Brainstorming, preparing for new laptop

[DoYouKubuntu]

Well, in theory, in Ubuntu, if you install the package kubuntu-desktop, you'll get plasma as a login option, and it will have everything kubuntu. But I haven't done that sort of thing for over 10 years. It wasn't unheard of back then, some people liked to have both Gnome and KDE to compare them. But then the Gnome project got very "it's our way or the highway".

Ugh...GNOME... Anyway, whichever laptop it was that I installed K by using U (via Synaptic), I installed EVERYTHING necessary, including kubuntu-desktop, but as noted earlier, it failed miserably. I'm pretty sure I had used that method before, with great results; once KDE was up and running, I just removed anything GNOME-related that I didn't need. (I do like a few of their programs, like gParted.)

The link you gave has hardware specs, but no info about how the storage is partitioned, or what file system is used. A vocal group of us here at KFN promote the benefits of btrfs, and we'll be a little sad if you don't consider it. It's possible to convert ext4 to btrfs, I suppose, but I've not done that and I haven't heard of anyone doing it for a long time. With btrfs you could do a clean install of Kubuntu in the same partition as the Ubuntu 20.04, which could remain unmodified as if it was on another drive.

It will have a basic setup, / and /home, and it will be ext4. I have never used btrfs and strongly prefer to stick with ext4. I've read quite a few threads here [in the past] about btrfs, and I no longer recall what, but something about it scared me off. Any ideas what could do that?! I'm fine with ext4, so unless there's some REALLY compelling reason to dump it for btrfs, I'm planning to stick with it. As for GNOME...I don't want any trace of it when I'm done!

Once I get it, I'll re-partition the drive to have /, /home, /data, and [swap]--although I'm debating whether swap is even needed any more. I've used this scheme for many years; / is strictly for system files, /home is strictly for user-specific files (like configuration files, documents, temporary stuff), and /data is for everything else--images, videos, music, all the BIG stuff. I make it by far the biggest partition.

[jlittle]

Well, in theory, in Ubuntu, if you install the package kubuntu-desktop, you'll get plasma as a login option, and it will have everything kubuntu. But I haven't done that sort of thing for over 10 years. It wasn't unheard of back then, some people liked to have both Gnome and KDE to compare them. But then the Gnome project got very "it's our way or the highway".

The link you gave has hardware specs, but no info about how the storage is partitioned, or what file system is used. A vocal group of us here at KFN promote the benefits of btrfs, and we'll be a little sad if you don't consider it. It's possible to convert ext4 to btrfs, I suppose, but I've not done that and I haven't heard of anyone doing it for a long time. With btrfs you could do a clean install of Kubuntu in the same partition as the Ubuntu 20.04, which could remain unmodified as if it was on another drive.

[Qqmike]

Balena Etcher.

Yep, that's the one I was trying to think of.

[claydoh]

I wish I could recall the name of one of the recent apps people here are using to build their bootable Kubuntu flash drives

Balena Etcher.

Though I'll wager that the laptop will include USB-boot-creation software already, if it has Ubuntu
https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/create-...ntu#1-overview

Heck, you probably have the kde version of this on your Kubuntu install.
Not sure if this is still is a reliable tool or not, It use to be iffy sometimes.

Balena Etcher has not given me a bad USB stick over many years of use, and numerous types of distros.

[Qqmike]

DoYouKubuntu, yeah on all accounts ... I finally let go of the writable DVD, even though in MY OWN current 2015 PC build, I went to the trouble to buy & install a * good * DVD player with full capability r/w etc. But, I have a stack of quality DVDs sitting here collecting dust. Yep, it's the USB flash drive now, for me. I even use them for back-ups (but do use multiple duplicate flash drives for such, at least three). The live Kubuntu flash drive is nice because, in theory, it gives you some freedom. If you had to, in a bad situation, you could boot the PC with one and do all your work in a live session, even performing rescue tasks. Clumsy, but doable. Saving permanent work to a 2nd data flash drive. No need for a hard drive. I know you know

[DoYouKubuntu]

It WAS you, Qq! I thought so, but didn't want to say it in case my memory was screwed up. (That happens a lot at our age, right?!)

