Finding File Manager for Both Versions

[Ironhide]

Hello, I'm testing out some distros to install on a few computers, and I have one quick question; where does Kubuntu bury the File Manager?

It's hidden pretty good, I can't seem to find it in either 23.04 or 22.04, can someone give me a quick path to it please? thank you.

[Schwarzer Kater]

The default file manager for KDE Plasma in Kubuntu is called Dolphin and you can find it under:
-> Application Launcher -> All Applications -> Dolphin
or
-> Application Launcher -> System -> Dolphin
or
-> Application Launcher -> and enter "file manager" in the [search field].

You could also just press [Meta] [E] to start Dolphin directly or press [Alt] [Space] to start KRunner (which is an app launcher amongst other things) and search for/start Dolphin from there.

Dolphin is one of the - if not the - most customizable and versatile file manager of all file managers out there btw.

PS: There should also be a quick launcher icon that looks like a blue folder in the Plasma panel…

[Ironhide]

hello, thanks for answering, I see that Dolphin is a regular Home folder, but I would like to get into some system files like - etc - apt - apt.conf.d for instance, and as I'm writing this reply now, I went into Devices to see how to access my disk data and I accidentally found the system files in there to customize what I wanted. But then this leads me to another question, where can I see my disk data and if I want reformatting, etc? Removable Storage - Device Actions gives me some weird menus I haven't seen before for disk access.

[Schwarzer Kater]

IMHO the best way to modify system files is the Konsole terminal emulator (and don't forget to make backups before modifying them…).
But if you need a GUI you could also use a combination of Dolphin and Kate.
Dolphin has a bar like a web browser where you can enter the path you want to go to - entering "/" will get you to the top level of your root volume, e.g.

For disk management you can use the KDE Partition Manager (I personally prefer GParted, though). Or CLI in Konsole, of course.

[Ironhide]

ok thanks for that, these are all new program names for my learning curve, I'm a very green newbie here, so I don't want to mess around in Terminal. on a side note, while testing Zorin (eventhough it isn't Kubuntu but its still Ubuntu) apt.conf.d does it not give me access because I'm in test mode and it says I'm not an owner, but after installation I will have access to write files, I will be that owner after installation I assume? I wanted to attach a pic I took with my phone camera but I don't have permissions to do that here either.

[Schwarzer Kater]

Just a well-meant advice:
if you don't know exactly what you are doing and what the consequences are - don't change any system files (or do so in a disposable virtual machine at first if you have to implicitly try something out).
In principle everything outside of your /home directory is owned by root for a reason in Linux/Unix/BSD/macOS (and should normally not be touched by the user without a very good reason).

A good entry point to learn some things could be e.g. a good Linux Youtube channel like https://www.youtube.com/@LearnLinuxTV/
(But be warned: many of the Linux Youtube channels - even a lot of the more popular ones - sometimes don't know what they are talking about and tell wrong things. A good book often is the better way to educate yourself. The documentation section of this forum also has very good informations.)

[Ironhide]

ok thanks, I'll look into those tutorial links, back to my question though - apt.conf.d does it not give me access because I'm in test mode and it says I'm not an owner, but after installation will I have access to write files? Will I be that owner after installation?

[Schwarzer Kater]

If you are talking about /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/ then: no, the owner of that directory will always be root in any Linux distribution that uses APT and a normal user will not be allowed to modify or write files there.
One has to have elevated privileges (in *Ubuntu use commands with sudo) or be root to modify things there.
You can of course use either a combination of Dolphin and Kate (Kate will ask you for an admin password) or just CLI with the Konsole terminal emulator to do so, as said above.

