I have installed kUbuntu 6.06 LTS but wonder what 'Ubuntu' there is in it. It looks like a clean KDE run-of-the-mill install with no jazz added. Have I overlooked some hidden gems?
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Re: The Ubuntu in kUbuntu
KDE is merely the choice of desktop graphical environment, and of course programs designed with kde in mind, like qt based apps, since kde is based on the qt toolset. Gnome is based on the gtk toolset, tho many boxes with only one DE contain enough of the others toolsets to make - for example- a gtk app like gimp work on kde.....
under that though are details like kernels and xorg which are more DE agnostic.....because the foundation and engine on which kde runs is based on generic ubuntu with or without gnome, you can add any desktop you want. The kubuntu devs have made choices in apps and themes and kde friendly parts but - as a kde user - i have found installing three or more desktop choices a breeze. Think of kde as ubuntu with kde as default desktop. Theres alot more to an OS tho than the deskop.....look at how many people spend a great deal of time on their systems with no gui at all, just a tty console. Likewise, servers don't really need a gui if you know what youre doing, its just extra frosting on the cake.
hope that makes things a lil clearer.........
cheers -
Re: The Ubuntu in kUbuntu
oh slackrat, we misunderstand each other. It's my fault due to the formulation.
I meant, Ubuntu is so highly hyped, but I see no innovation or smartness in it, no applications developed other than KDE default. What is the difference for the KDE desktop user for kUbuntu in relation to Debian, Mepis, etc.. with KDE.
Mepis comes now with ubuntu and KDE (as always) but at least has some discrete applications for system management. why not skip kUbuntu and direct people to SimplyMepis (free ed.)?
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Re: The Ubuntu in kUbuntu
I've been using kubuntu for about a year now. before that was mepis, xanderos, & many other distros. EVERYTHING seems to work with kubuntu EASIER than with most of the others that i've tried. i liked mepis, but it kept breaking after updates. i can get kubuntu to do just about anything with little worry that "if i can get this package to install, will it break". appearance wise, it's about the same as most kde distros. it just works.
just my opinion.
wayneComment
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Re: The Ubuntu in kUbuntu
Kubuntu is based on the Ubuntu system, but with the latest KDE packages. Kubuntu means "towards humanity" in Bemba. Kubuntu is pronounced "koo-boon-too".
Kubuntu is made up of Ubuntu's base plus KDE. You can get exactly the same effect by installing Ubuntu and adding the KDE packages- kubuntu-desktop (and removing the Gnome packages) from the Ubuntu archives. Kubuntu and Ubuntu share the same repository.
Built on the solid and advanced base of Ubuntu, the Kubuntu team aims to create a distribution that provides an up-to-date and coherent Linux system for desktop and server computing. Kubuntu includes a number of selected packages from Ubuntu and is based on Debian's powerful “Adept” package management system.
The default desktop environment for Kubuntu is KDE, a powerful Free Software graphical desktop environment for Linux and Unix workstations. It combines ease of use, contemporary functionality, and outstanding graphical design with the technological superiority of the Unix operating system. KDE is one of the two leading graphical desktop environments for Linux users. KDE sports an impressive array of easy to use, but powerful, graphical interface applications for users of all ages in both home and work environments. For developers, KDE provides a robust application development framework that enables rapid creation of first rate applications implementing cutting-edge technology.
KDE is in many ways similar to GNOME, but there are a few distinct differences which distinguish KDE as a desktop environment. KDE uses C++ at its base, with Qt (the Q-toolkit), whereas GNOME, using GTK, is written in C. KDE is the older and most widely used desktop environment, and is known to stress more the importance of features, and more recently, usability. GNOME more notoriously prides itself on simplicity and ease of use. Popular criticisms of GNOME are that it's lacking in features and applications, while it's often commented that KDE has too many features which may themselves be hard to locate.
