Will Kubuntu meet my basic requirements?

[Macroshaft]

Hi

I moved to linux just recently after finding out that Bull Goats himself uses Firefox which led me to linux. I tried Ubuntu and found I had some problems with it, (most probably because I had no idea what to do, becuase windows didn't teach me much about computers).

Then just recently I found out about KDE 3.5.1 and that is exactly what I'm looking for. It looks slick as *uck, and I am prepared to educate myself to make this work for me. Review sites all seem to say Ubuntu is the best (give or take a few opinions), so I decided to get Kubuntu. I have a few questions though, before I get going with Kubuntu, thanks in advance for helping me out, I hope these questions aren't too difficult to answer. I must say that I have knowledge of command line, and know practically nothing about linux.

1. Will I be able to play MP3s without having to mess about getting things running? When I had Ubuntu 5.04 I couldn't even play MP3s without having to some next level tech work (well that what it looks like to me, but something I might get into later on).

2. Will I be able to watch DVDs easily?

3. Will I be able to use windows applications? I heard about the Xandros distribution and tried it out once, for the "Crossover Wine", but that has limited license of 30 days, which isn't my cup of tea exactly. I want to be able to install windows media player, (so that I can still use my sony erricson phone as a bluetooth remote control).

3. Will a bluetooth dongle work?

3. Will I be able to open rar files?

4. Is it easy to add/remove programs?

5. Will I be able to adjust the screen resolution to 1280 X 1024? Thisis becuase I have a widescreen laptop.

6. Is there a linux equivalent of "Microsoft ClearType for Laptops" available in Kubuntu, so that my screen is still as sharp as it would have been with Windows.

Again thanks in advance for helping me out. (Sorry for the long post though, its just how I am...)

[GreatBunzinni]

Re: Will Kubuntu meet my basic requirements?

Hi

I moved to linux just recently after finding out that Bull Goats himself uses Firefox which led me to linux. I tried Ubuntu and found I had some problems with it, (most probably because I had no idea what to do, becuase windows didn't teach me much about computers).

Hi there.

I'll try to answer your questions as best as I can. Let's hope that you will find my answers satisfactory.

1. Will I be able to play MP3s without having to mess about getting things running? When I had Ubuntu 5.04 I couldn't even play MP3s without having to some next level tech work (well that what it looks like to me, but something I might get into later on).

Well, yes and no.

The problem with mp3 is not technical but legal. The thing is, there is a company called Thomson Consumer Electronics who holds software patents in which the MP3 technology is based. The result is that if someone wishes to release software which handles MP3 (playback and encoding) then it better buy a license from Thomson (thanks to software patents). Well, those licenses cost money and money doesn't grow on trees, specially in free software projects like kubuntu. So, to avoid the unnecessary and considerable expense of getting a MP3 license, free software distros like Kubuntu opted out.

Nonetheless, although the mp3 software isn't installed automatically, it is very easy to install whatever you need to playback MP3 files. On the other hand, why should you? As a user, why would you contribute to that problem and, to some extent, hold the free software distros hostage ? You can easily use Ogg Vorbis, which is a better format than MP3 and it is completely free software.

2. Will I be able to watch DVDs easily?

Well, yes and no.

The problem with DVDs is somewhat similar to the MP3 problem. Instead of being a technical problem, the problem is the imposition of artificial barriers by the content providers. The thing is, if you buy a DVD chances are that the distributor encrypted the disk's content with something called Content-Scrambling System (CSS for short). To make matters worse, the unscrambling bit wasn't made available to free software projects, which leaves free distros completely screwed. But fortunately there was a kind and brave soul which goes by the name of Jon Johansen who reverse engineered the DVD's encryption system and released a piece of software called DeCSS which takes care of that problem. Kudos for Jon

So if you wish to play DVDs under linux you need to install DeCSS and you are good to go.

3. Will I be able to use windows applications? I heard about the Xandros distribution and tried it out once, for the "Crossover Wine", but that has limited license of 30 days, which isn't my cup of tea exactly. I want to be able to install windows media player, (so that I can still use my sony erricson phone as a bluetooth remote control).

