![[Image]](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_0GnY693NakM/SSk_s2p6FDI/AAAAAAAAAmw/n-4Hz8G4YoU/s1600-h/kde41.png)
I installed Kubuntu and tried it for few days, here are some tips for you if you are planning to instal Kubuntu. Kubuntu is the distant cousin of Ubuntu and uses KDE as its desktop environment. Canonical doesn't pay as much attention to Kubuntu, Kubuntu is generally regarded as one of the worst KDE based distros. I've heard that OpenSuse is a better option to try KDE. Here are few quick things to setup in Kubuntu:1. Install Flash 10
To install the official Adobe Flash plugin (Flash 10) for Firefox, install the adobe-flashplugin package:
sudo apt-get install adobe-flashplugin
2. Install Java 6.0
sudo apt-get install sun-java6-jre sun-java6-plugin
3. Install GIMP: I don't know why KDE doesn't ship with GIMP. It is obviously the best image editor other than Photoshop. One of the reasons for this could be that GIMP is an GTK based app.
sudo apt-get install gimp
Initially GIMP will look ugly but we can change that easily later on.
4. Turn off Wallet: The wallet must be one of the most irritating thing ever made for PC. It keeps on nagging for your password after every 5 min. So here is how you stop it.
K Menu > Applications > Settings > Wallet Management
Now look in your System Tray (it is normally at the extreme right side on your panel) for one brown colored icon. Right click on it and select configure wallet and then uncheck Enable KDE wallet subsystem.
5. Play DVDs:
sudo apt-get install libdvdcss2
if this doesnt work for some reasons use this command:
sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread3/install-css.sh
6. Make GTK Apps Beautiful: If you try installing Gnome apps like GIMP, Firefox in KDE they will look ugly because they are based on GTK. To make them look like a normal (and beautiul) KDE app type this in a terminal:
sudo apt-get install gtk-qt-engine-kde4
Now got to K Menu > System Settings > Appearence > GTK Styles and Fonts
Here select the option Use my KDE style in GTK applications
also select Use my KDE fonts in GTK applications
Now your Gnome apps will start looking pretty too. After using the above settings my GIMP started looking good before using that GIMP looked like some Windows 98 software :P
[thanks Tombuntu]
7. Add Avatar: You can add cool avatars for your account.
Go to Settings > About Me > Password and User Account
Well KDE 4.1 motto says 'Don't look back' well I have decided that from now on I won't ever try KDE. On the very next day Plasma crashed and I had to reinstall Ubuntu.
Try PC/OS or Mint they are ready to go out of the box.
ReplyDelete> Well KDE 4.1 motto says 'Don't look back' well
ReplyDelete> I have decided that from now on I won't ever
> try KDE. On the very next day Plasma crashed
> and I had to reinstall Ubuntu.
Funny didn't you start out saying that Kubuntu is considered a poor implementation of KDE? So why would you dismiss the whole KDE desktop based on the way *buntu presents KDE?
Try _any_ other distro that actually supports KDE and you may change your tune, or have a valid point if something fails. Also, know that the KDE developers have repeatedly said that KDE4 shouldn't really be used and expected to be superstable until KDE 4.2 in January.
I am using Kubuntu 8.10 on my work laptop and I am quite satisfied with it. About KDE 4, I have been using it since its 4.0 version. 4.1 seems much better and plasma never crashed for me. But it still seems to be missing some good old KDE features (like right-click > copy-to / move-to, extract archive here etc.).
ReplyDeleteI don't like OpenSuSE because of its clunky package management system, otherwise it is also good.
I've been using KDE 4.2 (trunk) on my work laptop and it has never troubled me. Considering I support 3 global customers as a database administrator, this should tell you that its stable and usable.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I use Kubuntu and have had no trouble with it at all, you are better off using Mandriva for KDE4.
@Sid
ReplyDelete"right-click > copy-to / move-to"
It's already available. Just enable it in Dolphin Settings on General tab.
Regarding the original article, yes I agree that currently Kubuntu is not the best distro to check KDE 4. Mandriva and openSUSE are more polished in this area.
I also don't agree with point 4. KWallet is a very handy feature for securely storing your password. You just once enter the master password and then all the app and web page passwords get entered automatically. I like this a lot.
As other also said it is very foolish to decide to not try KDE based on a test of not the best distribution. It is even more so foolish because in Linux world things change very quickly so it is smart to frequently check how other things progress. KDE 4 is changing especially fast. I myself didn't like KDE 4.0 at all. After only 6 months 4.1 is already a lot better and from what I can see about 4.2 it is going to totally rock.
If you want to get any of this stuff. Make sure to add the medibuntu repository.
ReplyDeleteYES! I agree with each of those except #7. It's nice but not necessary. Why Ubuntu doesn't install Java I don't know and I can't stand kwallet. I'm sure it's useful, but I find it extremely annoying.
ReplyDeleteYou are mixing distribution decisions (like kubuntu not containing gimp in a default installation) with your opinion of the usefulness of a particular kde application...
ReplyDeletethats not very sound
i suggest you all to try fedora 10. it is rock solid. and it has plymouth .and it has solar comet. and it has the power of redhat and 11 million users
ReplyDeleteyeah, I got rid of the wallet too.
ReplyDeleteI don't like password managers in general. Besides, I'll forget the passwords if I don't use them regularly. And that sucks when I'm on a different comptuer.
You come across as a very immature person who doesn't really understand how KDE works with distributions.
ReplyDeleteI think you owe your readers and the KDE project an apology.
@ Anonymous:
ReplyDelete"You come across as a very immature person who doesn't really understand how KDE works with distributions.
I think you owe your readers and the KDE project an apology."
I think you are right, here is my apology
:P
Im a newb to linux and really thank you for the help.what about burning a iso cd?
ReplyDelete@john:
ReplyDeleteHere is your answer:
http://www.petri.co.il/how_to_write_iso_files_to_cd.htm