Kubuntu is Being Left behind?

[b0uncyfr0]

Ok so i think is that Kubuntu will cease to exist if we continue the way were going. Seriously, think about it. Look at distrowatch. There are a lot of KDE based distros in the top ten, but wheres Kubuntu? I know why, because we dont have much to offer above other distros and thats the pure truth. Eg. Codecs and NTFS read/write. This is like standard now and Kubuntu still doesnt have it. And to make it worst its not that fast either. The reason why im saying all this is because i see a lot of potential in Kubuntu but it seems like nothings changed over the years.

Dont get me wrong, i love Kubuntu but its just missing so much stuff that could make it easier to use, more friendly and good-looking. I would like nothing more than to have all these in Kubuntu. If we had this, we could pull in more people. Thus increasing the community. I dont think thats a bad idea at all because our comminuty is fairly small or most people dont post( you know who you are). Anyway i really think that Kubuntu really could make the top 5 if we put some effort into it. I mean come on, were the brothers of Ubuntu, and i hate to admit it but those gnome bastards are making Ubuntu so well-known and recognized that installation of apps is getting a s**load easier.

We deserve to be up there but its just the small things that we lack, that push users away to other distros. But i havent lost hope yet, theres still time and Kubuntu can still blindf**k all the other distros. Im really hoping that we see some sort of improvement or SOMETHING* in Hardy that shows that were still here, you know or else im afraid that Kubuntu will really cease to exist anymore due to one factor: PCLinuxOS.

Yes ive tried it and theres definitely flaws but theres nothing major that cant be fixed with the next release(if there is one). If they keep going down that road, they will definitely be the best distro, and thats apparent know. Its a fairly new distro and thyre already number 1 on distrowatch. Im happy as long as it aint a gnome-based distro ( Jst Joking-Dont wanna start a war now). I would like to offer my services even though im useless but im happy to help in any way. So lets let people know that "We are still here". .Yes i like the Matrix.

P.S Just my 4 Cents

[Fintan]

Re: Kubuntu is Being Left behind?

In general I agree with you an most points.

As for distrowach. I don't really care where Kubuntu is on that "list". It is not relevant in a pure sense. I do care about what the developers are doing with this distro and there is still a lot to be done. I just don't like the way they try and tweak everything KDE and lose a lot of usability in that way.
I am not a developer or programmer but I try and help in my little way by getting people to try it.

Pclinux is not that young. I have it on this machine and still boot into it from time to time.

Synaptic is glacially slow and I hate rpm's. debs are just so much easier.
The desktop is light years slower than kubuntu.

The three things that pclinux has going for it in my humble opinion are:
-The system config manager (mandriva)
-The installer (mandriva again)
-Hardware detection (Mandriva again)

I am also testing the mepis 7.0 RC1 and must admit that I like it a lot.

Mint KDE Danya beta is being tested as well and I just like a lot about that one too. I think the mint guys and the Kubuntu guys should fuse. Because there is a lot to like about the way they go about things.

I just ran the new suse 10.3 live cd. Wow, is it quick and they too have some nice default stuff. There are also some quirks that are not understandable. Like the fact that the partitioner in the install does not show windows partitions as windows but as linux partitions. On top of that the grub menu lists all partitions, even if they are not OS related partitions. I would post an example but I deleted it right after installing because of yast and its quirks. It is so difficult to add repos and get software. Viva debian and apt-get

There is one fact. That is that gnome is just more popular in the states and kde is more popular in Europe. So as long as everybody thinks the North American market is more important than the European market.............

A point in fact is the example of compiz-fusion. They develop for gnome first then KDE gets "added".

I will stick with Kubuntu and try and learn from / contribute to this forum as much as I can. I must admit I am dreading the day when I will buy a laptop and upgrade my video card to something less stone age (ati radeon 9250 pro right now). If santa is nice I know I will have very interesting xmas days going far into the new year.

So to answer your question. I don't think Kubuntu will be left behind. I just believe that it will find its own path. If KDE 4 is going to dramatically change the popularity of KDE remains to be seen.

[aged hippy]

Re: Kubuntu is Being Left behind?

[ .... ]
Like the fact that the partitioner in the install does not show windows partitions as windows but as linux partitions.

.... a major mistake - they ought to fix that as soon as possible.

[mchuskie]

Re: Kubuntu is Being Left behind?

Ok so i think is that Kubuntu will cease to exist if we continue the way were going. Seriously, think about it. Look at distrowatch. There are a lot of KDE based distros in the top ten, but wheres Kubuntu?

Um, no. There are - how many Linux distributions in existence? And, by definition, only ten in the top ten.

