Ubuntu KDE

[David Coldrick]

>From what I've heard, if you're a mad-keen KDE bigot :-), you should
be thinking about Mepis or Yoper, rather than Ubuntu.

For myself, until Ubuntu - and I guess Gnome 2.8 - I could never see
what anyone liked about Gnome. But I'm really enjoying it now.

Regards,
David


On Mon, 13 Dec 2004 17:24:00 -0500, dawynn <ulist at gs1.ubuntuforums.org> wrote:
> 
> >From a KDE lover that wants a Ubuntu-KDE option:
> 
> First: It's been a few years since I tried anything RPM.  I started on
> Redhat, then tried Mandrake (because of its love of KDE).  The problem
> I had with the RPM-based distributions was RPM itself.  It didn't
> protect me enough.  I would expect to be able to update to the next
> "distribution" by updating each of my currently installed packages.
> Such updating usually left my system broken in the RPM world.
> 
> Then I discovered Debian.  I have *never* run into the update problem
> with Debian.  As long as I don't try to force any dependencies,
> everything stays working.  I've updated various pieces many times on my
> system and never had a problem.  So, the whole .deb thing is a good
> thing.
> 
> I wanted a recent KDE, so I switched from stable to testing in Debian.
> But things are constantly changing in testing.  When I started looking
> into Ubuntu, I thought it would be nice to keep relatively current,
> while still staying relatively stable.  Thus, the six-months between
> releases *really* appeals to me.  I had used KDE consistently for some
> time, but was willing to give GNOME a shot.
> 
> And GNOME came up a disappointment.  I guess it was the whole problem
> of Ubuntu claiming to use what "just works" and underlying that with a
> broken window manager.
> 
> Here's a few things I would expect in a window manager that "just
> works":
> 
> 1) A comprehensible, easily updatable menu system.  GNOME easily let me
> add and delete entries.  But in order to move an entry from one folder
> to another, I had to enter a special command into Nautilus (not any
> browser, just Nautilus).  Note that the GNOME menu issues are clearly
> documented in several forums, not just the Ubuntu forums.  KDE has a
> special tool just for updating the menus.  Yay, KDE!
> 
> 2) Like Internet Explorer, there should be a single tool that works as
> both a Web Browser, and a File Manager.  Nautilus makes a good file
> manager, but doesn't work at all as a web browser.  Mozilla makes a
> superior bloated web browser, but a poor file manager (and was not able
> to be used to update the menus).  Yay, Konqueror!
> 
> 3) How about cusomizability?  Superkaramba for KDE.  ??? for GNOME???
> Nuff said.  Yay, superkaramba!
> 
> That being said, I'm not saying that Ubuntu would best work if switched
> from GNOME to KDE.  But I would suggest that GNOME was a poor choice for
> a window manager when it's menu system seems so disjointed.  I have not
> found any specific issues with KDE, even though so many seem to be
> vehemently against it.  The only reason I've seen people suggest so far
> is -- KDE uses configuration files.  Um -- doesn't every window manager?
> For all I'm concerned, it would be cool for a distribution to use a
> completely different default window manager (maybe, IceWM?) -- as long
> as the thing works (and the menus can be updated easily).
> 
> Both KDE and GNOME can run each other's programs, so compatibility with
> certain must-have tools, like Synaptic, Gnucash, Kdevelop, etc is not a
> problem -- they'll run in both systems.
> 
> The other thing is -- my system is already set up.  I would like a way
> to migrate easily to whatever distribution I'm going to use next.  I
> can migrate from Debian to Ubuntu, just my changing my Apt Sources
> list.  I could do that with Knoppix, but Knoppix openly admits that
> once its installed on a hard-drive, it's basically a Debian system.
> Mepis doesn't advertise it's Apt Sources listing.  So, in order to move
> to Mepis, I would have to ruin my current setup and reinstall linux.
> 
> The original question on this thread was not whether we wanted Ubuntu
> bogged down with KDE, but whether any KDE users would like to see the
> spirit of Ubuntu put into a new distribution that had goals similar to
> Ubuntu, but using KDE instead of GNOME.  I would be all for such a
> project.
> 
> In the meantime, the Ubuntu people have promised that they are working
> with KDE people to try to bring KDE to the main package base.  No, this
> wouldn't need to mess up a GNOME setup.  Imagine a ubuntu-gnome-desktop
> and a ubuntu-kde-destop.  Users could choose one or the other, both, or
> neither as they needed.  For that matter, there could just as easily be
> a ubuntu-icewm-desktop, etc.  Although I would like to see such a
> thing, I fear that trying to create such diversity in Ubuntu would
> break the spirit of the project.
> 
> For now, I'm waiting to see what Debian will do to break its process of
> increasingly longer stable release cycles.
> 
> Cheers!
> 
> --
> dawynn
> 
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