KDE configuration

[Wolfgang Jeltsch]

Hello,

a notorious claim about KDE 3 was that the control center was far too complex. 
Now, I get the expression that it was simplified for Kubuntu and KDE 4 by 
throwing out useful features.

First, I cannot find the SSL configuration where I can import server 
certificates. I can do this via Konqueror but what about certificates used by 
KMail? The thing I always liked about KDE was that things which are of 
general interest (like SSL) are not tied to specific applications but 
implemented and configured centrally. If this is no longer true for KDE 4, 
this is a huge step backwards which destroys one USP of KDE.

Second, I cannot see how to access printers provided by a CUPS server easily. 
In KDE 3.5 (Debian etch), I was able to tell KDE to fetch the printer list of 
some CUPS server and access every printer from this list with correct 
settings.

In Kubuntu 9.04, I have to manually add printers. I have to enter paths of 
URLs (which even isn’t really clear from the dialog). I cannot see a way to 
provide a user name for the CUPS server. I’m forced to manually provide a PPD 
although the correct PPD should be provided by the CUPS server, in my 
opinion. I had expected that I just enter the host name of the CUPS server 
and everything else works automatically.

Can anyone tell me if I have missed something? Is anyone able to tell whether 
these things (like missing central configuration) is part of a new design 
rationale which departs from KDE’s original approach?

Best wishes,
Wolfgang