I know why, because we dont have much to offer above other distros and thats the pure truth. Eg. Codecs and NTFS read/write. This is like standard now and Kubuntu still doesnt have it.

I put to you the converse question: what do other distros offer above Kubuntu? For better or worse, Kubuntu (as a Ubuntu 'product') will not ever contain proprietary or "non-free" software by default - it'd be like Richard Stallman taking up a job at Microsoft. It's a pragmatic decision that I disagree with, but respect; it's not exactly hard to add what's missing.

And to make it worst its not that fast either. The reason why im saying all this is because i see a lot of potential in Kubuntu but it seems like nothings changed over the years.

How long have you been using Kubuntu? I ask because I've only been using it for two and a half years, and yet I've seen many changes - the fact that automatic distribution upgrades actually work now, for one. Another, the development of Compiz/Beryl to a workable default state (for Ubuntu at least). Not all changes have been "good" in my opinion (Dolphin; UUID) but there have been plenty.

Dont get me wrong, i love Kubuntu but its just missing so much stuff that could make it easier to use, more friendly and good-looking. I would like nothing more than to have all these in Kubuntu. If we had this, we could pull in more people. Thus increasing the community.

Detail, please. In list form if you will. Even better, write the code.

I dont think thats a bad idea at all because our comminuty is fairly small or most people dont post( you know who you are). Anyway i really think that Kubuntu really could make the top 5 if we put some effort into it.

Or the devs could instead spend the effort on actually producing and managing the code, and not spend time and resources worrying about a sample of the Linux-distro-usership.

I mean come on, were the brothers of Ubuntu, and i hate to admit it but those gnome b******s are making Ubuntu so well-known and recognized that installation of apps is getting a s**load easier.

With you speaking like that I'm glad you're not my brother. Actually, as you would know if you've been using (K)Ubuntu for any length of time, the two are identically equal in all but the choice of default desktop environment. (I use the term "identically equal" in the true mathematical sense: they are actually the same thing, even down to using the same repos.)

We deserve to be up there but its just the small things that we lack, that push users away to other distros.

Again, details please, along with evidence that lack of these "small things" pushes users away.

And incidentally, I know many people boot Ubuntu alongside other Linux distros. See my below point about choice.

But i havent lost hope yet, theres still time and Kubuntu can still blindf**k all the other distros.

I think you miss the point of what Ubuntu is trying to achieve.

Im really hoping that we see some sort of improvement or SOMETHING* in Hardy that shows that were still here, you know or else im afraid that Kubuntu will really cease to exist anymore due to one factor: PCLinuxOS.

Last I looked, both Kubuntu and PCLinuxOS were in coexistence, so your point is flawed. You seem to be under the impression that the Linux market will culminate in a single "super-distro", as Windows has become. However, (one of) the key feature(s) behind the FOSS movement is that it provides choice. That choice is the reason we have both KDE and Gnome. It's the reason we have SuSE, Fedora, Ubuntu and Gentoo. It's the reason we have OpenOffice, KOffice, Abiword... you get the idea.

Yes ive tried it [PCLinuxOS] and theres definitely flaws but theres nothing major that cant be fixed with the next release(if there is one). If they keep going down that road, they will definitely be the best distro, and thats apparent know. Its a fairly new distro and thyre already number 1 on distrowatch.

Good for them.

Mint KDE Danya beta is being tested as well and I just like a lot about that one too. I think the mint guys and the Kubuntu guys should fuse. Because there is a lot to like about the way they go about things.

I think the main reason that Mint was set up as a Ubuntu fork was the problem of non-free codecs raised above...

[marshallbanana]

Re: Kubuntu is Being Left behind?

I know why, because we dont have much to offer above other distros and thats the pure truth. Eg. Codecs and NTFS read/write. This is like standard now and Kubuntu still doesnt have it.

I put to you the converse question: what do other distros offer above Kubuntu? For better or worse, Kubuntu (as a Ubuntu 'product') will not ever contain proprietary or "non-free" software by default - it'd be like Richard Stallman taking up a job at Microsoft. It's a pragmatic decision that I disagree with, but respect; it's not exactly hard to add what's missing.

Personally this is one of the things I most like about Kubuntu, that it is true to foss software. But also that it stirkes a good balance by making it pretty easy to install non foss software. It means that all the users are well aware of what is still not free.

And to make it worst its not that fast either. The reason why im saying all this is because i see a lot of potential in Kubuntu but it seems like nothings changed over the years.

I definitely agree with JamesM on this one that there has been plenty of change. To list some examples knetworkmanager, strigi, gdebi, restricted drivers manager, compiz, dolphin. Not to mention that KDE4 is coming soon, and that should be huge.

