Ubuntu vs. Kubuntu

[oldbob]

What are the essential/basic differences between Ubuntu and Kubuntu ?

Not the KDE desktop BUT "what" works on one but not the other.

Example: My PS/2 mouse [plugged into my notebook] works with Ubuntu ver. 5.04 but NOT with ver. 6.06.

[dibl]

Re: Ubuntu vs. Kubuntu

I've been running both Ubuntu and Kubuntu for almost a year now, on the same hardware (which has changed at times). There's very little difference in the hardware domain, to be honest, within the same OS version.

As you point out, there are differences between versions, and within a version between kernels. I'm presently running Kubuntu Gutsy (which means I don't have any justification to expect a lot of stability), and last week the sound system got nuked on the Real Time (-rt) version of the kernel, but not on the -generic version, for example. Your PS/2 mouse might turn out to work again on 7.04 -- later versions tend to support more hardware than earlier versions, although that is far from any kind of universal truth.

But I haven't heard of very many hardware issues that were solved by choosing one of the desktop environments instead of the other. If you follow the postings on the Ubuntu Forum, they're mostly the same issues as show up on this forum.

[taisao]

Re: Ubuntu vs. Kubuntu

My external western digital mybook harddrive automount every time when booting up in ubuntu/gnome but when booting up in kubuntu/kde it sometime automount and sometime not. (it's not really a problem, cause I have a way to solve it) (ubuntu 7.04 with kubuntu-desktop and others kde things)

[oldbob]

Re: Ubuntu vs. Kubuntu

Thanks for responses, guess I'm just trying to limit my "frustrations".

[mivo]

Re: Ubuntu vs. Kubuntu

I speculate that it is a bug in Kubuntu. When I played with the Kubuntu Live CD before installing it, it would sometimes detect my monitor and switch to 1280x1024, and somertimes not, and stay at 1024x768. I'd say the chance that it was detected was about fifty percent. The issue with that is that if you run the installer, it will use the settings that were detected (not the ones you manually changed after starting up the Live CD).

[eriefisher]

Re: Ubuntu vs. Kubuntu

The DE(Gnome/KDE) should have no affect on hardware detection. The underlying system is still the same. The only difference would be the graphical programs you use to configure the hardware.

When comparing version (5.04/6.06) there could be several differences and problems with hardware detection. Newer versions are generally better and may sometimes come with their own sets of problems. You should try to move up to Feisty. It's hardware detection is real good.

eriefisher

[nuahs79]

Re: Ubuntu vs. Kubuntu

I'm new to (K)Ubuntu myself and actually just tried Ubuntu and Kubuntu seperately. I burnt a disc of each distro (both 7.04) and installed them, upgraded them and started plugging in external hardware that i knew that I would be using on a regular basis. A little bit of research on the forums for each distro on the hardware that i had and the problems, if any, that people had with the same. All told, I went with Kubuntu. It detected my external hard drive (NTFS before I formatted and converted it to FAT32), PSP, iPod Video, and USB mem sticks. It also detected my memory card for my camera in the built-in memory card slot on my laptop. All that without a single modification to any configuration files.
Now, the trouble I did have was with the monitor resolution. i searched for a while through the forums but couldn't find a definitive answer. I posted it up asking what I was supposed to do about it and I got two working answers in a short amount of time.
The other problem I had was with my sound card. Since it's built in to the laptop and running on system memory as compared to having a card in a PCI slot, I had trouble with figuring out why I could get sound through my headphones but not my front speakers. It wasn't totally a big deal but I like to play music while I'm putting away clothes and cleaning my room. After some driver downloads and a button click on the Mute/Unmute button and I had sound playing from the front speakers. The way I figured it out, forum search. The knowledge is here, you just have to take the time to look.

Now, those two problems I had with Kubuntu... I didn't have either problem in Ubuntu. So why would I go with the one with those seemingly important problems? Because they were easily rectified. In Ubuntu, my external hard drive wasn't detected and mounted automatically. Same problem with my iPod. It actually took typing in a series of commands in the terminal to get these to work and it was even stated that it may not always work and that other methods may have to be taken to fix it. That just wasn't good for me. My laptop had to be in good working order before I left home and internet connection to travel half way around the world for 4 months and only have the ability to log on to a government computer. I can't link my laptop up to the network lest I have my ass handed to me and charged with tampering with the government network. So you see my predicament and another reason why I went with the most functional system.

I suggest going with what's best for you and what you want to work with. some Kubuntu fans will say Kubuntu is dominent over Ubuntu (boasting KDE being easier to work with than Gnome) and the reverse is true with Ubuntu fans. The rest of us will tell you what I already said. You choose. Play with them. Break them even. It doesn't take long to get either system installed and updated.
I think my testing actually took me a total of 5 hours. To some that might seem like a long time, but to be able to install and update, play with, break, and reinstall another OS and repeat what i did to the last OS in that amount of time is amazing. When I worked as a systems monitor on XP Pro systems, it would take me no less than 8 hours to get a PC up and running. Mind you, that's without getting 3rd party software installed. The updates were rediculous. To have to install SP1 to update to SP2 was stupid. Not to mention the fact that the patches would take roughly and hour or more a piece. But enough complaining about the problem child of the OS world.

Hope my input was helpful.