Linux Distros, User Evaluations

[TWPonKubuntu]

GG, are you running 32bit?

My report is only my subjective observation of speed for operations that I do everyday.

The shutdown/restart problem is almost certainly due to the specific shutdown commands for my laptop (Dell Latitude D820). Some distros recognize it, others do not.

The problem with Plasma crashing is still a mystery to me. I'm not finding this reported (at least not frequently) when I do a web search, but, as noted earlier, the use of 32bit systems is decreasing. Without a large number of complaints, there is little incentive for the the devs to address it. My wheel isn't squeaking enough to get their attention...

I wish I could attribute the Plasma crash to a hardware problem, but some KDE distros don't crash, so I'm still looking at a software glitch.

More testing will ensue...
Thanks for your input.

[GreyGeek]

.... I've been considering a move away from Canonical but now that it seems they're playing nicer so maybe I won't have to.

So was I. I even replace Kubuntu 14.04 with Mint KDE 71.3 for the first three months of this year .... but their implementation of Btfs didn't fit my needs. Other than that Mint was a fine distro, as are most that I try, but most just do not have the flavor of Kubuntu, and its flavor fits me to a tee.

[GreyGeek]

GG, are you running 32bit?

No, what led you to suspect that? Thinking that a 32bit Kubuntu Plasma desktop is more stable that a 64 bit?

My report is only my subjective observation of speed for operations that I do everyday.

That's all mine or anyone else's is ... purely a subjective report dependent on the type of hardware and the skill of the user. As a retired programmer I can say that it is definitely harder to debug one's own software because programmers subconsciously circumvent bugs in their own work, or, they know what is expected at each user input and "test" only those expected inputs. They would never put a phone number in a field labeled "Address 1:", but clerks do, all the time.

The shutdown/restart problem is almost certainly due to the specific shutdown commands for my laptop (Dell Latitude D820). Some distros recognize it, others do not.

In my Kubuntu 16.04 with Neon added to the sources.list as an experiment, I experienced shutdown failure from the desktop, but when I logged out first and then shut down from the login screen it proceeded normally.

The problem with Plasma crashing is still a mystery to me. I'm not finding this reported (at least not frequently) when I do a web search, but, as noted earlier, the use of 32bit systems is decreasing. Without a large number of complaints, there is little incentive for the the devs to address it. My wheel isn't squeaking enough to get their attention...

So far *knocks on wood* my Plasma rock solid stable. Occasionally an app crashes but that is getting increasingly rare.
It may come as a surprise to many folks but KubuntuForums.net is NOT a bug reporting facility. Most developers do not have time to peruse the many internet forums where folks can post complaints about problems they are having. And, judging by the information many of those posting complaints supply, it wouldn't do devs much good traversing these pages.

The proper place to file a bug report is here: https://bugs.kde.org/
Once you attempt to file one you'll get an idea of the kind of information they need to solve a problem and you'll be prepared to collect that information the next time you have a problem. The best kinds of problems are those that are reproducible. Just listing steps 1, 2, 3 and 4 and the app breaks. Then, telling them what you think was supposed to happen and then telling them what actually happened gives much better info. If you can trap syslog messages and supply those that is important too.
Now that Kubuntu 16.04 is running the systemd init system there are systemd and systemctl tools that aid in collecting info.

I wish I could attribute the Plasma crash to a hardware problem, but some KDE distros don't crash, so I'm still looking at a software glitch.

More testing will ensue...
Thanks for your input.

Some distros are more compatible with certain hardware than others. You use what works for you. It's all Linux!

[TWPonKubuntu]

No, what led you to suspect that?
...
So far *knocks on wood* my Plasma rock solid stable. Occasionally an app crashes but that is getting increasingly rare.
It may come as a surprise to many folks but KubuntuForums.net is NOT a bug reporting facility. Most developers do not have time to peruse the many internet forums where folks can post complaints about problems they are having. And, judging by the information many of those posting complaints supply, it wouldn't do devs much good traversing these pages.

No, it's just that comparing speeds between 32 and 64 bit doesn't make sense... I'm on 32bit.
Thanks for your feedback though.

I do try to report these glitches to https://bugs.kde.org/
Sometimes I feel my reports fall through the cracks and are not noticed. Hence my statement about the squeaky wheel getting the most grease.

I hope more people do report glitches like mine, so I do post here to let others know they are not the only ones experiencing trouble.

Again, thank you.

[woodsmoke]

Well, I've used just about all of them over the past many years.

To me there really are just "three" --- "styles" of GUI (the window manager) which is what really pulls "most" folks to a distro.

a) the "classic", in other words for "most folks", the windows 98 experience, a small panel at bottom, a small launcher, etc. One can applyh third party launchers, etc.

b) The "classic" expanded / reimagined this includes Kubuntu, KDE, larger more expansive launchers, a "file folder" that can be put on the desktop that defaults to larger more expansive, (yes one can easily add "activities", etc, but basically an "expansion of possibiilties" of the classic.

c) totally different, Unity, Xfce, Sawfish, afterstep/nextstep, reliance on things like Conky as a default item, right clicking on the desktop for a launcher as default, Enlightenment( animated desktop, etc) the Adrieanne talking desktop on Knoppix, etc.

A) For me, it is just EASIER to use the KDE experience and I will continue with it as default.

But, I really DID make a decision today, because I had to do a simple thing: format a Kingston usb drive. WHAT A HASSLE, there are volumes of posts about chmod, etc about this furshlugginer piece of drek on the net but, I pulled out my usb drive of Knoppix and just formatted the piece of trash in two clicks.

(the only reason I have it is because they were a "gift" to the instructors of the department a few years ago at the pre-semester meeting, I actually made the mistake of purchasing one of them a few years ago and it will NEVER happen again.

B) Knoppix is "discussed" as a "niche" distro, it uses LXDE etc. but the big thing is that it is "for formatting stuff, etc, / disc rescue "

I beg to differ.

It is "just a distro that has a bunch of tools added in but it can be a "regular" distro also, and I have used it as such a few years ago,

It may require some knowledge and effort to add in applications that a user wants particulary, but.... it is basically a "classic" distro with tools".

So, If I ever move away from KDE, I'll use Knoppix or Kali since it has penetration tools, etc. ( which can be loaded into Knoppix of course).

Below is a listing of all of the Linux window managers.

http://www.gilesorr.com/wm/table.html

woodjustsayinsmoke

[GreyGeek]

When I used Knoppix for several months it was featuring KDE and RPM. It was the first distro I used that was burned onto a single CD and when booted automatically installed the distro to the HD. It also featured a color console with sound during the install. At first I loved it because I didn't have to go to OSS and pay for another sound driver and I didn't have to compile the Bamboo etho driver, and it automatically ran XF86Config and reduced setting up the monitor to answering a few questions it could not answer on its own.

It was the distro that I mentioned when I talked about adding an app which caused the entire KDE desktop to upgrade to the next version, which worked out great. A couple weeks later I added another app which forced the downgrade to the previous KDE version, but the reboot failed and I decided to switch to Kannotix (sp?) for a month or two before I moved to Mandrake, IIRC.

[TWPonKubuntu]

I agree with the prior comment "It's all Linux", and the DE makes a big difference.

Woodsmoke; That's a good overview of the Linux GUIs.

This evaluation shows what we all expect, KDE is most "Customizable":

http://www.datamation.com/open-sourc...omization.html