Just need a few more answers

[danzer]

I will finally take the plunge into the linux world from the constant nagging of my fedora user friend. So after much googling and researching I've settled on Kubuntu. I like the KDE desktop, the good recommendations from many sites, an easy to use distro that my wife will be okay with, the documentation and also my fedora friend first used ubuntu, so I have support a call away.
But here are some of my questions, as I'm getting ready to set up my machine to dual boot with windows.
1. I guess my timing couldn't be any better. I see that Fiesty was a good distro then all these mixed feelings with Gutsy, but Hardy is due out soon, so should I wait and install Hardy. I'm in no big rush that I have to do it now. Also any extra advantages with Hardy over Gutsy? Is there a big improvement? There is not much info about Hardy.
2. Kde4 or Kde3? I know KDE3 will be more stable and kde4 will be a huge learning curve that I might not be ready for. I'm hoping to make linux my main desktop and was wondering if all kde3 programs will work in kde4. I see some threads, where people can't wait for programs to be coded for kde4.
3. I have an intel machine, but will my matrox 750 video card behave in Kubuntu. Please give me good news here
I've read alot on this forum and dare I say the ubuntu forum, so I should be ready to take the plunge, I just need a little push.
Thanks for this great forum, nice community you have here.

[danzer]

Re: Just need a few more answers

Oh I guess I should mention that I did try out the Gutsy Live CD, on my system, and the modem, wireless keyboard and mouse all worked. My screen was a beautiful blue, but the resolution was off, but no biggie so the video card worked without a driver install.
Thanks

[Monster_user]

Re: Just need a few more answers

1. I guess my timing couldn't be any better. Also any extra advantages with Hardy over Gutsy? Is there a big improvement? There is not much info about Hardy.

I would wait and install Hardy. The Ubuntu version of Hardy will be an LTS, which means 3 years of support.

Right now, the only reason to install Gutsy, is that most of the users are experienced with Gutsy, and can help you with any problems you may have.

2. Kde4 or Kde3?

KDE 3.5.x is the better option as it is a mature Desktop. With KDE 4 everything has been rewritten from the ground up, so the code is still new, and in many areas lacking. KDE4 may be less capable, slower, even more unstable than KDE 3.5.x.

As for cross compatibility, that is nothing to worry about. In Linux, you can run multiple "Environments" at the same time, it just takes more RAM. You can run KDE3 apps under KDE4, without any trouble, because they will be running in a KDE3 environment. If you've ever used The Mac Classic apps in OSX, then its sort of like that...

3. I have an intel machine, but will my matrox 750 video card behave in Kubuntu. Please give me good news here

Especially since your Video card is a Matrox card, I recommend you stick to KDE3. KDE4 has a lot of compositing issues, and I don't know how well it will work on your card.

KDE3 will work perfectly fine however. As you have already seen from the Live CD.

[Teunis]

Re: Just need a few more answers

As you plan dual booting with Windows and Linux I see no reason not to start right now!
Feisty might not be a LTS but works beautifully, there have been different issues with Gutsy but when a live CD works you should be fine anyway.
It is right now the most used version and as such you can expect best support at places like this or the Usenet forum alt.os.linux.ubuntu. (it is an unmoderated forum so please ignore the trolls)

By starting right away you do not incur any cost except some time on the learning curve, something many people enjoy anyway.
Would in a month or two the next version Hardy reach a stable point you can easily upgrade or, better, reinstall.

When setting the computer up with a separate /home partition you don't have to erase or overwrite it in case of a reinstall.
Personally I prefer a separate /boot with one large / (root), that way I don't waste disk space.
I just back up the /home folder to an external USB drive when I'm about to reinstall.

Providing you don't have exotic hard ware a *ubuntu install only takes some 20-30 minutes, a magnitude better than the less robust systems that are mainly known as virus hosts

When starting with Linux, be it *ubuntu or any other distro you better be prepared for a reinstall at some point as this technology is continuously being improved.
You can save yourself a lot of time when keeping a little notebook to scribble down things like your disk partitioning plan and solutions you found to issues that are bound to arise, that way you don't have to reinvent the wheel during a next install plus you might make another valuable contributor to places like this one! 8)

[marshallbanana]

Re: Just need a few more answers

I would say that if you plan to wait for hardy then you should use kde4. While there are some arguments to be made that kde3.5.9 is currently still ahead the few gaps are closing at an incredibly rapid pace and kde4 will soon leap ahead (it already is way ahead in a number of areas). It just seems a little silly to familiarise yourself with 3.5 when its almost complete replacement by 4 is likely to happen by the middle of the year with the release of 4.1. Personally I actually am still on 3.5 but will be making my move to 4 with Hardy.
Although Monster_user mentions something about possible Maxtor related kde4 issues so if these are real then maybe 3 would be the go.

I would wait and install Hardy. The Ubuntu version of Hardy will be an LTS, which means 3 years of support.

Although kubuntu 8.04 (hardy) will not be LTS as there are instead both the kde3.5.9 & kde4 versions.

[danzer]

Re: Just need a few more answers

I've got to figure out how to use the quote feature one of these days.
Thanks for the reply guys.

@ Monster_user, will I ever be able to run Kde4 with my matrox card? Is it a driver issue or is the video card just one of those things that won't work right under linux. I was hoping to enjoy compiz-fusion, that youtube video rocked, but I won't be dissapointed if I can't get that to go.

@ Teunis, I knew I have to deal with that /root /home partition thingy. I'm slowly understanding how the file system works in linux, and I pretty much understand "mounting" USB and harddrives and the fstab, but here's another question I have with this separate /home partition.
What settings are saved in my home directory? Do programs install in my home directory? And don't I have to reinstall all programs all over again for it to work with the reinstall / new install. Can I do this... back up my home directory, go to another computer with Kubuntu on it, copy my home directory onto it, and then magically login and have everything I had in the first computer on the second computer?

Ha, a little notebook. You should also see my bookmarks list for all the useful things I've found here and other places. I was getting kind of worried a little while back as some simple things required alot of work to get working, but some other things just required a little tweak.

But I'm still sorting out and backing up my windows stuff, and I'm going to be busy in the next week, but I still might try a gutsy install and fool around with it and if something goes wrong I can always fall back on the virus host.

@ marshallbanana thanks another vote for kde4, just like the other thread on this site. Kde4 gets alot of votes because of all the hard work and extra overtime it's getting for the next release. It looks like everyday it getting more useable, so maybe in a month this might becaome a no brainer of an issue. If my video card can behave.

Thanks

[lowey23]

Re: Just need a few more answers

G'day, Danzer.

I would wait for the final release of Hardy and download and try the live CD. As has already been stated, this will give you a great idea wether it will work on your system or not. If it does, it is no trouble to install, if it doesn't, you haven't broken anything

Just my 2c.