Kubuntu 12.04 LTS

[LearningTheSport]

Why is Kubuntu terrible now? I went from the 11.04 to the new 12.04 LTS and it sucks. What is with the shift in color from left to right and a line down the center of everything? Why can't I adjust Firefox anymore? Why? Why? I want to love Linux because Windows is horrendous and OSX is a rich man's throw away. What is the deal with this new 12.04 LTS? Should I re-install 11.04? Should I dump Kubuntu for something else? Is there another, more superior Linux Distro? Maybe just Ubunutu, because the new Kubuntu genuinely sucks. I don't understand technology. Why would you fix somthing that isn't broken? I don't want more illogical resource hogging widgets, gadgets, panels, activities, etc. I just want the basic desktop. Point me in the right direction (My previous Kubuntu was perfect).

[ardvark71]

Hi....

Just a personal opinion, if 11.04 worked well for you and you had no problems with it, then yes, going back to 11.04 is certainly an option. I am still using Ubuntu 10.04 because I consider it just right for my system.

Regards...

[pookito]

Or if u want just switch to another distro. I switched to Sabayon Linux which is a rolling release, so u never have to upgrade twice a year.

Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk 2

[james147]

What is with the shift in color from left to right

Do you mean the background? That can easily be changed to something better if you want... Don't see anything else shifting in colour...

and a line down the center of everything?.

I have no idea what you mean by this.

I would advice testing a new user to see if there aren't any problems with your configs and to see the default settings are actually like.

[LearningTheSport]

Hi....

Just a personal opinion, if 11.04 worked well for you and you had no problems with it, then yes, going back to 11.04 is certainly an option. I am still using Ubuntu 10.04 because I consider it just right for my system.

Regards...

I've tried the PREVIEW CD BOOT experience and although it is obviously slower, Kubuntu is just more aesthetically pleasing and I was used to it plus learned a little more about it concerning my other issue. Thank You. Solved. I'm going to restore back to 11.04 as that was the "money" OS for my particular computer.

[ardvark71]

Thank You. Solved. I'm going to restore back to 11.04 as that was the "money" OS for my particular computer.

Hi...

You're welcome, hope it works like it did before.

Regards...

[tek_heretik]

Why is Kubuntu terrible now? I went from the 11.04 to the new 12.04 LTS and it sucks. What is with the shift in color from left to right and a line down the center of everything? Why can't I adjust Firefox anymore? Why? Why? I want to love Linux because Windows is horrendous and OSX is a rich man's throw away. What is the deal with this new 12.04 LTS? Should I re-install 11.04? Should I dump Kubuntu for something else? Is there another, more superior Linux Distro? Maybe just Ubunutu, because the new Kubuntu genuinely sucks. I don't understand technology. Why would you fix somthing that isn't broken? I don't want more illogical resource hogging widgets, gadgets, panels, activities, etc. I just want the basic desktop. Point me in the right direction (My previous Kubuntu was perfect).

Wow, I love it, lol, each to their own I guess, but then again, I did install kubuntu-low-fat-settings, shuts ALOT off but a little too much for me, so I just clicked around and turn the desired effects, etc, back on. As for Firefox, I was able to install and use several different plugins (Tools/Add-ons) to pretty it up and make it more functional. As a matter of fact, I have done more in Kubuntu than any other distro ever in only a few weeks of having it running.

[SteveRiley]

Why is Kubuntu terrible now? I went from the 11.04 to the new 12.04 LTS and it sucks. What is with the shift in color from left to right and a line down the center of everything? Why can't I adjust Firefox anymore? Why? Why? I want to love Linux because Windows is horrendous and OSX is a rich man's throw away. What is the deal with this new 12.04 LTS? Should I re-install 11.04? Should I dump Kubuntu for something else? Is there another, more superior Linux Distro? Maybe just Ubunutu, because the new Kubuntu genuinely sucks. I don't understand technology. Why would you fix somthing that isn't broken? I don't want more illogical resource hogging widgets, gadgets, panels, activities, etc. I just want the basic desktop. Point me in the right direction (My previous Kubuntu was perfect).

Change can be somewhat disconcerting, yes. But I'm having trouble fathoming the depth of your complaints. Yes, 12.04 has changed the wallpaper, and this reflects KDE's choice. You are free to select other wallpapers.

I don't really know what a "shift in color from left to right" means. What is a "left" color, and what is a "right" color? Also, "line down the center of everything" is rather an odd description. Do you have a screenshot that can help us understand you better? If you mean the thick horizontal black bar that appears in the middle of the screen, this is a known issue that has been reported here and has had workarounds proposed; the root cause is an underlying change Ubuntu made at the last minute.

Firefox customization issues have also been discussed here. Mozilla is increasing the pace at which they release upgrades; the pace is too fast for the KDE integration maintainers to match and, therefore, the integration package has been dropped. This decision allows KDE to focus on more important objectives and does not impede your ability to use Firefox.

The "widgets, gadgets, panels, activities" are hardly resource-hogging. Have you gathered any performance statistics to demonstrate what percentage of your computer's resources is used by KDE's various desktop elements? On both my computers, that percentage is very low. Perhaps there's a configuration bug you've encountered, which we can possibly help you work through. Or perhaps some other suggestions. But it's impossible for us to understand at the moment, because your post lacks specifics.

I can't answer your questions about which release, or which distro, might be more appropriate for you. If you find one that is, then by all means, use that. But you can't expect much from us if all you can do is come here with broad criticisms, most of which can be traced to specific causes with documented solutions or workarounds.

[Nayar]

My 11.10 was pretty solid with KDE 4.8 using backports

[perspectoff]

Or if u want just switch to another distro. I switched to Sabayon Linux which is a rolling release, so u never have to upgrade twice a year.

Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk 2

Rolling releases have the problem in spades. Firefox changes something and you can't customise it anymore? Tough luck -- you get the new version almost immediately in a rolling release. There are always surprises popping up with rolling releases.

I agree with the assessment about the recent version 12 of Firefox (and also hate the fact that Precise Pangolin packages this version by default) -- I also hate the inability to rearrange menus, toolbars, and bookmarks. I tried to use Muon to "Force version" so that I could install Firefox 11 instead, but the Muon "force version" system doesn't work for me. (I have not been successful in getting Muon to force the version of anything, as a matter of fact).

Personally, I maintain a full ("production") implementation of Kubuntu and a "testing" implementation of Kubuntu, on different partitions. Before I do a full upgrade of a major package (Firefox, especially), I test the upgrade on the test partition, first. Only if I like it do I then allow the upgrade on my "production" system.

In general, the Muon update system does allow you to select which packages to upgrade and which ones to hold back, and when a stable version is achieved, it is useful to turn off updates for that package. (I do this for add-ons, as well). This was a critical change to the update mechanism, IMO, and I applauded it heartily.

I also happen to like Oneiric much better than Precise -- there are still too many quirks in Precise (although some are kernel related and not specifically the fault of the distro). On two computer the sensors don't work (a problem that dates back a few years in the newer Linux kernels and requires turning off the ONDEMAND CPU scaling). On another the installation requires a workaround for the graphics. On another I needed to tweak the logging settings. Then Dolphin has problems starting apps as root (unless a custom servicemenu is installed, something not required in the past). The newest Grub2 has bugs that previous versions didn't have. Now this Firefox problem.

Nevertheless, I have now figured out workarounds for almost all of them and am now comfortable with it. (I don't think there is a single version of (K)Ubuntu that hasn't been the same.) In addition, Network Manager in Precise Pangolin has been stable for me (for the first time ever in Kubuntu), and this was very, very welcome to me. For these reasons I have now converted all my computers to Precise. (I have seen reviews and other complaints about exceedingly trivial and easily adjustable things things like colours and wallpaper -- I hope those aren't really the major factors for anyone in choosing a distro -- that would be idiotic.)

I have one extremely stable server/desktop that is frozen at Karmic, however. It has never failed me and I was happy to let it run uninterrupted without much tinkering for the past several years. Freezing at Karmic is a mixed blessing, though. It only had desktop support for 18 months and server support for 3 years, and now the repositories are gone (with its end-of-life). This means that I can no longer easily change critical servers or add functions, and it is therefore competely frozen. Since it is stable, that is fine, but I sure wish I had frozen at a LTS version like Lucid, which would have given me a longer window to upgrade. (Hardy, Lucid, and now Precise have all been very good versions.)

On the other hand, when I tried a rolling release things were continually failing. Upgrades don't happen in lock-step and troubleshooting and workarounds become a full-time profession with rolling releases.

I therefore made a conscious decision to only use long-term releases. Although I prefer Oneiric to Precise, the 5-year lifespan of Precise is important to me, and it is therefore worthwhile to invest in a few workarounds to make it stable. (The only other system that has similarly long-term, stable releases is the base Debian system itself.)

After all, some of us have lives away from tinkering with computers and would like to get back to those things once in a while...

[perspectoff]

Wow, I love it, lol, each to their own I guess, but then again, I did install kubuntu-low-fat-settings, shuts ALOT off but a little too much for me, so I just clicked around and turn the desired effects, etc, back on. As for Firefox, I was able to install and use several different plugins (Tools/Add-ons) to pretty it up and make it more functional. As a matter of fact, I have done more in Kubuntu than any other distro ever in only a few weeks of having it running.

Can you tell me more about kubuntu-low-fat-settings? Does it do anything more than disable Akonadi (which I do anyway)?

Also, which Firefox plug-ins you use that allow you to rearrange toolbars and bookmarks? I used to use Menu Editor add-on for Firefox (to re-arrange the menus and toolbars), but it isn't working well in Firefox 12...

[tek_heretik]

I therefore made a conscious decision to only use long-term releases. Although I prefer Oneiric to Precise, the 5-year lifespan of Precise is important to me, and it is therefore worthwhile to invest in a few workarounds to make it stable. (The only other system that has similarly long-term, stable releases is the base Debian system itself.)

I can tolerate a reinstall every 2 years, 5 years is even better.

[rms]

---
I agree with the assessment about the recent version 12 of Firefox (and also hate the fact that Precise Pangolin packages this version by default) -- I also hate the inability to rearrange menus, toolbars, and bookmarks. I tried to use Muon to "Force version" so that I could install Firefox 11 instead, but the Muon "force version" system doesn't work for me. (I have not been successful in getting Muon to force the version of anything, as a matter of fact).
---

I'm still using Oneiric so I cannot tell what is in Precise repos. Have you tried

apt-cache showpkg "firefox"

Maybe it shows more options for downgrade than Muon. Just a thought.

[perspectoff]

I'm still using Oneiric so I cannot tell what is in Precise repos. Have you tried

apt-cache showpkg "firefox"

Maybe it shows more options for downgrade than Muon. Just a thought.

It shows the two versions of firefox:

12.0+build1-0ubuntu0.12.04.1
11.0+build1-0ubuntu4

I just can't quite figure out how to install the

11.0 build. When I select the "force version" option in Muon, the 12.0 version gets installed anyway.

perhaps if I used the

sudo apt-get install ...

command?

What, exactly, is the sudo apt-get install command to force a version? Do I just use the whole name, like

sudo apt-get install firefox-11.0+build1-0ubuntu4 ?

[kubicle]

What, exactly, is the sudo apt-get install command to force a version?

sudo apt-get install <package>=<version>
as in:
sudo apt-get install firefox=11.0+build1-0ubuntu4