Kubuntu Linux 9.10
Desktop & Apps
When I first booted into my Kubuntu Linux 9.10 desktop, two things greeted me. One was the Desktop folder which was opened and empty. And the other was a microblogging service menu. If you like KDE 4.3 then you’re really going to enjoy Kubuntu 9.10.
Please note that if you prefer KDE 3.5, a remix is available. I’m not going to do a review of it but wanted to note it here for those who are still not ready to make the leap to KDE 4.3.
Personally I find myself liking KDE 4.3 more now than I have in the past. I don’t know if I’ve just gotten used to it or what. But it’s easy on the eyes for sure and it’s a nice break from Gnome and some of the light-weight desktops. Even the sliding menus didn’t annoy me too much this time around.
Here’s a sample of some of the software that comes with Kubuntu 9.10.
Graphics
DNG Image Converter
Document Viewer
OpenOffice.org Drawing
Gwenview Image Viewer
KSnapshot
Internet
KTorrent
Krfb Desktop Sharing
Kopete IM
Quassel IRC
KMail
Firefox (Comes with Firefox Installer)
Konqueror
Multimedia
Amarok Audio Player
K3b CD & DVD Burning
KMix Sound Mixer
Dragon Video Player
Office
KAddressBook
Okular Document Viewer
KOrganizer
OpenOffice.org
KTimeTracker
Adding & Removing Software
Kubuntu uses KPackageKit as its software add/remove tool. I’ll have much more to say about it in the problems section but suffice to say I wasn’t particularly impressed with it. I was able to add some software using it but the experience left much to be desired.
(12 votes, average: 3.92 out of 5)
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Based on what you say here, Jim, if I were going to the KDE 4.3 series as my preferred desktop, (I continue to prefer Gnome or Xfce) the distro would not be Kubuntu. sidux 2009-2 will not give you your desktop social widgets, but it will give you an otherwise quite nice and responsive rendition of KDE. And if I were going to bet, I would put my money on the next Mepis, which will run 4.3.3 according to Mepis fans. Mepis has a good reputation for being well crafted, so the annoyances that show in Kubuntu very possibly will not appear there.
For non-Debian folks the next Suse (11.2 as I recall) is barely a week or so away. KDE people might want to see how it works.
Ubuntu is Gnome-centric and in my opinion best used that way.
I could not even reload the resoulces list and package kit was empty all the time because a cache bug. If this is not a show-stopper i don’t know what it is.
Kubuntu 9.10 went through a pretty good testing cycle, based on tests of a couple of Alpha releases (I think I started this release with Alpha 3 in a Virtualbox). I also had an installed version of Kubuntu 9.04, so when this reached Beta (or Release Candidate, I can’t remember which for certain), I ran an upgrade on 9.04, which allowed me to move to the software just prior to release, then after release, I ran another upgrade to get to the final.
Observations: NTP (time server) support works now; I had reported a defect in the 9.04 time frame that did not get adequately fixed; they fixed it now. Upgrades from 9.04 seem to work well. This is not the first time that I have upgraded from one release to another. Canonical and the various Ubuntu family of products generally do upgrades well. Mandriva is one of the other distributions that also does upgrades well, and they also have a release coming out (Jim, that would be a good one to review too, 2010.0).
You need not suffer with the “sliding menus” if you do not like the Kicker menu style. With KDE 4.3 you can revert to the classic KDE menus. In addition, tens of thousands of defects have been fixed, and KDE 4 can once again be considered stable.
I had no issues with this release. I’d put it up against Mandriva 2010.0. My inclination would be to give preference to Mandriva; I think it makes a better development platform, but they are similar in ease of use. For more software available right at installation time, get Mandriva. For those who upgrade and add software using package updates, it makes little difference; both have HUGE repositories of applications available. Mandriva, to me, has much nicer art work; Jim usually prefers good art, so I’d give the edge to Mandriva there.
Ubuntu sometimes has quality control issues on their rapid release versions with a lot of new features and better stability in their long term support releases (LTS). Mandriva suffers from quality control reputation issues. If cutting edge matters more than the possibility of finding defects, then both Kubuntu and Mandriva are worth a look. IF you want something more stable, wait for the next Mint or MEPIS release instead.
Nice review. Kpackage kit worked with no show stoppers even tho I don’t really like it. Overall Kubuntu showed no show stopper problems at all. Some minor problems were easy to take care of. As far as Kde distros goes I’ve tried several in the past month including sidux, Mandriva, OpenSuse (RC), and Kubuntu seems to work as well or better than most. If a person has to use Kde then its a good distro. Just remember that KDE4 still has a way to go before it can be considered prime time.
Thanks for the comments, guys.
BTW, we had a slight database burp due to a dumbass that accidentally removed the database then had to restore it from a backup. So a few posts are missing from this review. My apologies for the error.
I swear I only had 3 blueberry ales.
Please feel free to repost your comments and sorry about the database screw up.
As long as they finally fix the wireless issues that have been plaguing Ubuntu since 8.10 then I will be happy, and it will be a windows 7 killer.
Nice review you wrote!
Two remarks:
*Adblocking by default is certainly not a KDE thing, since the KDE adblocker is an optional Konqi plugn, available from extragear. Although I can understand the choice made by Kubuntu.
*KDE is in now way related to firefox, so that installer also has nothing to do with KDE. Konqi isn’t a good browser for modern javascript-heavy sites, so Firefox is a better choice there. However, Firefox depends on lots of GTK things, so putting it on the CD will remove room for other apps, so the Kubuntu Devs decided to write an installer.
Oh BTW: I also would recommend a Mandriva Review, excellent distro, I’m using it for a year know, because *buntu tends to screw up KDE translations.
@ MacLone:
I agree with MacLone. Kpackagekit does not work. I tried to use Synaptic in Kubuntu but I had a lot of problems. Packagekit works fine in Opensuse 11.2 KDE: Kubuntu needs a lot of work to reach Opensuse, Sabayon, Pardus, SimplyMepis, eccetera.