Kubuntu (Revisited)

[wdhpr]

After using Mint 12 for awhile I just got fed up with all the difficulties involved with getting it to look and function the way I wanted. I got it close but the desktop still seemed awkward to me. The bright spot with Mint12 were the sound apps , they are simply awesome

I decided to revisit Kubuntu 11.10. Taking the lessons learned from my previous tries I was able to work out all the bugs. The grub menu bug was solved by installing the Startup Manager and setting my boot screen resolution to 800x600. The fix for the stalled update process can be found HERE .

KDE was my first desktop during my Simply Mepis days. I really liked KDE but when I switched to Ubuntu it used Gnome
(which was not a bad thing).
Kubuntu comes with the Plasma desktop and I quickly remembered what I liked about KDE. What KDE apps that I didn't care for I replaced with its Gnome counter parts. The default Software Manager was just plain buggy so I installed Synaptic and the Muon Package manager which are working fine including updates.

My conclusion is since the new major 'distros' come with Gnome3 and unity I wanted to give Kubuntu a try. There is allot to like about Kubuntu and may fulfill the desires for those looking for alternatives. For me the jury is still out but I'm glad I checked it out, if for nothing else for curiosities sake.

[wdhpr]

Just a quick update.
I'm really beginning to like Kubuntu 11.10 so much so that I cant imagine why Dedoimedo didn't pick it as the number 1 distro of 2011 instead of Ubuntu however Kubuntu came in second. I have managed to get my desktop pretty much how I like it. Plasma is very useful once I learned how to use it. It has very nice selection of widgets that can be placed on the panel along with frequently used apps on the launcher. Kubuntu is highly configurable with many extensions to help customize your desktop. I feel Kubuntu could very well be a keeper especially if they iron out the bugs in their next update. Here my menu bar. Nice clean and useful

[MidnightCowboy]

Unfortunately I can't share your enthusiasm about this one. I posted this in their forum on 4th January and not a single response.

http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3119977.0

[wdhpr]

Originally Posted by MC

No Network with full install

There are bugs with KDE which effect certain types of hardware differently. Kubuntu runs on KDE and I've had several issues with my hardware and then there are those pesky wireless connection problems.

Like I mentioned I used KDE a few years ago and so I have some experience and that helped me navigate the KDE system. It seems to me that KDE is not as clean as Gnome but I continue to see great potential with KDE.

[wdhpr]

Its been a solid week with Kubuntu and I have used it exclusively. There is so much to like about Kubuntu, BUT...... certain apps will crash for no apparent reason. The system itself doesn't crash just certain apps/widgets. The system will then quickly recover so its more of an annoyance then anything else. So far Kubuntu will run everything that Mint Julia does and but for the occasional blips I would make it my primary OS. For anyone with some extra hardrive space it would be a great way to try out the new KDE desktop and perhaps provide an alternative to the Unity and Gnome 3 chaos.

[bhtani]

@wdhpr, give openSUSE 11.4 a try (kde). Found very few bugs. occasional crashes DO happen.
Wont go to the deb vs rpm debate..Just my thoughts....

[bhtani]

Also I experienced frequent crash in Muon package updater in kubuntu.. Did they crash for u too??? (even cli crashed once!!!)..
Just curious.

[crank]

Other than a brief fling in mid-nineties, I got my real linux feet-wetting with the rather painless knoppix, as I had no internet, it made things simpler [doable], knoppix is a great package, very early Live distro, first??? I have no idea, but I sure remember my amazement at all the stuff was there all on a CD. It uses KDE and based on debian like the ubuntus, and I always find myself going back to kubuntu after having issues with others. I can't fathom Unity, how anyone likes it, but I guess there must be plenty.

[wdhpr]

Originally Posted by bhtani

Also I experienced frequent crash in Muon package updater in kubuntu.. Did they crash for u too??? (even cli crashed once!!!)..
Just curious.

Muon has been stable for me, however I primarily use Synaptic. I try to stick with KDE apps but several of my favourite gnome apps work well also.

[MidnightCowboy]

I was pleased to see Dedoimedo give a good review of Dreamlinux because IMO considering a lot of folks regard xfce as dull and boring, Dreamlinux proves them well wrong

At the weekend, I was persuaded to look at OpenSUSE 12.1 by a die-hard fan (I'm easily led ) and despite a few reservations from the live CD, I went ahead and installed, only to be met (or rather not met) with no network plasmoid!! A brief excursion back into my Windows partition (almost forgot what it looked like ) to get online revealed this to be yet another SUSE bug. This plus the fact that Yast is also full of bugs makes me wonder why so many folks regard this as one of the best distros? Maybe 11.4 was OK, but we ain't there any more!

Overall IMO there is nothing KDE to touch Kororaa for stuff working out of the box and stability, or Mageia for a slightly less resource hungry environment. If Mageia would recognise my secondary connection too (it should according to their devs, but doesn't) then I'd probably use it full time, but for now Kororaa is back and very happy.