It is possible to use windows applications under linux. There's the famous WINE project, which can run some windows applications better than windows but I don't know if it runs WMP.

Still, the best solution is to find native linux applications that does the job you wish to do and use it.

4. Will a bluetooth dongle work?

That isn't exactly a linux question. It is more of a hardware manufacturer question. Does the company that made the bluetooth dongle supports that product under linux?

5. Will I be able to open rar files?

Well, the problem with RAR files is exactly the same as the MP3 problem. Yet, this one is less problematic because the company behind RAR ships a linux rar application. You can download it from their site, if you want.

6. Is it easy to add/remove programs?

It depends of how it was installed and what method was adopted. If you installed it through a .DEB package, then I have the pleasure to inform you that linux handles software installation much better and easier than windows. You just need to click on that file and voilá: application installed. If that wasn't enough, there are quite a few online software repositories and tools like Adept that enable you to search a list of available packages and install any of those listed with just a few clicks of a mouse.

7. Will I be able to adjust the screen resolution to 1280 X 1024? Thisis becuase I have a widescreen laptop.

I believe that it won't be a problem. You may experience some trouble if your video card handles hardware acceleration and you wish to install the drivers. Maybe you will need to edit a text file yourself but that isn't a big problem anyway.

8. Is there a linux equivalent of "Microsoft ClearType for Laptops" available in Kubuntu, so that my screen is still as sharp as it would have been with Windows.

I never used ClearType and therefore I can't talk about that.


Well, there you go. I hope that you find my answers useful.

[mchuskie]

Re: Will Kubuntu meet my basic requirements?

3. Will I be able to use windows applications? I heard about the Xandros distribution and tried it out once, for the "Crossover Wine", but that has limited license of 30 days, which isn't my cup of tea exactly. I want to be able to install windows media player, (so that I can still use my sony erricson phone as a bluetooth remote control).

3. Will a bluetooth dongle work?

I have a Belkin Bluetooth dongle which does indeed "work" - though to get the same sort of functionality as in Windows, it looks like it will take some "fiddling", which I haven't tried to do yet. Things like OBEX (file transfer) work fine.

I don't know if WMP will work with WINE; and even if it does, chances are setting up a Bluetooth connection with it will be very difficult. amaroK is a good music player; and if you have an old disused remote control, a soldering iron, and a few components you can make your own IR receiver that can control it (Google for LIRC).

In terms of other such apps... OpenOffice (which is also available for Mac and Windows) can open/save MS Office files with no problems in 99% of cases (but then, I'm fairly sure MS trips over its own files sometimes). It does, of course, also save things in a better (OpenDocument XML) format...

6. Is there a linux equivalent of "Microsoft ClearType for Laptops" available in Kubuntu, so that my screen is still as sharp as it would have been with Windows.

I have a TFT, so I guess the issue is the same... I always found that Windows ClearType brought Windows fonts looking closer to Linux default ones. And it's very easy to change the settings if you're not happy.

Finally, a few words on the Windows/Linux switchover... well done, you've made the right choice! You're right when you say Windows teaches you nothing about computers. Linux, on the other hand, does! You'll find plenty of things where you'd know exactly how to do something in Windows, but are stumped in Linux; it's a case of getting to know the system. Do come back and post here if you have any more problems, we're here to help!

[nevaziah]

Re: Will Kubuntu meet my basic requirements?

see, now this is the kind of support I love from a software "group". this kind of help would take months to get with microsoft, especially such clear and precise information.

I am switching to KUBUNTU soon and will start changing ALL programs I use to Linux counterparts that use the formats.doc.zip.mp3.avi.mpg.jpg etc.....(provided in can still transfer the formats to work, or buddies computers).

[dibl]

Re: Will Kubuntu meet my basic requirements?

Wine is pretty good, but not perfect, for running Windows apps. It won't run a big Visual FoxPro database that I have, for example. I bought a proprietary Linux app named "Win4Lin", which works for my purpose, but it is not bug free, and Windows apps run slower in a Linux session than they do on a native Windows platform. You would be wise to experiment on a spare hard drive, and make sure you are going to get the results you need, before you do anything irreversible.

[nevaziah]

Re: Will Kubuntu meet my basic requirements?

define irreversible....

