Has Kubuntu become less stable?

[Jeffrey Barish]

When I first started using Kubuntu a few years ago, I remember reading 
complaints from people about how it had become less stable with 
successive releases.  I was mystified by these complaints because I 
found Kubuntu pleasant to use and reliable.  However, I was reminded of 
the remarks when I upgraded to 10.04.  When 10.10 came out, I did a 
clean installation hoping to eliminate any problems attributable to 
kruft.  A few problems did vanish, but I am still amazed by the number 
of problems I am experiencing.  I upgraded to KDE 4.5.4 hoping that the 
latest code would solve the problems.  It did not.  I guess I am going 
to hang on a little longer because there is so much that I like about 
Kubuntu, but I'm wondering whether anyone else has had the same 
experience.

Here's a sampling of some of the problems I am having.  The most 
serious is that after running for 2-3 days, dbus-daemon starts 
consuming 100% of CPU and the CPU temperature goes to 85 (it's normally 
around 50).  I have to reboot regularly in an effort to forestall this 
problem, but I still fear what could happen to my computer if I don't 
catch the overheating quickly.

An especially annoying problem is that drop-down menus often do not 
appear.  I get sort of a ghost of the menu, but no text is visible.  I 
have to activate the drop-down over and over before eventually it does 
appear.  I have had the X server lock several times.  Screen updates 
often do not occur properly.  For example, half a window might scroll 
while the other half does not.

KOffice tools are seriously broken.  KOffice used to be a joy: simple 
to use and fast.  Now it's slow as a dog (I have one file that takes 
about 5 minutes to open); it consumes screen space with a docker that I 
don't use and can't remove.  It sometimes insists on scrolling whenever 
I type anything so that the text is no longer visible.  Dates cannot be 
formatted (meaning the formatting that I apply disappears when I reopen 
the file).  KSpread seems unable to display the grid.  KNode was 
missing some icons, but fortunately they have reappeared in the latest 
upgrade.  On reboots, KDE still cannot keep track of which desktop some 
programs were on.

And so on.  Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed a deterioration 
in stability?
-- 
Jeffrey Barish