Positive News Related to Kubuntu

[Teunis]

About woodsmoke's rant, I agree some money to the right people will help Linux.
And many people do spend but many more are needed.

Mind you, not necessarily to Canonical although, say until 5 years ago, I believe they were a driving force in the Linux world.
I wish Shuttleworth the very best with his attempts to make money on this great OS, and am very grateful for the money he has sunk in the early project.

Regretfully he lost a lot of Linux karma when he opted for Mir and 'released' the KDE desktop.

About woodsmoke and his way of writing, through all the smoke I keep seeing some gems
Oh yes, I agree with oshunluvr we would have a nice time over a drink!

[woodsmoke]

lol
awwww well, if you folks are near the Keys next summer, suds are on me and depending on the time of year, fresh hand caught lobster! lol

woodhic!smoke

[Qqmike]

woodsmoke is a known figure around here, like many of us. You just gotta decide how to read things. For me, reading Woody's posts, I've trained my brain to ignore (read past) the dots, the upper case words, the quotes, the exclamation marks, and any caricature exceeding 2.54 cm (in any direction, as viewed on my current screen settings)--then I distill and consider what's left after said removals. Just like he probably ignores my trade-marked concoctions, like a RealReader^TM should do anyway. Woody knows that being ignored is not a big deal around here. Hell, my posts and how-to's on EFI booting are all ignored. Doesn't bother me at all. Someone say something about it being beer-thirty now?

[woodsmoke]

and any caricature exceeding 2.54 cm (in any direction, as viewed on my current screen settings)-

ROTFL

wood lol smoke

[Qqmike]

Had to go back and properly format my post! Forgot--of all things--the trademark!

[vinnywright]

Hell, my posts and how-to's on EFI booting are all ignored. Doesn't bother me at all. Someone say something about it being beer-thirty now?

au contraire mon frere

I have them bookmarked for when I ever get a EFI box

VINNY

[Qqmike]

vinny: I have them bookmarked for when I ever get a EFI box

That's a relief. There is 1 anyway! Besides, I got to review some high school French; well, I mean, I got to use Google ... I'm sure there are 2 or 3. There is also me: I have to review this stuff every now and then, or I soon forget the fine details.

[Rufus]

Hey guys, I am a recent "convert" from unity to KDE (ubuntu to kubuntu).
I find kubuntu is great for desktops/laptops.

I did spread the word, did advertise to my friends and colleagues. Hope that all flavours grow, because there is a well-thought adaptation to certain user needs for each of them.

I don't yet fully understand if there are other differences between the ubuntu-unity distribution and the kde-kubuntu than the desktop environment - would help me if someone could shortly explain this.
Thanks.

[woodsmoke]

Hi
The "deep down guts" of it all are "the same" the "Plasma desktop" GUI ... that makes KDE to be KDE is different.

So lets say....Dolphin..... some distros "allow one to be Root" by merely retyping the regular password. Others want you to go through hoops to become Root in Dolphin. But Dolphin, as such is still Dolphin, it is how the distro tweaks it.

So.....there are a LOT of differences and they are enumerated not as "differences" in articles on the net, but as "features", and one has to know "other distro features" to compare.

So, the easiest way really is to read threads down in the dungeon about the Plasma Desktop, and articles on the net(but they tend to be repetitive() and then ask here!

woodnotveryhelpfulsmoke

There are numerous differences

[GreyGeek]

The biggest difference between the KDE desktop and others like Unity and Gnome is, IMO, the ease of use combined with the power available to the user. Settings for the DE let you customize it about any way you want. I configured KDE to look & feel like XP at work to minimize the dissonance when switching between XP and Linux, which I used as my coding environment (QT API) at work.

Dolphin's right click context menu is extremely powerful, as it is in most KDE contexts. KMail is the best email client on the planet and integrates smoothly with PGP and wizards for spam.

[Rufus]

Thank you for your replies.
The possibilities which come with the configure *anything options are really astonishing. I haven't discovered all of them yet, as I am still not getting to spend enough time on my kubuntu laptop - but the weekend is nearing, so... looking forward to it.
I do find many things feel "smoother" - even steam installed flawlessly and performs beautifully.
I read about the ongoing "battle" between canonical and kde supporters, which I don't really fully understand. I hope all is going to be settled or at least not lead to issues which pass the point of no return.
Best wishes to all.

[woodsmoke]

Hi
There are several schools of thought about the "battle" between Canonical and KDE ( I personally think MORE KUBUNTU than KDE ) because KDE distros and Kubuntu have a lot of installs world wide, a lot of them commercial, such as governments. Also Blue Systems is a major deployer of "KDE" in two forms and those are commercial. IF that is correct then it is all about the money. Less Kubuntu, more money for Canonical.

I have been scoffed at MANY times when I posted that I had installed "KDE" from the repos on top of "Ubuntu" and that it "felt.............harsh..(not the best word). And, when I run Kubuntu it seems....to "flow very well" in just about everything. I was told, "it is just Ubuntu with KDE on top". Well, I, personally, think that "the developers" have somehow "tweaked" the "rate" that simple things happen like the "growth" of the main menu when you click it. Or not. lol

But, one way that things work very well for me is that I run Kubuntu on an ANCIENT Toshiba Satellite lappy, people are often posting that their "laptop" ( it is always "old" like mine) "lags" when it is running and so they are going "back" to Gnome or whatever.... well....yes.......Plasma uses up a lot of cpu cycles, notoby says that it doesn't.

So, I go to settings and in system settings / desktop behaviour / desktop effects I untick a variety of the items there, I usually un-tick everything except blur and it is not "smooth" it is FAST. All of those "settings" are based on "Compiz" with which you may or may not be familiar. But, Compiz does eat cpu cycles. But all the other goodness of KDE is there, such as Kontact, Akonadai, etc.

And BTW if you have NOT played with "Compiz" that is all that wonderful stuff about having your virtual desktops, activities, etc. turn into cubes, or cylinders that rotate, or you can have something like the old ...as in REALLY OLD IBM "windows". Literally a grid of I think maybe 12 "squares" that had various functions in them, but the Compiz version works great!

I mean..........FLAMING WRITING and "windows" that ooze of the screen............ a LOT of fun!

But, when I was teaching online I got dozens of e-mails each day that had text that had to be graded compared to a "master" answer sheet.

I had the cube with one face where I placed the "master" on the screen and would "float" the attachment above it with a VERY transparent setting. I could literally view the student response above the provided answers.........there were a LOT of them. For basic classes that use a lot of "multiple choice" tests because of government mandates ( they provide statistical data to "prove" that the students are learning) they spend mind numbing amounts of time doing online, it takes a different personality.

AAAnnnnddd it takes a different personality to teach them. You never actually see the student except maybe in a video window and no "lecture" or other stuff.

Anyway, I could SEE the student response with the master beneath it, and I could type, "in red" a response if the student answer was incorrect ON the student sheet. I then just saved the doc, and on another face I had e-mail open so I then attached it to their e-mail and replied. Easy Peasy and it was VERY efficient and did not take a lot of time. On another face I had Amarok running!

All of the OTHER teachers, literally sat and looked back and forth at sheets on the screen, clicking and clicking minimizing and maximizing....an incredibly tedious operation, because that is the way it is done in Windblows.

So...........there are all sorts of surprising things in Compiz and I hope that you will explore them in the future!

woodsmoke

So, have fun! holler if you have a quesiton, this is a very friendly place!

woodsmoke

[Spadge]

For me, it's kmail. Gotta love kmail. kmail was what got me converted to KDE way back when I had to compile the whole thing from source in FreeBSD.

I use gnome on my server, with a handy little dock down the left hand side. I don't know why. I suspect the answer is "because I can".

I'm not against Unity ... there's one in the bathroom but I have no cause to use it.

[life0riley]

For me, it's kmail. ...

KMail is at the top of the list for me.

[Teunis]

KMail is a good looking mail client but unless I've overlooked something it is missing one for me essential option, to allow html form trusted sources only.