New to Kubuntu, and some questions

[Meister]

I've recently made the move over to using Kubuntu from Ubuntu, and I've had some questions.

I set up Kmail to work with my Gmail account, everything seemed to work fine. My issue is that everytime I open up the program, Kmail marks all the messages in my mailbox as unread, and I have to go through each one and read it to mark it as unread again. This can be very frustrating since I have over 200 messages in my mailbox.

Also, since I've come from using Gnome, I'm very used to their package manager, which I'm sure I could still use since to get Kubuntu I did an install of the kubuntu-desktop, and I can access GNOME's package manager from KDE. I would prefer to use KDE's Kpackagekit. I'm just confused about how it works, I search for say, Gimp. What I get is a bunch of plugin's, and this package, and that package for Gimp. Which is fine, but there is no Gimp the actual program in sight. I know in Gnome's, it would be right at the top, and it would show you had it installed or not already, etc. What am I missing? It seems no matter what I search for, I only get the extras and not the actual program to download.

Lastly, this isn't a huge issue, but KDE doesn't give me the option to shut down, or restart my computer. Only to log off. Could this be because I installed Kubuntu with Ubuntu, and I choose to keep the Gnome log on screen? If so, is there a way to let me shut down without having to log off, then shut down?

Thanks for your time!

[GreyGeek]

Re: New to Kubuntu, and some questions

I've recently made the move over to using Kubuntu from Ubuntu, and I've had some questions.

I set up Kmail to work with my Gmail account, everything seemed to work fine. My issue is that everytime I open up the program, Kmail marks all the messages in my mailbox as unread, and I have to go through each one and read it to mark it as unread again. This can be very frustrating since I have over 200 messages in my mailbox.

Can't help you with KMail. It doesn't give me that problem and I don't see any settings which control the read status of messages. There are options in the edit menu to select all messages and mark them read.

Also, since I've come from using Gnome, I'm very used to their package manager, which I'm sure I could still use since to get Kubuntu I did an install of the kubuntu-desktop, and I can access GNOME's package manager from KDE. I would prefer to use KDE's Kpackagekit. I'm just confused about how it works, I search for say, Gimp. What I get is a bunch of plugin's, and this package, and that package for Gimp. Which is fine, but there is no Gimp the actual program in sight. I know in Gnome's, it would be right at the top, and it would show you had it installed or not already, etc. What am I missing? It seems no matter what I search for, I only get the extras and not the actual program to download.

KPackagekit is a work in progress. Even if it weren't, a LOT of people, me included, like the way Synaptic works better than Kpackagekit.

Lastly, this isn't a huge issue, but KDE doesn't give me the option to shut down, or restart my computer. Only to log off. Could this be because I installed Kubuntu with Ubuntu, and I choose to keep the Gnome log on screen? If so, is there a way to let me shut down without having to log off, then shut down?

Thanks for your time!

Sure. There is the "Leave" command on the first level "KGear" menu. It shows a second level menu option which has both Session and System commands. The latter includes "sleep", "hibernate", "restart computer" and "Shut Down".

And, those options are available via the "Add Widgets" option. If you open the Widgets dialog from the desktop any widgets you add will appear on the desktop. If you open the widgets dialog from the panel any widgets you add will appear on the panel. I add the "Lock" & "Leave" widget to the panel, on the extreme right side.

[Meister]

Re: New to Kubuntu, and some questions

Thanks for your reply, my only question is regarding the shutdown. I've looked at the options from the K menu, and I have all the options, minus the restart and shutdown. Which is why I was curious about it. There also isn't an available widget to shutdown or restart, at least not one that comes with Kubuntu.

[Fintan]

Re: New to Kubuntu, and some questions

Could this be because I installed Kubuntu with Ubuntu, and I choose to keep the Gnome log on screen?

I am pretty sure that is at the heart of your issue.

How about restoring

/etc/X11/default-display-manager

to

/usr/bin/kdm

and rebooting.

You could also just reinstall kdm:

sudo apt-get install --reinstall kdm

then choose kdm as your login manager

I agree with GG. synaptic is definitely superior to Kpackagekit.

As for Kmail / Kontact, can't help you there. I don't have that issue at all.
Did you import mails / settings from evolution? Did something get corrupted?

You could try remaming /hoem/username/.ke/share/config/kmailrc
and
/home/username/.kde/share/apps/kmail

and then restarting kontact.

You will have to rebuild your connections and identities but it may work.
Especially if you keep your mails on your server!!! (If not set that first before renaming)

Try the kde forums:
http://forum.kde.org/

[GreyGeek]

Re: New to Kubuntu, and some questions

Thanks for your reply, my only question is regarding the shutdown. I've looked at the options from the K menu, and I have all the options, minus the restart and shutdown. Which is why I was curious about it.

You can see what is displayed on the "Leave" option of my KMenu in the attached graphic.

There also isn't an available widget to shutdown or restart, at least not one that comes with Kubuntu.

Indeed there is. I agree with Fintan that your problem probably arises from the fact that you haven't completely installed KDE4 and/or are not running kdm.

[Meister]

Re: New to Kubuntu, and some questions

Thanks for everyone's help. I've been able to restore the kdm, got my options to shutdown, and restart, and Kmail seems to be working better.