Is Unity driving its Ubuntu users towards kubuntu?

[Nightstrike2009]

Hiya everyone,

I have recently converted from Ubuntu 10.10 to Kubuntu 11.04 and I am enjoying the KDE side of life, I was an "Ubuntu fanboy" but the sluggish and unreponsiveness of Unity drove me mad (Tested it via Ubuntu 11.04 beta2).

So here I am on the Kubuntu side of the fence and enjoying it here too, i think Unity maybe a good thing for other distros has it has driven me and a few of my friends away from ubuntu and has caused musch distro hopping to and from other distros and we all seem to have come to different conclusions.

I myself am with Kubuntu, a friend has gone to Debian, two others are now using Arch Linux, if it wasn't for the unity fiasco we'd probably all still be with Ubuntu, has anyone else come to Kubuntu via Ubuntu 11.04?

[teh603]

Re: Is Unity driving its Ubuntu users towards kubuntu?

I actually came to Kubuntu sometime before, after getting frustrated with trying to theme Gnome. I've been sitting back here warning people on the Ubuntu boards that Unity wasn't going to be any good, but nobody's listening.

That having been said, a lot of the chatter I've seen is people going flat out to other distros, instead of Kubuntu. Some of the people I mention Kubuntu to say they don't like KDE, which I can understand. I didn't like it after some bad experiences using an eeePC 701 and Xandros. Others just don't seem to be aware that Kubuntu isn't using Unity.

[BigCityCat]

Re: Is Unity driving its Ubuntu users towards kubuntu?

I used Kubuntu in the past and then moved to Ubuntu cause I actually don't like oxygen or all the transparency. I was happy with gnome2. Then they started all the changes. I used Unity for a couple weeks and I don't like it. I used Gnome Shell for a couple weeks and was able to customize it and make it look pretty good but I hate the way it functions. I decided to give Kubuntu another go. After installing I began to notice a lot of the things I didn't like were improved and there was a great new plasma theme called Fushigi that did away with all the transparency and a couple of qtcurve themes that I really like so I don't have to use oxygen. So yes Unity and Gnome Shell drove me back to Kubuntu.

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Is Unity driving its Ubuntu users towards kubuntu?

I have gnome installed as well as kde: for the occasional glitch when kde dies, I still have functionality for firefox, gimp, etc. So I have tried unity. I really don't like the "dumbed-down" feel it has. On a tablet PC or a cell phone, it might be great. On a full size desktop with no touchscreen, WHY do this?? Gnome by itself was far better.

[GreyGeek]

Re: Is Unity driving its Ubuntu users towards kubuntu?

I would guess that it has attracted as many as it has driven away.

[woodsmoke]

Re: Is Unity driving its Ubuntu users towards kubuntu?

To me the interface on a desktop is just an unnecessary layer if one's real need is to have full access to things in a simple manner.

If the fact of "scalability" is more important to the user of Unity then it seems to be a good tradeoff, but how many people really "need" to have the same interface on a netbook, a laptop and a desktop just for the sake of having such?

However, given the above, if one is perfectly new to Linux and Unity is the first exposure and it is on a very fast machine then it should prove sufficiently innovative that the absolutely new user might say..."Woah! Linux really does offer a different exprience". That might especially occur if the user had a netbook or a small footprint laptop.

However, given even that, to me Gnome3 is a much better implementation of a new way to get "at" applications on something like a netbook.

So...dunno...but after a first blush of using Unity I agree that it will probably drive the "experienced" people to a plain implementation of the previous Ubu interface or Kubu...

woodsmoke

[bra|10n]

Re: Is Unity driving its Ubuntu users towards kubuntu?

@Nightstrike2009

I think that you raise an important question here, with the implications being twofold;
1. The usability of Unity's interface
2. The migration of many in the Ubuntu community toward other distro's.
However IMO Canonical has made the correct choice in dropping Gnome.
While the option of 2D unity exists as well as Classic Gnome in 11.04, both are essentially 'dumbed down' D/E are they not?

I actually came to Kubuntu sometime before, after getting frustrated with trying to theme Gnome.

It's my guess the Ubuntu developers too became frustrated with Gnome. Did much ever change with Gnome at each release that could be attributed to Gnome developers? I noticed little, though I could be wrong.
The way I see it, it seems the Gnome developers had their heads buried in the sand, while Canonical drew a line in it saying enough is enough.

[lcorken]

Re: Is Unity driving its Ubuntu users towards kubuntu?

It seems that some are leaving gnome now as some left KDE when it upgraded to 4.0. Change can be good and bad for different folks for different reasons.

When Kubuntu went to 4.0 I didn't like it and reverted to KDE 3.x. When we got to about 4.1 I decided to try again until I got used to it. After that 3.x seemed undesirable to me. At age 64 change just takes a little longer.

I installed unity on another partition but it reverted to gnome 2.x because my GPU is too old. So I have no clue about that. Soon will upgrade hardware and am anxious to try unity and G3.

Ken.

[Fintan]

Re: Is Unity driving its Ubuntu users towards kubuntu?

