My problems running Kubuntu live-cd for a day

[coyotl]

Re: My problems running Kubuntu live-cd for a day

The video problem most likely has nothing to do with the driver.

What kind of video?

What program are you viewing it on?

I've heard switching to vlc solves this kind of problem, you could try.

Have you enabled the medibuntu multimedia repository and updated/installed codecs and stuff?

Linux is a necessary alternative to a closed standard, no need for this geek-discussion. I'm the farthest thing from a geek, if I can use it so can you.

[Manabu]

Re: My problems running Kubuntu live-cd for a day

On the menu/applications issues you can right click an item in kmenu to open the editor and you can reorganize the menus as you wish. You could replace speedcrunch with kcalc, for example.

Yeah, I already done this a long time ago. My personal problem is resolved, but I'm discussing about the default choice for other users around the world. There is any reason to choice it over kcalc? It justifies the problems I appointed in speedcrunch?

By the way, I don't like to open a program to do some basic menu editing. Drag-and-drop and right-click menu options are much more quick, practical and intuitive for basic tasks. Another simple point where windows started ahead. I think that they were discussing this for plasma menus, and I hope that they really implement that. But we will have to wait one year for kubuntu have it anyway.

The video problem most likely has nothing to do with the driver.

What kind of video?

What program are you viewing it on?

I've heard switching to vlc solves this kind of problem, you could try.

Well... only switching drivers fixed the problem for all videos in all programs. I don't remember if I tried VLC prior to this, but I tried Mplayer and all its output options. The jagged edges happened for all formats of video in all programs, even youtube.

It was also an problem that drove me away from Linux two years ago when I was using an VIA onboard video and probably VESA driver too, in another computer. At that time, I didn't tried to switch drivers, but I do tried every video program out there, including VLC.

I'm the farthest thing from a geek, if I can use it so can you.

Well, I'm using it 30%~50% of my time since I installed it. But I'm having lots of problems and loosing lots of my precious time searching the net for tutorials and users with the same problems. I also try to report bugs as much as I can, for other people don't have to pass through the same things. That is even for things that don't block my way, but of others, like the sqrt problem in speedcrunch.

Now I will have to learn how to compile programs (a thing that the developer, not the user should do) because some programs that I have in windows installed with an simple double click, in Linux are only available as source code. Or are some cases where the compiled program in debian repositories is more than an year old, with literally hundred of versions since this (libavcodec, for example). Linux desperately needs an unified package standard.

That is not to say that Linux don't have a good side. I keep using Linux because the good things that came in the package. It is much better than 2 years ago, but there still a lot to do.

[coyotl]

Re: My problems running Kubuntu live-cd for a day

'jagged edges in video' --a little vague

Low resolution?

As long as it works DVD's and video files give me about the same quality in Linux and windows.
Copied dvd's often run only in MSIDVD in windoze.

I agree about the sometimes strange choice of software in Kubuntu.
But kubuntu is pretty good for being an afterhought to ubuntu..
A little lack of polish..

One Linux distro which really succeeded in making a distro absolute non-geeks could use, in 2002-2003 with a far more difficult software base, was Libranet.
Sadly it went out of business after the founder died but Ubuntu is slowly getting to the same level,
f.ex it will adopt the idea of a failsafe X config after an X crash/corruption.
--coming in Gutsy. Ubuntu of course has a GUI app where libranet had a text menu app.

My brother used mandriva for years because it was the distro that has the most things just working, but then switched to ubuntu because M. was not flexible enough (he is a geek if you wish, doing a computer techie education).