[marshallbanana]

Re: Will Kubuntu meet my basic requirements?

1. Will I be able to play MP3s

The first time you try to play mp3s in Amarok (the default music player in kubuntu) it will tell you that to do so it will need to download some files, just click yes, it will get and install the necessary files, and 2 min later you're playing mp3s.

3. Will a bluetooth dongle work?

Check for your device in http://doc.gwos.org/index.php/HCL. If its not there just google for "*your device name* linux drivers" and you should find the answer pretty quick.
Also your sony ericson can be used as a bluetooth remote in linux, the following link should give you a starting point http://stefans.datenbruch.de/k750i/remote.shtml, from the sounds of things it should work without any setting up required.

4. Is it easy to add/remove programs?

For 95% of applications its as easy as selecting it in the list and click install/uninstall. For everything else a bit of looking around the net and assistance from these forums will get it done without to much trouble.

[dibl]

Re: Will Kubuntu meet my basic requirements?

nev -- "irreversible" = what this guy did:

http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3080507.0

:P

[nevaziah]

Re: Will Kubuntu meet my basic requirements?

come on.. that has already happened to me about 4 or 5 years ago. havent made that mistake since.
you know? converting FAT16 to FAT32. then converting FAT32 to NFTS? remember those days? wrong selection and it FORMATS into the new format?...

anyways, i have an old 4gb HDD that i am experimenting with, nothing important on it. I am saving my 250 GB maxtor for when i get the hang of it. I'll plug it in as a database for now.

So far I have installed KUBUNTU 6.06. looks VERY promising. VERY SLOW because my hdd only 4 gb and half of it is the OS. then again, it's the oldest IDE. it was even SLOWER with windows on it, so there's an improvement already.

[dibl]

Re: Will Kubuntu meet my basic requirements?

That is a VERY good plan!

Now, you will need to install all 2,000 Kubuntu packages on that remaining drive space, and make sure you know how to use them correctly.



( joking ... joking!)

Probably you only need to make sure that any Windows apps that you really MUST have work with Wine -- many do, but not all. Plan on a few hours to get the hang of Wine -- there are forums and e-mail lists if you need help. Another potential challenge is what I call "little USB devices" -- memory card readers, cell phones, webcams, and so on. Linux is still kind of sneaking up on "plug 'n play", when it comes to USB devices, and some of them can be quite difficult to master.

Good luck with it!

[nevaziah]

Re: Will Kubuntu meet my basic requirements?

dont you ever do that to me again!!! >

I almost passed out when i saw that number 2000 packages.

so far, plug and play for the "MAJOR" stuff works. ill try wiht my flash drive and my usb hub.

[fleamailman]

Re: Will Kubuntu meet my basic requirements?

two ideas but I now see that I am too late, perhaps for someone else then,
- try the bootable cd of kubuntu to see if you like it and if drivers are missing,
- go for dual boot since there is no need to dump windows just because kubuntu is better since one can use the two systems for their strong points while avoiding their downsides, for example I do all my internet and office work on kubuntu because XP is so malware prone that the continuing cost becomes prohibitive, whereas when I want to play a game I switch back to XP, truth is I am still new to kubuntu but since I installed it I would say that say that it is an easier system to deal with becoming my main system now even if finding drivers and playing games is its weakness,

[nevaziah]

Re: Will Kubuntu meet my basic requirements?

I'll be very honest, as soon as I get the basic coding down for linux for updates or driver installations. Windows is going out the window.

[kubicle]

Re: Will Kubuntu meet my basic requirements?

I almost passed out when i saw that number 2000 packages.

If you enable universe/multiverse, you'll have 20,000 packages at your disposal :P

(Of course not every package is an individual sofware package, but still)

[nevaziah]

Re: Will Kubuntu meet my basic requirements?

hehe, buddy told me linux I now have 32 GB of programs/upgrades/driver at my disposal. FInaly that 250GB Maxtor's gonna come in really handy....

By the way, I ditched Kubuntu for Ubuntu at the counsel of my friend. Soon i will try x64 ubuntu. Is there a performance increase from 32bit to 64bit ubuntu?