I installed unity on another partition but it reverted to gnome 2.x because my GPU is too old

you can install unity 2D from the repos. That will take care of the GPU issue.

Gnome 3.x has the same GPU limitations

I tested ubuntu natty for a while out of curiosity......doesn't knock me off my chair

Kubuntu / Kde 4.6 is my home, staying there.

However IMO Canonical has made the correct choice in dropping Gnome.

I concur, in the long run a very good move.

[GreyGeek]

Re: Is Unity driving its Ubuntu users towards kubuntu?

Most here are probably not old enough Penguins to remember the desktop wars.

For a long time KDE was the leading Linux desktop, with an estimated 80% desktop market share. Then, Canonical adopted Gnome and, because of Shuttlesworth's marketing, Ubuntu became the top Linux distro. That made Gnome the desktop market share leader. Now that Ubuntu has dropped Gnome in favor of Unity I suspect that Gnome's desktop market share will evaporate and KDE will, once again, rise to the top.

Other factors that will affect Gnome is Mono's abandonment by Attachemate. It laid off all of the Mono developers, including de Icaza. Mono benefited by Novell paying de Icaza and the Mono developers to write Mono. Twelve days ago de Icaza announced a startup company, Xamarin ("angel" funding by Microsoft?), with a smaller crew but the same ambitious goals:

Today we start Xamarin, our new company focused on Mono-based products.

These are some of the things that we will be doing at Xamarin:

* Build a new commercial .NET offering for iOS
* Build a new commercial .NET offering for Android
* Continue to contribute, maintain and develop the open source Mono and Moonlight components.
* Explore the Moonlight opportunities in the mobile space and the Mac appstore.

We believe strongly in splitting the presentation layer from the business logic in your application and supporting both your backend needs with C# on the server, the client or mobile devices and giving you the tools to use .NET languages in every desktop and mobile client.

Development started early this morning, we will first deliver the iPhone stack, followed by the Android stack, and then the Moonlight ports to both platforms.

The new versions of .NET for the iPhone and Android will be source compatible with MonoTouch and Mono for Android. Like those versions, they will be commercial products, built on top of the open core Mono.

In addition, we are going to provide support and custom development of Mono. A company that provides International Mono Support, if you will.

Trying to turn a lemon into lemonade, he claims:

We have been trying to spin Mono off from Novell for more than a year now. Everyone agreed that Mono would have a brighter future as an independent company, so a plan was prepared last year.

but he could have done what he just did anytime during the last year. But, one usually doesn't let go of a teat unless it is yanked out of the mouth.

Time will tell if Mono's momentum can be maintained by unknown angels or if someone is expecting a return on their dollar and hoping that de Icaza can deliver.

[mardurhack]

Re: Is Unity driving its Ubuntu users towards kubuntu?

I am another one who landed on Kubuntu after trying Natty. But in my case I was tired either of Unity and Gnome 2/3. Now I've used Kubuntu for a while and must admit I'm really satisfied!

[lcorken]

Re: Is Unity driving its Ubuntu users towards kubuntu?

Reading several other forums (Fedora and Ubuntu) it seems some are more adventuresome than others. Some Gnome users are very upset and don't want to change. Down rite religious about Gnome 2, despise KDE and any beer but Bud. :P

Seems to me KDE users are more open-minded. Willing to try other distros, other DEs, other beers, ... We cool!!

Kool man Ken.

[Snowhog]

Re: Is Unity driving its Ubuntu users towards kubuntu?

The debate/split over Gnome and Gnome 3 by Ubuntu adherants I find humorus (Mr. Spock would 'raise' an eyebrow). The same debate/split happened with KDE when KDE 4/Plasma came on the scene. Diehard KDE3 users decried the move to KDE4/Plasma and vowed never to give up their KDE3 DE. It really is a small world after all.

[bra|10n]

Re: Is Unity driving its Ubuntu users towards kubuntu?

Now that Ubuntu has dropped Gnome in favor of Unity I suspect that Gnome's desktop market share will evaporate and KDE will, once again, rise to the top.

I hope this is indeed the case.
I think of it as a gnome representative returning to tell the boss he's lost their biggest account. All care, but no responsibility...

As a former Gnome user I based my recent decision to switch to KDE because of it's developers commitment toward the projects goals.

[Linkmaster]

Re: Is Unity driving its Ubuntu users towards kubuntu?

I personally like KDE much more then gnome, most likely because my first taste of Gnome was something I couldn't configure in any way shape or form. This aside, when I dived into Kubuntu/KDE, I joined in at KDE4.5...1 I think. I'm not sure. All I know is, in a space of a few months, KDE is at stable release of 4.6.3, and they are working on 4.7. This is amazing to me, and it shows the development progress, as well as dedication, that the developers of KDE put into. That in of itself makes me content to stay with KDE, as well as the plasma-desktop. My first look at it, you could hear the sound of my jaw breaking on the floor, thats how good it was. though I was still used to the sharp lines and harsh colors of WindowsXP...that might've helped, haha