Kubuntu's Best Version?

[Nasty7]

Some good input here, thanks guys.

I wonder if any of you guys think 16.04.5 is more stable than 18.04.1 I ask because I may install on another computer, and may like to use something a little different just to see the way things were and are progressing.

Thanks, Nasty

[claydoh]

Some good input here, thanks guys.

I wonder if any of you guys think 16.04.5 is more stable than 18.04.1 I ask because I may install on another computer, and may like to use something a little different just to see the way things were and are progressing.

Thanks, Nasty

No.




While there probably is nothing bad about 16.04, Plasma 5.12 LTS is lighter, more stable and reliable than Plamsa 5.8
On the Ubuntu bits under the hood, of course newer kernels bring better driver support, but of course that depends on the system (Nvidia is *always* a possible crapshoot here, no matter the distro)

Don't forget you can also use Virtualbox to play around with these Check out 8.04 which was the pinnacle of good KDE 3 setups. 14.04 for KDE 4.
8.10 (not LTS) if you want to see how big a difference KDE 4 was from KDE3 and want a bad experience

[Nasty7]

While there probably is nothing bad about 16.04, Plasma 5.12 LTS is lighter, more stable and reliable than Plamsa 5.8

That is a very good point to this thread, for me at least. And your other suggestions also. I'll just install 18.04 and if I want to learn about the others I'll run in VM. I do notice 18.04 runs very well on my old laptop in my Signature! I mean really well. It is somewhat a surprise to me that it runs so well with all it can do, the Cube etc, and almost no screen tearing -for lack of better term- than other linux distros I've tried. Last night I was working on many things all at once and it was multitasking very well. I let it sit and ate dinner and came back to keep working with all still ready to go. I had multiple File Managers open, LO Writer, Terminal, Many web pages and more! very very good. And Kubuntu didn't even seem to be making the laptop hot/warm as sometimes happens.

[Don B. Cilly]

14.04. Best ever. By far.
· It had Superkaramba support.
· It had the Marble wallpaper.
· You could have root actions in Dolphin.
· The Elegance clock (the only really good-looking clock in this galactic sector) didn't have the hands hanging out of the dial.
· It didn't have Discover.

So now I have to (mainly) use 18.04 because of - mostly - dependencies, but every time I go back to 14.04 for a while (some things that I have there) I think: aaah, this was so much better...

[Nasty7]

Agreed for me too! I really loved Mint's KDE, which isn't Kubuntu but still had a better KDE experience IMO.

[Snowhog]

Well, for me, it's always been the one I'm using. Really, each version simply has gotten better and better.

[Nasty7]

I will say it seems to run very well, I just don't like the layout very well. Mostly I don't like the Menu. On Mint's old KDE there was Lancelot, and that thing is the bomb! Dare I say even Windows 10 Menu is miles above Kubuntu.

[Bings]

I will say it seems to run very well, I just don't like the layout very well. Mostly I don't like the Menu. On Mint's old KDE there was Lancelot, and that thing is the bomb! Dare I say even Windows 10 Menu is miles above Kubuntu.

You can right the menu launcher button and change the look with "alternatives" and if that isn't nice enough, you can install custom menus https://store.kde.org/browse/cat/398/order/latest

[claydoh]

I will say it seems to run very well, I just don't like the layout very well. Mostly I don't like the Menu. On Mint's old KDE there was Lancelot, and that thing is the bomb! Dare I say even Windows 10 Menu is miles above Kubuntu.

There are *many* alternative menus out there, I dare say more than there was in KDE 4

[Nasty7]

I have tried "alternatives" but still don't like it well. One issue I think is my ADD, so a nice layout is imperative.

[Bings]

The easiest way to install stuff of the store, by the way, is to right click desktop and click "add widgets" click "get new widgets" and search for the title. It downloads and installs from the store. Then the custom menus are added to alternatives.

[Qqmike]

Snowhog: Well, for me, it's always been the one I'm using. Really, each version simply has gotten better and better.

Very well put, good point. That pretty much sums up my feeling here. It's the same drill every time for me--very hesitant to let go of the old version I'm using. Last time it was 14.04, me thinking it was absolutely perfectly indispensable. I hung on to 14.04 a long time. Finally, moved to 18.04 and only regret I hadn't done it sooner.

[Don B. Cilly]

Really, each version simply has gotten better and better.

Well, matter of taste, I suppose.
I mean, 18.04 works fine. So did 14.04.
Except, 18.04:
· Doesn't have Superkaramba support.
· Doesn't have the Marble wallpaper.
· Doesn't have root actions in Dolphin.
· The Elegance clock has the hands hanging out of the dial.
(it's still the only really good-looking clock in this galactic sector, but then, hey, exactly ;·)
· It has Discover.
Among other things.

Now, I don't know about Discover, but the rest of the list would be easy to fix, wouldn't it?
OK, so no one cares. Which is funny, because (IMHO) :

------- RANT/RAVE MODE ON --------

· System monitors are very useful. All computers misbehave, and having a monitor that give you a good idea of what's going on is a Good Thing (for me, almost indispensable).
With Karamba, it was easy, efficient and clear. Now we have to use Clunky Conky which, well it does the job, but it's a bit, well, clunky.
OK, Karamba is dead. I wonder why there's not a couple of coders out there to resuscitate it... or port the good code to Conky...

. The Marble wallpaper - with the live clouds. Pretty much everyone who saw it, said "I want it". I said, well, install Kubuntu. Some of them actually did
And of course we want it back. There's even one guy who says it's easy and provides a template to do it. Where are coders when you need them?

. Dolphin root actions. Sure, "security". Now, wasn't Linux in general, and KDE in particular, about "user's choice" and "extreme configurability"?
Sure, "security" So what. Slap a big fat red warning on the screen and let me decide. Worse than Apple, you are
Who's going to attack a little box on a remote Mediterranean island that's worth "less than your shirt" and contains less valuable information than my goat's brain?
Can I please decide what to do with my data?

------- RANT/RAVE MODE OFF --------

('cause I won't even go into the Elegance clock and Discover - not for today anyway ;·)
Just to say, it wouldn't be difficult to make Plasma 5 almost as good as 4...

[Bings]

There are some nice widgets you can install for system monitoring

[oshunluvr]

Well, matter of taste, I suppose.

Not always, for example;
· Doesn't have Superkaramba support.
Does anyone? It hasn't been updated since 2006, has it? It was written in 2003 to work with KDE3.5, parts of it were integrated into KDE4, then it died. I'd like to know what Karamba can do that conky or all the 100's of other widgets we now have can't. I was a SuperKarumba lover too, but that was eons ago. Conky has gotten much better of late - easier to use and better documentation. There's 1000's of themes out there so I find ones that have things I want and piece it together until I like it. I had issues with Karamba too. Conky is far superior if you want granular control over the look.

· Doesn't have the Marble wallpaper.
Sorry, I don't know what that is but sounds cool. Plasma 5 has animated wallpapers so it should be reproducible. You've got a few months to learn how, right

· Doesn't have root actions in Dolphin.
Agreed. here are workarounds if you still think you need to manage files with a GUI like running Dolphin AS root:
pkexec env DISPLAY=$DISPLAY XAUTHORITY=$XAUTHORITY KDE_SESSION_VERSION=5 KDE_FULL_SESSION=true dolphin
Hopefully, someday this will get fixed. I stopped worrying about Dolphin root actions a long time ago. Now-a-days I navigate to the folder I need with Dolphin, hit F4 to open a console there, do my dirty deeds, and close the console window. Really just a workflow change IMO.

· The Elegance clock has the hands hanging out of the dial.
I don't know this one either, but it sounds cool. Any chance you have an old screenshot or something? I couldn't find it. Shouldn't be hard to reproduce. Every theme out there has a clock in it.

· It has Discover.
Yeah well, hard to argue here. Discover looks like a menu for kids. It must be a generational thing. It has improved a lot but has a ways to go. Too bad Muon was abandoned before it got good. There's still synaptic.

OK, so no one cares.

Well, that's not really it IMO. Many share your opinions but this is Linux so who are you complaining to and who's responsible to make it the way you want? The best you can do is either put in a request with a developer to incorporate a change - I've done that and been successful - or dig in and fix it yourself - I've done that also. Honestly, if it's not worth even that level of effort, you probably don't want it as much as you think. It's not like we have to use Windows or Apple and have changes dictated to us. User participation can and will make changes in the Linux world.

Just to say, it wouldn't be difficult to make Plasma 5 almost as good as 4...

This is clearly a matter of opinion. There are still folks out there pining for KDE 3.5 but IMO that's just because human nature abhors change. KDE4 was way better than 3 eventually and Plasma 5 is way better than KDE in lots of ways and still getting better in many. You could always install Centos 7 and use KDE4 for 5 more years, but why? I think it boils down to what's more important - functionality or look. I think most of what you've described (except for Dolphin) is window dressing.I'd rather have an updated modern OS even if it means I give up a few pieces of eye candy. There were a few things I liked better about KDE4 but I can't remember them any longer. I just adjusted to the new normal.

My only gripes about Kubuntu are when they (the developers) fail to address what I think are the most important things, in this order: Installer, Package Manager, File Manager.

Ubiquity (the installer) has been utter crap for years, like a decade or more. The last couple versions have been better but they should have switched to Calamares years ago instead of polishing a - well you know what I mean.

Discover I already talked about. I can't imagine why they've gone that way except the developers are of the smart phone generation and don't want any real feedback when they install something.

Dolphin - with the exception of blocking root actions - has improved nicely. Once I learned how to build service menus it became amazing. I totally agree that I don't need or want developers telling me how to manage my system. That's why I've always hated Gnome. The developers were closing off or hiding functionality 20 years ago. It smacked of Apple or Microsoft and literally made me angry. Again, I can't imagine why some developer decided they knew better than I did how to manage my own property. Honestly, if it continues we'll have to look for another desktop environment to use.