I %$#@ing heart Kubuntu Lucid!


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Thread: I %$#@ing heart Kubuntu Lucid!

  1. #1
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    Thumbs up I %$#@ing heart Kubuntu Lucid!

    Wow. Just stunning. The last (and only) time I tried to run different activities in different desktops (I think it was Karmic) , my system instantly went down like a sack of potatoes. Now, with nine activities on nine deskttops, Kubuntu has run all weekend with nary a hiccup.

    This changes everything. When I could only run 1 activity, the widgets were a huge compulsive distraction, as I kept trying to figure out the best way to utilize the widgets in my limited space, but now, I can just put down what I want where I want. For two years, I was a die hard KDE4 hater... and now I've been converted in a weekend. I'm going to be eating a lot of crow, but it's going to taste like thanksgiving dinner. Never have I been so delighted to be proven so wrong!

    I downloaded and installed the plasmacon widget, and I highly recommend it. It's a terminal emulator, obviouisly based on konsole, but it's got its own easy tab system. (Tabs are not enabled by default; you have to use the settings. ) I'm going to use plasmacon as much as possible. I'm going to use it to keep emacs open and handy while I'm writing, and to chat with irssi.

    It's been a long time since I've been so impressed with a release. I was worried that maybe the thrill was gone, and I've been having serious freeze up problems with every recent release I've tried from every distro, even Slackware 13.0. I was wondering if maybe the developers had lost interest in supporting guys like me with a mere Pentium 4 machine.

    And I've never been particularly fond of kubuntu, especially after it was an early adopter of KDE4... well, I guess maybe that decision paid off in the end. Oh, I was SO very wrong about this. I'll tell anybody who cares to ask.

    I could go on and on, and I'm sure I will. I'm getting better flash video. I used to have to log out of KDE to watch hulu in Xubuntu, but that's no longer necessary.

    If there is a fly in the ointment, I think I would have encountered it by now, and even if the whole thing crasahes, never to go up again. I've seen this from a whole new angle.

    Stunning. I'm stunned.

  2. #2
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    Well, in your (and my) defense, they did go to KDE 4 too early. Happy to hear that it's better in 10.04 though. 9.10 actually seemed like a regression in stability to me, so hopefully Lucid will be an improvement.

  3. #3
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    I do remember your anti-KDE4 rantings two years ago. You were right that it wasn't ready. I think it was released two minor releases too early. 4.2 was the first not unrespectable KDE4 release. 4.4 seems to be showing what KDE4 was meant to be. I've been enjoying it on my desktop machines.

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    Anyone remember some of my other rants? For example, my rants against Ubuntu? For me, it seems like railing against something is an early stage of loving it. So in the back of my mind, I was always expecting that I would love come to love KDE4 This time, it took waaayyy longer than I would have expected.

    Since the original post, I've encountered some ointment-flies. Problems detecting my hardware have kubuntu suddenly dropping into the "low graphics mode". Which really means "no graphics mode". So if I don't want to crash, I'll run kde applications with XFCE. A little disappointing, but so far I'm still on board with KDE4. The fact is, XFCE runs great with KDE applications. Every XFCE desktop launcher and panel applet can be edited or replaced to run KDE applications, so if you prefer the simplicity and stability of KDE3.5, here's something similar, just simpler and more stable.

    And with better applications! Those core applications: Konsole and Konqueror have great new features. you can now right click on the terminal window and open the pwd to the graphical file manager of your choice.

    Konqueror, the number 1 reason why I could never leave KDE is awesomer than ever, especially when you consider that Dolphin is really just an extension of konqueror. For that matter, so is folderview, and this leads to `whole new possibilities. It took me years to discover that konqueror has its own applications menu, and that means that so does dolphin and so does the folderview desktop and so does the folderview widget. I'm not sure if plugins are required, but Konqueror is getting some awesome new capabilities. It does bulk renaming now. Did I imagine that I used Konqueror to edit a text file? Wow, is Konqueror a text editor now? What is UP with that?

  5. #5
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    Well, I'll tell ya, I've always pretty much been a Gnome guy. Yeah I've used other desktop environments & window managers over the years, even liked some of them (fluxbox and lxde for instance). I've even tried kde a few times since they changed everything up with version 4, just because it's so darned good looking. But I always end up back in Gnome. Gnome is simple. Gnome is easy. But then I start hearing about how good kde 4.4.3 is and that it's finally what kde 4 was meant to be, so I think to myself, "Self - you might want to check this thing out". So I downloaded the Kubuntu 10.04 iso (tried Arch first but it wouldn't run for me), stuck the iso on a flash drive & installed from there. Well folks, let me tell you, I may just have to jump ship and be a kde guy from now on. I'm running Kubuntu 10.04, with kde 4.4.3, on my Compaq nc8230 which has 2gb ram and a pentium mobile 1.5 processor and it's running like a champ; no slowness, everything responds quickly, no crashes (at least not so far, been running it only for a couple of hours). This thing is beautiful!