Dont get me wrong, i love Kubuntu but its just missing so much stuff that could make it easier to use, more friendly and good-looking. I would like nothing more than to have all these in Kubuntu. If we had this, we could pull in more people. Thus increasing the community.

Detail, please. In list form if you will. Even better, write the code.

Definitely need some details on this one before able to comment.

I mean come on, were the brothers of Ubuntu, and i hate to admit it but those gnome b******s are making Ubuntu so well-known and recognized that installation of apps is getting a s**load easier.

With you speaking like that I'm glad you're not my brother. Actually, as you would know if you've been using (K)Ubuntu for any length of time, the two are identically equal in all but the choice of default desktop environment. (I use the term "identically equal" in the true mathematical sense: they are actually the same thing, even down to using the same repos.)

Easier installation? Both are completely identical in installing using apt-get. How can it be any easier. In fact personally I rarely even bother to look at any non-debian based distro nowadays as I just can't bear to be without debs. As JamesM says, they are equal but for the desktop environment.

Im really hoping that we see some sort of improvement or SOMETHING* in Hardy that shows that were still here, you know or else im afraid that Kubuntu will really cease to exist anymore due to one factor: PCLinuxOS.

I think your missing two key points here, one is JamesM's point about the coexistence of a couple of thousand linux distros. The other is that the distros all borrow from each other, and so being in a smaller one is no problem. PCLinuxOS is based on mandriva, Mint is based on Ubuntu. Even K/Ubuntu is based on debian. And futhermore for example knetworkmanager was developed by openSuSE, which is not even debian based, and then borrowed by kubuntu. Not to mention that all the apps of gnome/KDE are common across distros and so their development is not affected by the number of users of any one distro.

[SheeEttin]

Re: Kubuntu is Being Left behind?

Linux: The OS of choice.

[Snowhog]

Re: Kubuntu is Being Left behind?

What is so refreshing about Linux is simply this: The philosophy behind Linux, and of the developers who support and maintain the distos, does not limit the users freedom to choose to install and use non-open source software.

[MoonRise]

Re: Kubuntu is Being Left behind?

Linux: The OS of choice.

Agreed!!

[marshallbanana]

Re: Kubuntu is Being Left behind?

A relevant and conveniently timed Linux Today article:
http://www.linuxtoday.com/news_story...20-26-OP-CY-SW

[cantab]

Re: Kubuntu is Being Left behind?

I would have to say I disagree with that article to an extent. I believe that regardless of configurabilty, defaults matter. For example, in most distros I feel the default Gnome desktop is ugly. I know full well I could make it just as pretty as KDE (and in any case, I like to change KDE's appearance), but that it starts out ugly puts me off.

[MoonRise]

Re: Kubuntu is Being Left behind?

but that it starts out ugly puts me off.

Yeah, I agree. And yes I could have configured it to look better, but the above quote says it all.

[Snowhog]

Re: Kubuntu is Being Left behind?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Those of us who use/prefer Kubuntu over Ubuntu do so in large part because we like the look and feel of Kubuntu over Ubuntu - KDE over GDM. But that still remains only what it is - a personal preference.

The look and feel between the two versions is by design (no pun intended). Some people are staunch Dodge loyalists and would rather walk than drive a Ford. The same will always be true of any distribution of Linux.

[aged hippy]

Re: Kubuntu is Being Left behind?

The reason i use Kubuntu is that i'd downloaded the live CD at work, and a friend there said: "Try this as well".... his was Ubuntu - i booted it and thought ".... Well, the Amiga certainly had something going for it...", so i re-booted with Kubuntu and fell in love with it, especially when i realised how much it can be customised.

Even when 4.0 is released, i'll probably stick with what i've got. 8)

... but - as has been pointed out, Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

... even if it is only pixel deep

[dibl]

Re: Kubuntu is Being Left behind?

I've used both Ubuntu/Gnome and Kubuntu/KDE extensively, and I can state with confidence that they both work. So, there's no reason from a functionality viewpoint to trash either one of them. The only question is, which do YOU like better?

[Bongo5HH]

Re: Kubuntu is Being Left behind?

Yup Kubuntu (KDE) simply looks and acts more like what I expect a desktop to look and act like..

To be honest, GNOME just looks old to me... I'm SURE I could go to gnome-look.org and jazz it up.. I DO do that with KDE too... but it's that intial look that just throws me.

That and the placement of things in menus just doesn't seem intuative to me.

All VERY subjective reasons... and really nothing that should (or could?) influence anyone else.

BUT I do have to say that with each release I FEEL as though Ubuntu gets more attention than Kubuntu. and as a result I think the audience of Kubuntu is smaller than it ought to be.

Kev