[SOLVED] Ubuntu User, love KDE....install KDE or install Kubuntu?

[jbaerboc]

I've been mulling this over for a few days now and not sure what to do and what benefits exist with either option. I've been googling articles but none of them paint an exact picture.

Do I just install KDE in my Ubuntu 14.04 LTS installation, or do I install Kubuntu 14.04? I usualy like KDE better than anything else [lots of options i like to tweak] but I hate Unity a bit less this time around. I have my Ubuntu install setup as I like it but it would be easy enough to get the same setup going on a fresh Kubuntu install.

So what would be the pro's / con's of one versus the other? Thanks!

[jbaerboc]

Oh and I have used Kubuntu in the past. I couldn't remember what email address I registered "jbaerbock" under but I'm the same person . I used Kubuntu back in the earlier 2000's [2005-7 i think it was].

[claydoh]

It's your choice, really
You can have both on the same system, so that you can choose which to log in to
You can dual boot, and choose which one to boot to
It is totally up to you. Installing kubuntu-desktop is definitely the easiest route. The only real negative is that you may get a bit of menu item bloat due to all the extra software you have, but I don't think it is terrible by any means.

Separate installs takes more drive space, having to reboot to get to the other desktop, things like that.

[GreyGeek]

As Claydoh says, but, I suspect, that KDE running from a fresh Kubuntu 14.04 install will perform better than KDE added to an Ubuntu tailored to run Unity.

I installed the 32b Ubuntu 14.04 as a guest OS on Virtual Base to see how it looked and ran. I was surprised by how much less power as a desktop it has, compared to KDE 4.12. Dolphin, for example, blows Nautilus out of the water, IMO. Nothing beats K3B, or even matches it. But, if Unity is easy for you to use to do all that you want a desktop to do then why bother installing KDE? Try Kubuntu 14.04 as a guest OS. If you feel that Unity is lacking, and blocks the user from its power (as I feel it does) then why not replace Ubuntu with Kubuntu?

[jbaerboc]

Thanks Grey that's good advice! I do feel Unity restricts.

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[jbaerboc]

Well I am typing this from Kubuntu 14.04 fresh install. Thanks guys for your help!

[r_avital]

Installing kubuntu-desktop is definitely the easiest route. The only real negative is that you may get a bit of menu item bloat due to all the extra software you have, but I don't think it is terrible by any means.

Thanks, pretty much what I wanted to know. I have years invested in my gnome desktop, currently on 13.04, warmed up to Unity, but I am now done with their UI pontificators shoving irreversible changes down my throat because they think it's funny. Now that the LTS is out, I'll upgrade to it, and go to the Kubuntu desktop without having to reinstall all my apps and files again.

Three question, if you don't mind:

1. I see both kubuntu-full and kubuntu-desktop packages in my Synaptic -- what are the differences, pros/cons of one vs. the other and such? Marking kubuntu-full in Synaptic also marks kubuntu-desktop, but not the other way around, and the descriptions for these two don't address that difference.

2. The Kubuntu "activities" screens, metaphor, whatever it is -- when I experimented with Kubuntu about a year ago, it confused me. Can you point me to some document or source that explains what it is, what it contributes to the UI, efficient uses and so forth?

3. Regarding that menu-item bloat you mentioned, am I correct to expect most of it to go away if I later uninstall/purge gnome/unity/MATE and so on?

Many thanks!

[Snowhog]

kubuntu-full:

This package depends on all of the packages in the Kubuntu DVD for a very complete system. Installing this package will include much more than the default Kubuntu Plasma Desktop or Netbook installation.

kubuntu-desktop:

This package depends on all of the packages in the Kubuntu desktop system. Installing this package will include the default Kubuntu Plasma Desktop or Netbook installation.

[claydoh]

As to Activities, those have not really changed much in the last year, and there still is no really good (imho) how-to's or useful info on it, though once played with, is not really hard to manage. I'll look to see if there is anything new out there.

If you like and use good old-fashioned virtual desktops, those are still there, and work like they do elsewhere. Activities are at the heart really a grouping of these virtual desktops. Since KDE has different "layouts" of desktop, ie the standard default type, the "classic" icons and files/folders on the desktop, the netbook search-and-launch, as well as a few others, you can create activities using these different types for each one, have specific applications open when the activity is activated, etc. I use them on occasion, but don't use virtual desktops at all. I use the Activity feature to set a mood if you will, for whatever task I am doing. The ability to turn them on and off (as opposed to simply switching between them) at will is very helpful for me and my aging laptop.

On to menu bloat, simply getting rid of the unity-desktop package will not get rid of the actual desktop by itself. You likely will have to investigate what you need to uninstall to actually do that, and this probably will not include all the actual individual programs, so do expect some duplicate tools in your menus. I don't think it will be horrible in any case.

[r_avital]

Thank you both!

[r_avital]

Thanks, Teunis,

I'm definitely comfortable with Synaptic. I see the value in Muon-discoverer, so that will definitely be installed when I finally do this on my production machine.

Never thought of doing the minimalistic install of just the plasma desktop, that's a good idea, thanks. Given that I already have a good complement of apps on the system, this could help me save space.

I've also been using KDE apps/utilities on Gnome for years, that I prefer to their gnome counterparts (dolphin, konsole, kfind, k3b, kgpg).

One question. Eventually, I will probably want lightdm-kde and not the default gnome lightdm at startup. I expect I'll have to run dpkg-reconfigure to amek that happen. Will the installation of just kde-plasma-desktop include the necessary packages for that, to your knowledge?

Thanks!