I'm so old-fashioned, I wish I could install this from a floppy disk. Ha ha ha, not really! But I do like having a bootable, physical, THING on hand. Funny how that 'thing' has morphed from 8" Bernoulli disks to thumb drives....

I'm going to take a look at your link. Thanks for posting!

[Qqmike]

I'm not very helpful, except that I mentioned using the dd command to make the bootable USB Kubuntu flash drive, as per my how-to:
Building a Kubuntu live USB flash drive installer using dd
https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showth...712#post378712

It just works (for the reasons given there), it's the most direct way.
That said, however, apparently, there is/are reliable programs to do this, as many members here have said.
There's 'boot from iso' possibilities (which, actually, if you check my old how-to on GRUB2, are not new now).

I mean, if you want to have a physical device (a flash drive, say), loaded up with a bootable live Kubuntu, from which you can also install, dd is, IMO, a straightforward, sure-fire way to build it, simple, quick, clean. The 'bootable' capability is built into the iso image for you. Then again, maybe I'm just old fashion.

I wish I could recall the name of one of the recent apps people here are using to build their bootable Kubuntu flash drives ... (even so, why NOT use dd? ... which I'm sure that the apps are using dd ...). I have it bookmarked, but now I see I need to clean-organize my Kubuntu bookmark folder!!! it's a mess ...

[DoYouKubuntu]

Hey everyone! At some point in the near future, I'll be receiving a brand-new, freshly built, System76 17.3" Gazelle laptop. My problems with the original are well-documented on various boards here! I refuse to believe that the replacement will have the same problems, or ANY problems, so I'm looking forward to getting my hot little hands on it.

Unlike the original, this will have a 1TB NVMe drive upon arrival--the original was only 500GB. Here are the Gazelle's specs. I'd like to have a game plan mapped out before it comes, so when it does I can dive right in with a clear idea of what I'll be doing.

It will come with Ubuntu 20.04LTS pre-installed. What I'd like to do is use its existing U system to install K, but I'm not sure that's the best choice. Opinions? One time when I used that method it failed miserably. I don't recall the details, including which laptop it was. (I'm SURE I documented them here, but I don't want to revisit that so I'm not going to look it up.) It seemed like the smartest, easiest, most straightforward choice, you know, using an existing U to install K...but it didn't work out too well.

For the replacement, I asked in another thread about using the USB stick I had burned 20.04 on--and used throughout my current laptop's saga. What if *it* was the source of the problems? Someone (sorry, my memory's not what it used to be) mentioned using "dd" for the install; this is not a method I've ever used before. Oh, I've used "dd" plenty, but not for installations.

When the laptop arrives, running U 20.04, I can download K 20.04 on it and install from a file on the hard drive, right? I've never done that, and I'm not sure how that would work. I know I'll want to change the way they'll have it partitioned, so keep that in mind.

I really, really want to retain certain settings that I've tweaked the hell out of, like Dolphin, Konsole and KWrite. But in the past, when I simply used [what appeared to be] their config files from $HOME, only partial features were restored, not everything. What can I do now on the laptop with those settings the way I want, to be able to use them on the replacement so *all* my customization is restored?

If you think of anything helpful, useful, interesting, something to keep in mind, etc., in preparation for this, please feel free to add them! I'm not sure of the time-frame right now. For some reason, System76 won't start building the new one until the old one is on its way back to them. I said, "look, you know where I live! You can send a couple of thugs with baseball bats to break my knee-caps if I don't return the computers [recall I still have their loaner, too]!" Nope. I said "I'll give you my American Express number and you can charge whatever amount you want as a security hold!" Nope. I gave up. Whatever. All things considered, they've been really good about this and I'm not going to argue this point. It could be a week or more before they even start building the new one; I'm guessing 2-3 weeks from now before I actually see it.

Hints, advice, guidance, tips, etc., will be gratefully accepted.