Kubuntu best KDE distro of 2013

[Buddlespit]

But I am only a beginner with Linux, having used it for only 12 years.

Exactly. You found your niche.

[Tom_ZeCat]

I fiddle with Kubuntu all the time. I have always been warned what will be removed if I was deleting something. I still do not feel I need to "advance" to a "more sophisticated" distro. But I am only a beginner with Linux, having used it for only 12 years.

I like that it has (as well as regular Ubuntu does) a built-in way to swap the Ctrl and Caps Lock keys. I've swapped those keys ever since IBM made the choice to move the Ctrl key down to the bottom row where it's harder to reach. In Windows I use a registry hack to do it. Back in the days of DOS (DR DOS!) I ran a program from the autoexec.bat file to swap them. I like how *buntu recognizes that people don't all work the same and the same generic choices aren't right for everyone. I find it easy to add and remove widgets without messing anything up, and to add and remove applications. I don't often tinker deeply with the nuts and bolts of the operating system, but I will if I need to for a good reason, like getting an old program to run (as I did here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.p...5#post12930375).

[richb]

Exactly. You found your niche.

And apparently my niche is as a beginning, not very advanced user.

[SteveRiley]

I am only a beginner with Linux, having used it for only 12 years.

12 years counts as an expert in my thinking. You underestimate yourself!

[Buddlespit]

And apparently my niche is as a beginning, not very advanced user.

Really? I would have thought you as comfortable in what you use. I don't think I would have ever looked at you as a beginner.

[richb]

Really? I would have thought you as comfortable in what you use. I don't think I would have ever looked at you as a beginner.

I was just following the logic or maybe not, argumentum ad absurdum. If Kubuntu is a starter distro, and I am using it, I must be a beginner. I was going for the sarcastic. Sorry, I apologize for the sarcasm.

[Buddlespit]

Ya, when you put it that way, I did sound condescending, didn't I? I didn't mean it that way. No matter what you use, whether it's the easiest to set up or the hardest, if it make you (or anybody else) happy, it's the right fit for you (or anybody else). Kubuntu is the right fit for a lot of people, no matter their experience.

[life0riley]

I installed Slackware as a VirtualBox guest back in 2010. It felt more like a "right of passage" or an academic exercise. I did like Patrick's root mail message welcoming me and saying he was glad I made it this far. I plan to install arch linux at some point, but I consider that more of an academic exercise also. Sometimes I just need to get some stuff done and don't have time to tinker. I prefer Kubuntu over the other distros I have tried.

[Tom_ZeCat]

I've been meaning to try out a security distro named "Tails" that is supposed to encrypt everything and keep things really secure, as well as allow you to surf the Internet in a clandestine way so that even your own isp can't see where you've been surfing. Sounds intriguing, but I really don't do anything that would warrant such secrecy.

[vinnywright]

I installed Slackware as a VirtualBox guest back in 2010. It felt more like a "right of passage" or an academic exercise. I did like Patrick's root mail message welcoming me and saying he was glad I made it this far. I plan to install arch linux at some point, but I consider that more of an academic exercise also. Sometimes I just need to get some stuff done and don't have time to tinker. I prefer Kubuntu over the other distros I have tried.

Slackware & Debian the 2 longest continuous runing distributions ,,,,,with Slackware being the first by a pinch .

I do like installing Slackware from time to time & once you do get it setup the way you like it is bullet proof and stable as a rock .
However for ease of acquiring and installing and upgrading packages ,,,,,,,it's Kubuntu for me

VINNY

[SteveRiley]

I've been meaning to try out a security distro named "Tails" that is supposed to encrypt everything

I disagree with this approach because...

I really don't do anything that would warrant such secrecy.

...the mere use of privacy-enhancing tools raises suspicion of your activities. People who leave large Tor footprints, for instance, often attract extra scrutiny. By all means, encrypt -- but only when necessary. As we say in infosec, strive to be "uninteresting."

[Tom_ZeCat]

I disagree with this approach because...


...the mere use of privacy-enhancing tools raises suspicion of your activities. People who leave large Tor footprints, for instance, often attract extra scrutiny. By all means, encrypt -- but only when necessary. As we say in infosec, strive to be "uninteresting."

You have a point. Leave it to our wonderful Big Brother government to assume that anyone who tinkers with such a thing must be a criminal. I quit using Google in favor of Privatelee because I don't like the fact that Google saves all your searches and that info can be subpoenaed. The government probably thinks anyone who looks up a recipe for meth must be actually planning to make it -- that there's no such thing as person who's just curious or is doing research and therefore wants to know what goes into that awful drug. I saw privacy software as a boon to freedom to be able to read whatever information you want to without prying eyes spying on you. But as you point out, they'll probably assume you're a criminal just by your even using that.

[SteveRiley]

So I just finished reading The Transparent Society by David Brin. He presents some very interesting counter arguments to the proliferation of privacy and secrecy. I'm fairly certain I don't agree with a lot of his positions. Still, I'd encourage anyone with even a passing interest to study what David has written.

[loaba]

I tried Linux Mint 16 and it just didn't work the same as Kubuntu. Visually it waas nearly identical, but it just wasn't the same. I think Kubuntu (for now) really benefits from being so closed to Ubuntu. I also tried Kwheezy and that thing kicked my butt. That's big-boy Linux, that is.

As I said in a previous post, Kubuntu is finally (for me) the real deal.