Spydie: Note that the "strace pacman" topic here does not necessarily pertain to you. Instead, Stephen is helping me try to identify why the program does not work on my specific setup. Regarding the program icons, the pacman package did not include the files and commands necessary to add it to the KDE desktop menu, as such, one is expected to add it manually using something like Settings --> Menu Editor. This is a task that we typically take for granted in the MS Windows environment, and the person or org that creates and maintains a given Linux package does not have to include the menu items if he/she/they chooses not to. I would imagine that part of the reason for this is that the application package may be coded for the X environment but not necessarily specific to any desktop system such as KDE (which Knoppix uses), GNOME, or others. I would like to think that those packages specific to a desktop system such as KDE will actually be complete enough to include adding itself to the menus. Does this help?

Sn0wflake: Many others out there share your experience and opinions. The general consensus today, while debatable, is that Linux as a "consumer-class" desktop operating system is "not there yet", partly for the reasons you describe. There are some Linux distributions that do aspire to meet that goal of a consumer-class desktop OS, such as Lycoris and Lindows (and I'm curious as to what Ximian will have to offer). Those distributions have great systems in place for the not-as-experienced Linux users to get packages for their system that the engineers of those orgs have spent time testing to ensure that the users can get up & running with as little effort and hassle as possible. In my opinion, Knoppix looks to be a great CD-bootable distribution with excellent hardware detection capabilities, but is not as polished in other areas. As a computer geek type, I am enjoying my time working with Linux and Knoppix and I even wish to offer my help wherever I can. But would I set up my wife's computer with Knoppix? NO. (And before anyone flames me, the main reason for that is she really does not have the time to re-learn tasks that she currently performs in Word, Excel, Publisher, and Windows-based clip-art software.)