A newbie’s report on Kubuntu

I’ve to confess that I was never fond of KDE. If you ask me ‘why’, then I’ve to tell that may be I’ve started my Linux life with Gnome and it was like ‘love at first sight’! I was introduced with Ubuntu at 2007 and to be frankly, I liked it so much that I never felt to try other distros to give a serious run. I’ve tested Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Edubuntu, OpenSuse, Fedora – but I’ve not taken them seriously. As a result I became a solely Ubuntu guy. My laptop still runs Ubuntu 10.04 (and I am quite happy with Lucid). This solely Ubuntu-only-background makes me a total newbie in the world of Kubuntu! But why I am using Kubuntu now? Well… after buying the new desktop, I thought to taste Kubuntu instead of Ubuntu, because (in my opinion) unity in Ubuntu is still in its early stage and I do not wanted to install Lucid in my desktop. So I choose Kubuntu Natty Narwhal to give a try. The result? I am an one-month old Kubuntu user! 😀

My Kubuntu Desktop
My Kubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal) Desktop. Isn't it beautiful?

This is my first time experiencing Kubuntu as well as KDE (in a serious mood not a trial mood). I am a long time Gnome user, so adopting to a new DE shouldn’t be very smooth. But somehow I get used to it. Let’s see what I like about Kubuntu.

  1. First of all – Kubuntu is shiny and sleek! The oxygen transparency is awesome (sadly I couldn’t apply that transparency in the Dolphin).
  2. The plasma desktop is a real cool thing. And there are widgets – attractive and really useful widgets!
  3. It has the cool compiz like effects; such as Desktop cube, Rotating desktop etc from out of box. In Ubuntu 10.04 they were not included by default. So more eye candy in Kubuntu.
  4. Kubuntu has lots of options of customization. Everything is very much configurable according to the user’s need. And when I say ‘very much’, it is literary ‘very much’. You can configure almost every thing in Kubuntu.
  5. The Kickoff Application Launcher is awesome. From searching any apps to shut down the computer – I like every part of it.
  6. Kubuntu has some extra softwares than Ubuntu by default, like – Akregator, Quassel, Kontact, KAddressbook, Klipper etc. I also like the native KDE applications, they are more useful and attractive.
  7. And above all it is hell easy to use!

But still Kubuntu is not the ‘completely perfect thingy’ for me. In my opinion it has some limitations too. Let’s see what are those.

  1. There is neither any Ubuntu Software Center nor Synaptic Package Manager. Sorry to say but KPackageKit, the default package manager of Kubuntu is not worthy any of those. Kubuntu community should seriously think about adopting Ubuntu Software Center for Kubuntu.
  2. No Ubuntu One app in Kubuntu! It is a bit strange. Now a days almost all the Ubuntu users are using Ubuntu One. There should be a handy app for this service in Kubuntu.
  3. There is no video editor in Kubuntu. Well … it is not essential for me, but for some people it may be a parameter to like Kubuntu over Ubuntu or any other operating systems.
  4. Kubuntu should come with Firefox by default. Though there is an option for installing Firefox, but I would rather like to see Firefox as the default browser instead of Rekonq.
  5. Instead of Dragon Player (the default video player), inclusion of VLC would be a great move. I think the same for Ubuntu, but for some reason Ubuntu is stuck with Totem Player and Kubuntu is stuck with Dragon Player. Both of the distro should embrace the VLC as their default player.

Well … that’s what I got in my mind after using Kubuntu for about a month. It is so familiar with Windows that a newbie migrating from Windows in to the Linux world, can easily get used to it. I am wondering, Windows and Kubuntu – who is copying whom? But to be frankly, my opinion is that Kubuntu needs lots of care to be a popular distro. I guess the Kubuntu community is not that much active or Canonical doesn’t pay proper attention to Kubuntu. Otherwise Kubuntu has the real potential to become a widely usable desktop operating system.

25 thoughts on “A newbie’s report on Kubuntu”

  1. “It has the cool compiz effects like Desktop cube, Rotating desktop etc from out of box.” KDE use KWIN and not compiz.

    1. Yes, but it’s a technical difference, that is not obvious on sight, unless you know the KDE internals 😉 The effects are pretty much the same, when you look add them. Maybe “compiz-like” therm would suit better…

      1. Yeah… I should have written compiz-like-effects. 😉 But both of them are so much same that it really difficult to distinguish! Don’t worry I’ve corrected that line. And thanks to Elch for pointing this.

  2. Nice blog post! I hope this helps:
    1)KPackageKit will no longer be default in the next Kubuntu (even though it just got a really nice upgrade and was renamed Apper). Try Muon (it’s pretty powerful) or Muon Software Center!
    2)We used to have Ubuntu One client but I think Canonical messed up all the API and broke the KDE version.
    3)The KDE Video editor is called Kdenlive (available in the package manager). Here is some more info: http://userbase.kde.org/Kdenlive
    4)If your using Firefox I suggest you install this theme here: http://kde-look.org/content/show.php/Oxygen+KDE+%28Firefox+Theme%29?content=117962
    5)I also use VLC. You might want to try Bangarang though: http://userbase.kde.org/Bangarang

    1. Mostly this right here. Some additional comments:

      2) Indeed. apachelogger was working on it and stopped because Canonical kept breaking it.
      5) VLC has patent issues, as I understand it.

  3. Ubuntu Software Center -> Muon Software Center
    Synaptic Package Manager -> Muon Package Manager

    Muon will be the default in Kubuntu Oneiric, replacing KPackageKit.

  4. “There is no video editor in Kubuntu”
    Why is that a problem? Use whatever video editor you use in regular Ubuntu. It runs GTK+ and Gnome applications too, you know.

    “Kubuntu should come with Firefox by default. Though there is an option for installing Firefox, but I would like to see Firefox as the default browser instead of Rekonq”

    Again, not a problem, just install it manually. Due to “intellectual property” restrictions on Firefox branding, Ubuntu’s Firefox binary isn’t distributable by 3rd parties (Kubuntu isn’t an official Canonical product, it’s community-produced, so they don’t have the right to distribute it).

    1. > Due to “intellectual property” restrictions on Firefox branding,
      Ubuntu’s Firefox binary isn’t distributable by 3rd parties (Kubuntu
      isn’t an official Canonical product, it’s community-produced, so they
      don’t have the right to distribute it).

      That’s not true, everyone who complies with Mozilla’s trademark policy is allowed to distribute Firefox. Kubuntu could ship the same Firefox package as Ubuntu. The reasons for not shipping Firefox are limited space on the CD and wanting to stick to KDE software.

    2. “There is no video editor in Kubuntu”
      Why is that a problem? Use whatever video editor you use in regular Ubuntu. It runs GTK+ and Gnome applications too, you know.

      That’s not a problem. I was just comparing Kubuntu with Ubuntu! 🙂

  5. I’ve tried OpenSUSE KDE in my laptop , though the package management and repository is not that flexible like Ubuntu but I loved it. For bad internet connection I am using Ubuntu 10.04 these days alongside with OpenSUSE and Windows ( My university demands that frequently) . May be after this month I am going to shift to OpenSUSE KDE parmanently. 

    Though I’ve tried Kubuntu but for some reason it doesn’t suit , frequently crashing and freezing disappointed me . Till now SUSE is working better than fine . Widgets in KDE are really awesome. Loving it. 

    FYI: SUSE KDE comes with Firefox by default. 

    1. I’ve tried OpenSUSE a few years back. What I could remember – that was indeed a good experience. I used SUSE in my university for several times. But I think it still is not easy as pie for a newcomer. Moreover my intention was to stick to Ubuntu. To be frankly, I haven’t found any thing alternate to Ubuntu for me, not even Linux Mint!

      1. Yeah , That’s right. Ubuntu is far more usable and easy than any other distro I’ve tested yet. Though I prefer LinuxMint for other because of internet access problem I never found LinuxMint suitable for me too.

        The thing about SUSE is sudo and sbin is restricted there where in Ubuntu it is easier to access. Package manager and Repository is also another important think in which a newbie may stuck.

        I am waiting for 11.10 , if that seem stable I will consider to stick to ubuntu again. Till then I am happy with OpenSUSE 11.4 and Ubuntu 10.04 🙂

        1. I am waiting for Ubuntu 12.04, I hope it’ll be a big hit! The fact I didn’t switch to Ubuntu 11.04 is that, Unity still not matured enough. Though I don’t hate Unity, actually I kind of like the idea of Unity. I am waiting for Unity to be matured and all the signs show that the perfect time will be for that is April 2012! 🙂

  6. >> Due to “intellectual property” restrictions on Firefox
    branding, Ubuntu’s Firefox binary isn’t distributable by 3rd parties
    (Kubuntu isn’t an official Canonical product, it’s community-produced,
    so they don’t have the right to distribute it).”<<

    To follow up on the comment directly after this one, there are certain requirements, due to trademark issues, but Mozilla corp is generally fairly easy to get along with. You can even check out the terms here 😉
    http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/about/partnerships.html#gettingstarted

  7. I’m also one of those who are just starting discovering how awesome KDE is and the cause was also the disaster that is Unity (and also GNOME 3). Started trying Kubuntu about a month ago and now I’m on Fedora’s KDE edition, What can I say, apps and desktop in KDE are simply the best, I’m kind of sad I didn’t try KDE sooner.

  8. WoW … how nice your wallpaper. Its opensource?!! then please share this 🙂

    I am using also KDE (Kubuntu 11.04 and now 11.10)

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