the Ubuntu kool-aid

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kenji san

Geek Trainee
Lately I've been playing around with Ubuntu Feisty in live mode on my main system and I've installed xubuntu on my toy PC (pIII, 128mb RAM). Overall I am very impressed. I tried ubuntu 4.10 and 5.04 a long while back and just didn't like it at all but a lot has changed. I have been using freeBSD and desktopBSD exclusively for over a year but it is time for a change as it just doesn't suit my needs anymore. I may try out PC-BSD but I'm not keen on the philosophy. It's time to get my peripherals working :O .

I have been using KDE for the last 4-5 years but ubuntu's GNOME set up is VERY nice. When i tried GNOME for the first time about 5 years ago I didn't like it one bit but I really like it now (at first glance). I just don't have any real experience using it so does anyone have any words of wisdom or tips that will help me transition? Does anyone here use GNOME regularly?

Is anyone feeling in the mood for a KDE vs. GNOME flame war? ;) I can feel one coming.

Anyway KDE doesn't appeal to me anymore but I'm open for suggestions. Also the last time I tried kubuntu in live mode I didn't like it.

I had also looked into PCLinuxOS but I don't like that the K-menu structure is not standards compliant and very confusing to traverse. I don't understand why they did that.

Thanks.
 
kenji san said:
Does anyone here use GNOME regularly?
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When I used Gnome for the first time, I noticed that the color scheme looked a bit like win95. But the schemes of Ubuntu look nice. But the interface looks really cool when using Beryl, and the Emerald theme manager.

I personally prefer Gnome, because it doesn't use much resources and it has an easy to use interface.

[ot]I stopped using Ubuntu right now, because the Radeon x1600 mobility in my laptop has many problems with Beryl. But when I build my new rig, it'll have a Geforce card so I can get Ubuntu up and running again :)[/ot]
 
GNOME has been known to be more of a resource hog than KDE, just because it doesn't have as many features doesn't mean it doesn't leave a large memory footprint.

I've used GNOME for about a year on my laptop, since changing to KDE seemed to whack up the GUI of all GTK apps. But a few days ago I installed KDE again and the problem is fixed. So I'm all KDE now.

Thing is, I can customise KDE to look like GNOME if I want to, but it's not really possible the other way round. I prefer KDE because it seems quicker. Even in GNOME, I was always using KDE apps. For a text editor, I use Kate all the time. For intensive file managing, I'd use Konqueror because of the great FTP support. Amarok is my music player, so it just made sense to use KDE when I was using KDE apps anyway.

One thing that annoys me about the default kubuntu KDE setup is that everything is set to "single click to open". I find double click much easier, as you don't end up opening files or directories accidentally, and can click and drag them easier.

 
What irritates me the most about KDE is the inconsistencies in the window manager. Some windows remember the position that I had last placed them and others don't. While this can be fixed WINDOW-BY-WINDOW it is too tedious. There should be a universal switch to make ALL windows remember their last location and size. Any good desktop OS should do this. There are other problems I find with KDE:

1] Too much configuration can be a bad thing. I think in the case of KDE it gets in the way. I just want to get things done.

2] Konqueror. Everything about it I dislike. Who thought that a web browser and file manager should be the same program? It's just silly. It doesn't make a good file manager, which is all I use it for. The reason why I continue to use it is the right-click 'konqueror' integration that so many other programs have, like amarok, ark etc.

I do like KDE but I'm finding that I had just become numb to the annoyances after so many years. Now I'm reevaluating if it's right for me.
 
kenji san said:
1] Too much configuration can be a bad thing. I think in the case of KDE it gets in the way. I just want to get things done.
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KDE has many options, and that can be confusing. Gnome has an easy interface. I get lost in the Control Center of KDE many times.

2] Konqueror. Everything about it I dislike. Who thought that a web browser and file manager should be the same program? It's just silly.
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You could use a different program for webbrowsing needs, like Opera or Firefox. And for a file manager, you could use Nautilus or the new file manager Dolphin (is in beta, and designed for KDE 4. But it also works in KDE 3).
 
I use Opera almost exclusively for web. I keep firefox around for certain things. My bank's website doesn't work well with Opera. Flash works better in firefox under freeBSD but that isn't an issue with linux. Still I think konqueror doesn't make a great file manager.

How well does nautilus work under KDE?
 
I can probably see your point about the Konqueror file manager, I think its powerful but not perfect. This is being addressed with KDE4, with the Dolphin program. I've built very early stage svn versions, and it has a nautilus feel to it. The whole KDE suite is being completely revamped to be slightly better designed UI wise. KDE3 was an evolution of KDE2 and maintained many of the same design characteristics and styles; while KDE4 is completely new and should address these "overcomplication" issues that some people have been facing.
 
Addis said:
I can probably see your point about the Konqueror file manager, I think its powerful but not perfect. This is being addressed with KDE4, with the Dolphin program. I've built very early stage svn versions, and it has a nautilus feel to it. The whole KDE suite is being completely revamped to be slightly better designed UI wise. KDE3 was an evolution of KDE2 and maintained many of the same design characteristics and styles; while KDE4 is completely new and should address these "overcomplication" issues that some people have been facing.
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I hope so. Unfortunately it will be delayed until December 20th and who knows how long after that it will be bug free enough for me to want to use it.

I'm tired of waiting :P
 
kenji said:
My bank's website doesn't work well with Opera.
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well i use Swiftweasel, it is basically firefox & i think it works with all FF add-ons & extensions although i haven't tried them all[ot]swiftweasel & icedove debs are here[/ot]

icedove is just Thunderbird mail client & swiftweasel works on my bank (although it says its incompatible) just click use anyway

i use KDE because GNOME just didn't impress me at all when i tried it

BTW: still trying to remaster a :swear:ing kubuntu LiveCD
 
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