I can confirm that the desktop doesn't gain focus with focus follows mouse. However, selecting icons automatically still seems to work. This is on Kubuntu Feisty with KDE 3.5.6. Could you update on the status of your problem with a newer version of KDE?
** Changed in: kdebase (Ubuntu) Status: Unconfirmed => Needs Info -- "Focus Follows Mouse" doesn't set focus to Desktop https://launchpad.net/bugs/45837 -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs