Kubuntu 9.10 will be

[Rog131]

...Karmic Koala, more can be found > Introducing the Karmic Koala, our mascot for Ubuntu 9.10

[EnthusOcn]

Re: Kubuntu 9.10 will be

...Karmic Koala

Karmic Koala Kubuntu... Does that make this the KKK release of the *Ubuntu distributions?

[Rog131]

Re: Kubuntu 9.10 will be

KKK


> Kubuntu Karmic Release Schedule


Rumors/News

> Plymouth To Replace USplash In Ubuntu?
with the Jaunty > Anyone using the Plymouth PPA?

[neobuntu]

Re: Kubuntu 9.10 will be

No, KKK nor race is an issue with naming of Kubuntu. It's past time for the babies and bad apples of the Internet to grow up! For all we know, such sentiment could be propagated by Microsoft evangelists.

Kubuntu is the leading light of alternative operating systems (and open software). The long dark night is nearing it's end. If we can only grasp the necessity to encourage the (about) 75% of the total population that are NOT technical; with what they THINK they want and combined with the heart of Kubuntu (and/or the like), then and only then will we reach over 50% of all computer users and bring us out of the troublesome, computer-unfriendly dark ages. No longer fettered by the likes of lock-in strategies, crapware, THEIR "digital rights", high prices, and closed, unknown software routines.

[Snowhog]

Re: Kubuntu 9.10 will be

It's past time for the babies and bad apples of the Internet to grow up! For all we know, such sentiment could be propagated by Microsoft evangelists.

neobuntu@

You are new to KFN - only 5 posts - so, please, be thoughtful when replying to 'rye humor.' The reference to Kubuntu Karmic Koala and the racists KKK organization was a 'pun' - a play on the initials, nothing more. To imply otherwise is offensive to me, and I'm sure, to EnthusOcn and Rog131. To also imply that they could be Microsoft evangelists is also way off the mark.

(Mild) scolding done.

[josefko]

Re: Kubuntu 9.10 will be

@neobuntu: I am not so optimistic as you are. I have at home one of your 75%, my wife, which uses Kubuntu Jaunty everyday for several months. You cannot imagine what problems she had to solve with my help:
- for character @ there is another shortcut in Linux than in Windows
- content of clipboard dissapears when you shut source before paste
- Kmail defaults are not the same as in Outlook Express, new part of a message is at the end instead of at the beginning of the message.
- OO Writer DOC loses page formatting.
- Almost every option in OO Writer is on slightly different place than in Word
- Gwenview, DigiKam and GIMP are not her favourite Irfanview
- Webcam driver needs to compile (and again with every kernel update)
- Scanner doesn't work at all
- etc.
Each problem seems to be a reason to change operating system back to Windows. She didn't have problems with Windows because I took care of it. Now, most often I hear a question: "Why should I learn something new, when I am used to something for many years."

We solved all problems but I cannot imagine "75% of the total population" solving this without any help of administrators and I don't see any around.

[Snowhog]

Re: Kubuntu 9.10 will be

- Kmail defaults are not the same as in Outlook Express, new part of a message is at the end instead of at the beginning of the message.

That's an easy one to fix. See KMail / Kontact Minor annoyance #2 - Reply - *Solved* Read the thread. All that is required is to change the kmail template, and it is easy to do.

[josefko]

Re: Kubuntu 9.10 will be

Thank you Snowhog, but

We solved all problems

I deliberately chose problems, which are simple for us, but huge ones for 75%.

[Snowhog]

Re: Kubuntu 9.10 will be

Information is comprised of organized pieces of data, else it is just that - data. When organized, it becomes information, and when cross-referenced and linked, it becomes powerful information.

While you may have 'solved all problems,' others viewing this thread, and seeing the Kmail observation, may not have figured it out, so this provides another link to the solution.

[GreyGeek]

Re: Kubuntu 9.10 will be

@neobuntu: I am not so optimistic as you are. I have at home one of your 75%, my wife, which uses Kubuntu Jaunty everyday for several months. You cannot imagine what problems she had to solve with my help:
- for character @ there is another shortcut in Linux than in Windows

Linux is NOT Windows.

- content of clipboard dissapears when you shut source before paste

Not on my installation.

- Kmail defaults are not the same as in Outlook Express, new part of a message is at the end instead of at the beginning of the message.
- OO Writer DOC loses page formatting.
- Almost every option in OO Writer is on slightly different place than in Word

Kmail is not Outlook or Evolution.

OO is not Word.

- Gwenview, DigiKam and GIMP are not her favourite Irfanview

To each her own. Preconditioning and old habits are sometimes impossible to break. That isn't the fault of the software.

- Webcam driver needs to compile (and again with every kernel update)
- Scanner doesn't work at all
- etc.

Strange as it may seem, not every piece of hardware "just works" with Linux. You might be surprised to realize that not every piece of hardware works with Windows, either. When folks switched to VISTA from XP many found they had to buy NEW hardware, which is why many did not switch. VISTA didn't work well on older PCs, and many folks lost component functionality. PC OEMs have been sued, along with Microsoft, for their "VISTA Ready!" campaign, which was merely a dodge to get folks to buy old, VISTA incompatible hardware that had VISTA pre-installed on it.

Each problem seems to be a reason to change operating system back to Windows. She didn't have problems with Windows because I took care of it. Now, most often I hear a question: "Why should I learn something new, when I am used to something for many years."

That depends entirely on what you are willing to put up with. No OS or application is perfect, and peripheral issues add complexities to your decision. Have you read the entire MS EULA lately? Are you comfortable with the lax security model that Windows gives you, i.e., do you trust your personal financial information with it? Are you comfortable being told what you can do and NOT do with a computer you bought and paid for and believe you own and over which you believe you have complete control?

You may not be aware of all the dirty tricks Microsoft employs to keep barriers to Linux and other operating systems as high as possible. They began years ago by convincing some peripheral makers (modems and printers) to remove the CPU and control software from their printers and "let" Windows control the devices. Some OEMs took them up on it because they could make more profits. The net result was that Linux developers had to green room reverse engineer the hardware in order to write drivers for it. Every time the OEM comes out with a new model they have to repeat the reverse engineering, while Microsoft gets a free ride because they are given complete internal data to the devices, which makes writing Windows drivers for those devices MUCH easier. Despite that, Linux now runs on more hardware platforms and with more hardware than Windows does. Linux retains support for older equipment while Microsoft does not. So, your time invested in getting Linux running on older hardware gives you a greater ROI for that hardware.

We solved all problems but I cannot imagine "75% of the total population" solving this without any help of administrators and I don't see any around.

That because most people using Kubuntu Jaunty DON'T have the problems you mention. As far as "administrators" are concerned you found a GOODLY NUMBER of WELL TALENTED Linux administrators here, at the KubuntuForum, IF you took advantage of their volunteer service. And none of them have asked for your CC info or sent you a bill for services.

[suplero]

Re: Kubuntu 9.10 will be

I find the whole attitude of some of these threads a little bit discouraging.

I have been keeping up with *ubuntu and find it to be a well thought out and put together system, and yes, there are quirks here and there, but I think information like josefko provided is quite useful.

Instead of having a flame war, maybe a more thoughtful discussion might be extremely helpful.

the goal for me is to get away from being locked into proprietary software - along with other freedoms - but I feel the majority of users could benefit from improvements like this.

For example, my gripes with 9.10 and earlier, are:

plasma clock cannot be kept on top of other applications. there was a solution to start the plasmoid from the command prompt, but when I did that, the area of the plasmoid was always a square - and the border not occupied by the clock was the very gaudy black and white "invisible" background. Yeah, I couldn't stand that. I have no idea how hard it is to code the "always on top" feature, but since so many applications do it, it must be a pretty well developed function by now.

Taskbar positions become random again in 9.10. In 8.10 I thought this was fixed by selecting the option of "manual" or "do not sort" but once again, whenever I change desktops all of the positions change. I like to switch desktops, but if it takes me a substantial amount of time to relocate all of my applications when I come back, it make me reluctant to switch, and therefore removes the benefit of the multiple desktops. I was hoping there would be discussion on this too, but can't find any.

The reason for the lack of discussion might be the exact same attitude exhibited here. I don't know if there is a solution in the works, so I am reluctant to bring things up. Also, getting flamed for a problem that only I have is not something that I look forward to.

Also, I have been working with alpha releases since 8.04, and it still is hard for me to find where to contact the developers.

I just read a thread, I can't remember which one, about "the developers rarely visit the forum" which sort of baffled me. I don't know if the forum is officially connected with the kubuntu team, but if not, I would hope there would be some very prominent post saying so, and how to contact the developers.

Things can't get fixed if the team doesn't know about them.

I also found the brainstorm and wiki sites, but I feel [maybe incorrectly] that my little problems don't really belong there. So, where should regular non-geeks go to provide feedback?

Ubuntu has always been positioned as the distro for regular users, yet it still takes a lot of admin work to get it completely usable.

For me personally, keyboard shortcuts should be consistent. Even though linux is not windows, the shortcuts for major things should be consistent. I don't know where the @ symbol is in the list, but if there is a shortcut for it in an application type - spreadsheet, word processor, graphics - these are not exclusively windows things, they are operational enhancements. Linux should try to make it transparent to the user.

I'm hoping that once Linux provides a 'near perfect' user experience, the stranglehold on the vendors will be broken, and a better experience will develop for everyone.

Also, since working with customer service, I have found that the majority of people will spontaneously provide two different types of information to friends, relatives and even strangers:

1) if something just wows them

2) if something is broken, or just doesn't work right.

Just meeting the status quo is an unremarkable situation. If it works, people don't care to talk about it.

Unfortunately, broken means that it doesn't work like they expect [not necessarily "used to"] and there tends to be a lot of that. So, I feel it will take a lot of work to make GNU/Linux "bulletproof" in that sense. Even if it doesn't work on just one computer - that is a huge hit in perception [like the 75%] and will keep adoption on the low end.

Sorry for the long rant, but I would really like a better, and more comfortable, connection between the users and the developers. It's great that the forum is here to help, but really if the developers never hear about it [by posting to the wrong place, or being afraid to post to the correct place] then progress will stall.

I also look at it this way. When starting something major, the problems reported will be major. The project has matured when the reported problems become minor. this doesn't mean the problems can be ignored, but it shows the level of progress.

The fact that I only have cosmetic problems with the alpha in 9.10 is a major accomplishment, but those cosmetics can be a no-go for some people.

[skunk]

Re: Kubuntu 9.10 will be

I've found that huge amounts of time can be saved by searching here
https://bugs.kde.org/
to see if something is genuinely broken in the distro or local to my installation

[stevek]

Re: Kubuntu 9.10 will be

I've found that huge amounts of time can be saved by searching here
https://bugs.kde.org/
to see if something is genuinely broken in the distro or local to my installation

Indeed! And remember to cast your vote. I recently discovered a bug and searched to find it already reported some months previously. I added my vote to bump it and within literally hours, one of the dev's created a patch that was subsequently incorporated into the next KDE release and backported to Kubuntu very quickly after. For me that was a very positive result

[russlar]

Re: Kubuntu 9.10 will be

I love the smell of astroturf in the morning...

[stevek]

Re: Kubuntu 9.10 will be

Was that directed at my post?
http://forum.kde.org/viewtopic.php?f=66&t=62518
https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=167138