Nevertheless, KDE and GNOME respectively target different audiences, and are fundamentally different in some respects, and the question of which desktop environment is superior is inherently a subjective opinion in many ways. Because of this, to at least make a proper decision about which is more suited to yourself, it is advised that you try them both out. Thus, it is very easy to install GNOME from a Kubuntu distribution, and equally easy to install KDE from an Ubuntu setup.Comment
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Re: The Ubuntu in kUbuntu
If you want to know the differences between Ubuntu/Kubuntu and Debian and SimplyMepis, then I would recommend doing a few Google searches like kubuntu vs mepis, ubuntu vs debian, etc. Google is your "best friend" to finding answers to questions. You'll find that many people ask the same question, and it is reasonable to want to know the differences. Overall, there aren't that many differences. However, Ubuntu/Kubuntu has a huge community so it has better support, especially important for new people to Linux.Comment
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Re: The Ubuntu in kUbuntu
I' ve also experimented with Mepis way back in its 3.x series when it used to be based on Debian. There was a bit of dodginess about the GPL for starters and the support (except for the newest and most submissive of 'newbs' ) was very condescending and controlling. And not that useful when it came to anything complicated. Now they have switched to ubuntu? what next....version 3 to version 6? maybe they'll switch to a bsd base next evolutionary step, so they can add propietary tools as they insisit on doing? there were free addtl package cds, then theyre werent , now there are? It worked real well in its debian days and was nearly 100 percent deb compatible. But tho, ive (tried) to test their latest to see where theyve gone to, it wasnt worth the effort. A single maintainer is sometimes a bad thing, as well, especially when he seems to be incommunicado and the forums tell you to ask him because they are afraid of saying the wrong thing, or simply cant answer your question.....
then he doesnt answer? this wasnt my experience but the experience of alot of mepis refugees. Such a model works (imo) rather well in Slackware, which is also a virtual one man show.....but Pat Volkerding is quite accessible, and so are other 'dictators for life' and dev teams , like Mark Shuttleworth, (via his blog) the PC BSD team, and nearly anything debian, with their transparency and mailing lists and thousand devs.
Theres far more available resources for buntu distros, and a wider range of expertise, as well as a stable of seasoned developers and a steady release schedule. Mepis seems to fly whichever way the wind blows and - tho popular due to its new user friendliness- is hardly more stable, reliable or community based as ubuntu.
Its now recycled ubuntu, it was recycled debian. Despite popularity contests, many of this fly by night wonders die out .......kanotix, the debian based mepis, and so on. Ubuntu is one of the few new ones that seem to be gaining strength and direction, not losing it. And having a corporation behind it, like the latest iX acquisition on pc bsd tends to mean the distro can continue in spite of personality clashes or the walkout of its beneveolent dictator for life, whoever that may be.
Mepis? give it a miss......unfortunately. Each time ive tried it , i ve been burned and had to switch to something reliable, with solid support.
cheers
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Re: The Ubuntu in kUbuntu
One thing to note is that mepis, though based on Ubuntu's base, does use its own KDE builds as compared to Kubuntu. And it it is not as current as is our distro, they still use KDE 3.5.3 (not necessarily a negative, but kubuntu's quality improves greatly with the addition of 3.5.5/6), and is also Dapper-based (LTS). I much prefer Kubuntu's tweaks, but warren has done his kde setups much longer than Kubuntu has been around. I don't Think our KDE can be considered 'stock' by any means, though like Ubuntu's Gnome it is a little tweak here a little addition there, and so on....Comment
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Re: The Ubuntu in kUbuntu
Depends on how you define 'stock'......for a glimpse of a stock kde isntall see slackware,which strives to leave packages as close to the upstream source as possible. Even Mepis isnt that tweaked in kde, its the additional tools added to theoverall base system, and the choices of which extra kde apps he adds.
Debian , like slack, does little to the standard kde, while kubuntu is one of the more enhanced......including a new version of of kcontrol, the number of tools included.....(no kappfinder as a default install?) and often some of their own themeing .....which is neither right or wrong, just a matter of choice. At least neither kubuntu or mepis go so far as the mandrake 10.1 I used where you had kde tools and drake tools battling for control of your desktop, heh....
cheersComment
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Re: The Ubuntu in kUbuntu
Thanks, I appreciate all the comments and will study the matter more closely. I do hope kUbuntu will prove to be the stable KDE I am looking for.
See you later,Comment
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