Difference between Kubuntu and Ubuntu + KDE SC?

[Guest]

Hi folks,

First let met thank everyone for making and running Kubuntu and Kubutu Forum! They're awesome, and as a user I very much appreciate you guys.

So here is my question: are there any technical differences between "Kubuntu" and "Ubuntu + KDE SC"?
Here is the background.
I personally feel very comfortable using KDE; thus Kubutu is one of the best choice for me.
At the same time, I'd like to stick to the "mainstream." Among many, one reason is that I think that I encounter less problems or if I do I may be able to solve with less burdensome; so I chose Ubuntu + KDE SC (another reason is that I do want to use GNOME occasionally).

I am/was pretty satisfied with above choice. However, I have encounterd some problems when using KDE which does not appear when using GNOME. They are:

1. Cannot open files via smb when using KDE
2. KWalletManager not working properly

(both threads at ubuntuforums, thread=2130104 and 2134060 respectively; in this forum, I'm not allowed to post URLs yet)

I don't know yet whether or not I'm facing above problems because I'm using Ubuntu + KDE SC, but I started to questions myself:

• Shold I have chosen simply Kubuntu rather than Ubuntu + KDE SC?
• Are there any technical differences between the two? For example, numbers of software supported or stability of KDE (if no differences, following questions are moot, I guess ).
• If there are, what are they?
• Could it be possible that I encounter more problems when using Ubutu + KDE SC than Kubuntu if I tend to use KDE more frequently?
• Should I choose Kubuntu if I use KDE frequently and use GNOME occasionally?

I very much appreciate your thoughts, ideas, opinions, or etc.
Please note that my personal belief is "nothing is superior over another; everything has pros and cons; every advantage can be disadvantage and vice versa." So my intention is definitely NOT to get us into so-called "flaming"; rather let me learn about differences and characteristics of Kubuntu and Ubuntu + KDE SC."
Thanks in advance!

[SteveRiley]

Kubuntu is Ubuntu + KDE SC. All the KDE SC packages in the main repository (Precise and earlier) and in the universe repository (Quantal and later) are packaged by the Kubuntu team. So whether you install Kubuntu directly, or hand-craft a Ubuntu + KDE SC system, you're running the same software packaged by the same people.

[sithlord48]

the main difference is that if you install Ubuntu then KDE SC you will have still the Gnome parts that unity uses and extra GTK stuff that a kubuntu install don't contain.

[SteveRiley]

the main difference is that if you install Ubuntu then KDE SC you will have still the Gnome parts that unity uses and extra GTK stuff that a kubuntu install don't contain.

The way to avoid that is to use the server ISO and perform a command-line install. That avoids all the Ubuntu/Unity GUI stuff. Then just install KDE after that with sudo apt-get install kde-standard. That'll give you a base that you can thean tweak as much as you'd like.

[sithlord48]

yes you can use the server iso . but usually when people say ubuntu they generally mean the desktop version. i use server to make my "Razorbuntu" installs :P