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by spowel4 View Post
    Well, I'll tell ya, I've always pretty much been a Gnome guy. Yeah I've used other desktop environments & window managers over the years, even liked some of them (fluxbox and lxde for instance). I've even tried kde a few times since they changed everything up with version 4, just because it's so darned good looking. But I always end up back in Gnome. Gnome is simple. Gnome is easy. But then I start hearing about how good kde 4.4.3 is and that it's finally what kde 4 was meant to be, so I think to myself, "Self - you might want to check this thing out". So I downloaded the Kubuntu 10.04 iso (tried Arch first but it wouldn't run for me), stuck the iso on a flash drive & installed from there. Well folks, let me tell you, I may just have to jump ship and be a kde guy from now on. I'm running Kubuntu 10.04, with kde 4.4.3, on my Compaq nc8230 which has 2gb ram and a pentium mobile 1.5 processor and it's running like a champ; no slowness, everything responds quickly, no crashes (at least not so far, been running it only for a couple of hours). This thing is beautiful!
    If you like fluxbox and LXDE, you may want to keep something simpler ready for when you don't want to dick around with your desktop as much. KDE4 still makes me want to fidget with it constantly. For those times when you just want a simple place to work, I recommend XFCE which, in it's own way, is amazingly configurable. What I love is that it's so easy to replace nearly every link with links to the KDE applications that I love so much. There's little reason to mourn the passing of KDE3 when XFCE can easily be edited to open everything in dolphin, konqueror, and konsole. (Did I mention all this in my original post? Sorry if I repeated myself.)

    I want to mention something about my experiences with my old Dell Optiplex machines. These machines, which cost me 27 dollars apiece plus shipping can be quirky as hell, so your mileage will probably vary, but just in case it doesn't...

    I've had lots of problems installing Kubuntu desktop directly from the installer CDs. The "DESTOP" live CD won't display when I boot it. When I installed Kubuntu from the "alternate" cd, which uses the debian text installer, I got an obviously sluggish installed system.

    I don't know why, but when I install Xubuntu, then apt-get kubuntu-desktop, it's all good. I can't explain it. It may be a fluke; it may be black magic; it may not apply to anyone else... but there it is.
    Last edited by blackbelt_jones; 05-19-2010 at 02:31 PM.

  7. #7
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    I installed Kubuntu 10.04 from a usb stick and had no worries; shouldn't make any difference but who knows? As much stuff as there is going on between hardware, file systems, operating systems, etc... it's a wonder any of it works the way we want it to. The Arch linux I tried before Kubuntu was so slow once it got to the KDE desktop as to be unusable, it had 4.4.3 also.
    I know what you mean about wanting to constantly fiddle with everything in KDE; I'm still trying to figure out the whole desktop activity thing and what all the other settings do.

  8. #8
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    I've tried KDE in the past, and again now with 4.x and...maybe I'm just old, but I don't get it.

    It takes waay to many clicks to get to where I want, the are windows that stay up when they shouldn't, stuff that just occupies space on my desktop that serves no purpose...

    I just don't get it.

    Maybe it's configurable, but I'd only end up configuring it to act more like Gnome's default, which simply makes sense (to me any way) right out of the box.

    I'm not trying to pick a fight or anything. I tried Kubuntu because of your enthusiasm for it, but it was gone 5 minutes after the install.

    It just doesn't make sense to me.

  9. #9
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    KDE 4.4.3 is running fine for me in Slackware 64. It has one minor bug that appeared when I upgraded from 4.3 in the way it handles closing the lid on my laptop. Of course my desktop is unaffected.

    My KDE4 laptop is my main machine for work and at home. As such I run it for 10-16 hours or more a day with nary a problem.

    And yes I have multiple programs open in multiple desktops, as I have since 4.2. (I also run dual monitors when at work, via docking station)

    I also have apps running in a Citrix client.
    Slackware current (Dell Latitude D610)
    CentOS 5.2 (Servers)
    Registered Linux User # 375030

  10. #10
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    I just discovered the folder view desktop activity; pretty neat.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by happybunny View Post
    I've tried KDE in the past, and again now with 4.x and...maybe I'm just old, but I don't get it.

