde.org/Getting_Started/Build/Mac_OS_X/MacPorts installing a development environment using MacPorts]. If you want a user installation then just skip the final 'Configure your KDE development environment' section.
* [https://kdenlive.org/download/ Kdenlive]
=== Installing using Fink ===
Additional macOS installers of KDE applications are available at https://cdn.kde.org/ci-builds/ .
* http://www.finkproject.org/
See also https://apps.kde.org/platforms/macos .
As at 23 June 2011, Fink has KDE 4.4.1 and KDE 3.5.10 available for installation. Note that KDE3 is unsupported by both KDE and Fink.
== Install KDE apps on macOS ==
The Fink packages allow you to install KDE4 as either Qt/X11 or Qt/Mac (native) packages by selecting either packages ending in "-x11" or "-mac", for example "kdebase4-x11" and "kdebase4-mac".
[[File:MacOS-gatekeeper-warning.jpg|thumb|alt=Message dialog: "Apple can’t check app for malicious software"]]
Additionally, the Fink packages allow the running of the Plasma desktop in X11 mode. Just install "kdebase4-workspace-x11" to install it.
Apple is very strict about running apps downloaded from the internet. KDE apps are signed, but for technical limitations on the KDE infrastructure not yet notarized. Notarization means that the app is send to Apple to check it.
The Fink KDE packages will be installed in /sw/opt/kde4/x11 or /sw/opt/kde4/mac respectively. They also are able to start D-Bus for you as long as you run "/sw/bin/init.sh" normally, or when you open a terminal, if you have run the path setup script in the Fink installer.
Hence you will likely see a message "Apple can’t check app for malicious software" when trying to open a KDE app.
=== Installing using Homebrew ===
To open your app anyway follow these steps:
* https://github.com/somekool/homebrew
# In the Finder on your Mac, locate the app you want to open. Don’t use Launchpad to locate the app.
# Open the shortcut menu by right-click to the app icon or by holding the <keycap>Control</keycap> key and left-click.
# Choose <menuchoice>Open</menuchoice> from the shortcut menu.
# A message dialog opens. Click Open.
As of Dec 19th 2012, Homebrew recipes has been updated with KDE 4.9.4 and 4.9.95 packages url and sha1
The app is saved as an exception to your security settings, and from now on you can open it at any time by double-clicking it, just as you do with any registered app.
I have not throughly tested since 4.8.0 but I had Amarok window to open and some bugs we're left.
For further instructions see Apples support page: https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/mchleab3a043/mac
If you want to help out. please fork and open PR against my repo. I will test some more soon.
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Note that when a new KDE release comes out, most recipes can be updated automatically using my script
Many of these TechBase pages are outdated, most of the content is no longer valid and should be moved to community and/or deleted. Please use with care.
Apple is very strict about running apps downloaded from the internet. KDE apps are signed, but for technical limitations on the KDE infrastructure not yet notarized. Notarization means that the app is send to Apple to check it.
Hence you will likely see a message "Apple can’t check app for malicious software" when trying to open a KDE app.
To open your app anyway follow these steps:
In the Finder on your Mac, locate the app you want to open. Don’t use Launchpad to locate the app.
Open the shortcut menu by right-click to the app icon or by holding the Control key and left-click.
Choose Open from the shortcut menu.
A message dialog opens. Click Open.
The app is saved as an exception to your security settings, and from now on you can open it at any time by double-clicking it, just as you do with any registered app.