[Ironhide]

ok I see, but not sure what classifies as a "normal" user. I'm running very small 32 gb hard drives on mini-PC's so I MUST shutdown all automatic updates as in Windows 10 I couldn't shut them down, and it just flooded my system with garbage updates where I had less than 1 gb to try and make the PC function, which I couldn't, which is why I switched to Linux. I use these mini-PC's to run 1 software program, I don't use it for anything else, no internet surfing, documents, pics, browsers, nothing. So these PC's serve just 1 purpose and updates are not needed which is why I change code or just delete update code lines in those files in /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/ but contrary to what you said about any Linux distro, I'm running FerenOS on another mini-PC which gave me full access by default to all system files and I was able to edit all update files and turn everything off and it runs fine and stable. I'm trying to repeat the same for Zorin, Linux Lite and then choose between Kubuntu or Deepin for a bigger hard drive PC.

[Schwarzer Kater]

Application Launcher -> System -> Discover Software Center -> Settings -> Software Sources -> Updates -> disable Automatic updates
or
Application Launcher -> System -> Konsole -> enter sudo software-properties-kde -> Updates -> disable Automatic updates

You could have had this information much sooner if you had told what you were planning to achieve.
32 GB should be enough to run Kubuntu with updates though (in fact you will probably have to use less than half of that) - if you don't install dozens of large programs. This is not Windows !
And there is an option to do a minimal installation which will use even less space of your drive.

PS: I can't remember what FerenOS does (it has been some years… probably lets you start the GUI file manager in superuser mode - like openSUSE can do).
But the files in /etc still belong to root - even in FerenOS.

[Ironhide]

yeah well I gotcha' but sometimes in the past when I say that I'm a staunch non-believer in updates and always turn them off, some other users jump up-and-down on your throat yelling that updates is the best thing next to sliced white bread so I didn't want to go down that road to open a can of worms really.

when I tested out any big sized uBuntus like the new lunar lobster or Xubuntu or Kubuntu but not Lubuntu if I recall correctly, most of them froze up on me and were choppy movements. these mini-PC's are only 2 gb's in RAM so it can't handle the big uBuntus or maybe it could have been the lag of a USB 2.0 test bridge. but when I tested Zorin, Feren, Pure and uBuntu Linux Lite, they are all lightweight so I think they won't clog up alot of resources. I think 22.04 looks dated but smoother than 23.04 which looks nicer.

I really like Kubuntu more than any other uBuntu so I'm thinking that is going to be my main distro on a much faster RAM mini PC that can handle any distro size. actually it will come down to a big test showdown between Kubuntu and Deepin for that PC. Thanks for your advice on this, I may have to ask more questions as I get further down this Linux path. It's only been 2 weeks since I started.

[shag00]

If you are hardware capped as in your case then Lubuntu is the one you want, it runs well on 10 year old laptops. For your comparison use Kubuntu 22.10 or 22.04 as 23.04 has only been out a week and has some teething issues.

[Schwarzer Kater]

If you want to go for Lubuntu indeed, I would recommend using Lubuntu 22.04 LTS in combination with the Lubuntu Backports:
https://lubuntu.me/jammy-backports-22-04-1-lxqt-1-2/
You will get LXQt 1.2/1.21 from there.

I also would also recommend removing Snap and exchanging Firefox with the version from Mozilla.org to keep the footprint and resource usage of your installation on those mini-PCs low.

[Ironhide]

yeah I'm using 22.04 with Linux Lite which seems to work well one of the 2gb ram stick, I like Kubuntu 23.04 icon graphics more than their 22.04, and Lubuntu I'l test again, thanks guys.

[Ironhide]

One has to have elevated privileges (in *Ubuntu use commands with sudo) or be root to modify things there.
You can of course use either a combination of Dolphin and Kate (Kate will ask you for an admin password) or just CLI with the Konsole terminal emulator to do so, as said above.

There is no Kate in Zorin when I searched for it. I just installed Zorin and I wanted to change my status to always be "root" or admin can I do this in terminal or elsewhere? I don't want any restrictions on file access and I want to change those update files in /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/ so even though this is a different distro than Kubuntu I assume you may know the pathway to do this since its still Ubuntu? thank you