    It takes waay to many clicks to get to where I want, the are windows that stay up when they shouldn't, stuff that just occupies space on my desktop that serves no purpose...

    I just don't get it.

    Maybe it's configurable, but I'd only end up configuring it to act more like Gnome's default, which simply makes sense (to me any way) right out of the box.

    I'm not trying to pick a fight or anything. I tried Kubuntu because of your enthusiasm for it, but it was gone 5 minutes after the install.

    It just doesn't make sense to me.
    Hey, I can sure relate to that! KDE$ has been a hard pill for much of the community to swallow, and that sure incIudes me. think it was a big mistake making the Desktop Activity the Default instead of the folder view. Some distros have wisely fixed this, and made Folder View the default. Do you even know what I'm talking about? KDE flies in the face of conventional wisdom simply by having a learning curve. For most people, the whole idea of a Desktop GUI is to be able to use it right away. KDE4 aims for power instead of ease. The idea for you to be able to arrange your data and tasks graphically any way you want.

    There are two major types of "activities" (desktop formats) for KDE4
    Last edited by blackbelt_jones; 05-20-2010 at 11:34 PM.

  12. #12
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    It's funny that this post was at the top of the page. I'm writing this from a fresh install of Kubuntu 10.04 LTS Lucid Lynx.

    I'm fascinated by all the different distros and desktop environments. I have numerous partitions on my laptop just to try different combinations.

    Debian with XFCE (primary for everyday use)
    Windows XP (My only windows install)

    Additional installs:
    Ubuntu with KDE (kubuntu)
    Fedora with Gnome
    Slackware with Fluxbox
    I'm with Happy Bunny, It takes me so long to figure out how to do anything. Too many clicks, unintuitive names and locations. My previous experience no doubt clouds my judgment.

    I tried a very early version of KDE back in the 90's when I first started with Linux. It was very much a Windows knock off then and also very unstable. Thanks to Kubuntu I have tried to keep up with the progression. It has come a long way.

    I will continue to dabble with all of them. KDE seems to have gone to another level. Gnome 3 is supposedly innovative in it's approach.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by teeitup View Post
    It's funny that this post was at the top of the page. I'm writing this from a fresh install of Kubuntu 10.04 LTS Lucid Lynx.

    I'm fascinated by all the different distros and desktop environments. I have numerous partitions on my laptop just to try different combinations.

    Debian with XFCE (primary for everyday use)
    Windows XP (My only windows install)

    Additional installs:
    Ubuntu with KDE (kubuntu)
    Fedora with Gnome
    Slackware with Fluxbox
    I'm with Happy Bunny, It takes me so long to figure out how to do anything. Too many clicks, unintuitive names and locations. My previous experience no doubt clouds my judgment.

    I tried a very early version of KDE back in the 90's when I first started with Linux. It was very much a Windows knock off then and also very unstable. Thanks to Kubuntu I have tried to keep up with the progression. It has come a long way.

    I will continue to dabble with all of them. KDE seems to have gone to another level. Gnome 3 is supposedly innovative in it's approach.
    As I've said before, a lot of the problems people have relating to KDE4 are caused by the unfortunate choice of "Desktop" as the default activity instead of "Folder View". Sidux and SimplyMepis (and I think maybe PCLinuxOS) have taken it upon themselves to make Folder View the default, and I think that's minimized the future shock. Last time I looked, those Live CD distros were still using KDE4.3, but it's a good look at how KDE4 can still retain a more traditional look and feel.

    Here's a sidux screenshot, courtesy of a recent TWITPIC. It doesn't look all that different, but it retains all of the new capabilitiy... well, all the 4.3 capability.

    http://twitpic.com/1pfbd2


    OR you can simply change the Activity on your present install to folderview:

    Right Click on Desktop > Desktop Activity Settings > Activity
    Pull down the menu for type, and choose your activity (Desktop or Folder View)

    Screenshot:
    http://twitpic.com/1pp1wg

  14. #14
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    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5Bdfue5L0U

    I made a movie of my Virtual Desktops. Hope somebody watches it, I've been working on it all day!

  15. #15
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    Watched your video, good illustration of the folder view activity. I saw somewhere last week that Gnome 3.0, which is supposed to come out this fall, will have something very similar to KDE's folder view activity. Guess this is the direction people are heading in; I'm liking it more and more as I get used to it. You're right, it just makes sense to have all your stuff together in one place and easily accessible that's related to whatever project you're working on at the time.

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