Testing Kubuntu 5.04

Once you install Kubuntu on your desktop computer, it is easy to see why the Ubuntu project has been such a resounding success. A simple, text-based installation procedure, excellent hardware auto-detection and configuration, an intuitive desktop that most people will find easy-to-navigate, and a great support community. And although, in line with most other major distribution, setting up the playback of multimedia files or installing browser plugins requires extra effort, this has been made considerably easier - thanks to the excellent 60-page Unofficial Ubuntu Guide. The only complaint about the previous version of Ubuntu -- its strong preference for the GNOME desktop and brown colors -- has now also been addressed - by Kubuntu, an increasingly popular sub-project of Ubuntu Linux.

As the name suggests, Kubuntu is essentially Ubuntu for users who prefer KDE over GNOME. The developers created DEB packages of the latest version of KDE and built installation and live CDs for three architectures - i386, PPC and x86_64. We installed the i386 edition of Kubuntu 5.04 ("Hoary Hedgehog") on a test computer powered by a Pentium 4 1.4GHz processor and Intel 850 chipset with 384 MB of RAM and a Matrox Millennium G450 graphics card. The installation program, based on a recent Debian Sarge installer, was a straightforward affair requiring little human intervention. At the end of it, we found ourselves looking at a KDM login screen, and shortly afterward, at a KDE desktop with a cool blue wallpaper and desktop theme.

The first thing we normally do after installing a new distribution is to check for security updates. For package management, Kubuntu uses Kynaptic, a graphical front-end for apt-get, which comes pre-configured with sources pointing to Ubuntu's security and update servers. Kynaptic is obviously modeled on Synaptic, but despite its better integration with the KDE desktop, it fades in comparison with its better-known counterpart - it lacks a way to update the sources.list file from within its GUI and it also has some interface quirks, which usually indicate that the product has not quite reached the 1.0 status. Nevertheless, as a simple package management utility, it works fine and we were able to refresh the package information and upgrade a handful of packages that were listed as being already installed, but needed upgrades.

As Kubuntu comes on only one CD, it goes without saying that many useful packages have been omitted from the CD and are only available from Ubuntu's online repositories (Kubuntu does not have its own repository). We went on to create a more functional developer's workstation by installing software that we normally use around here, including Apache, BitTorrent, gFTP, GIMP, Java, PHP, Firefox, Quanta, and a number of other packages. This completed without a hitch. Since Kubuntu basically represents a subset of Ubuntu Linux, we decided to install a full GNOME desktop too, just to prove the concept. This can be done by selecting the "ubuntu-desktop" package from the list and the 200+ dependent packages are then selected automatically. The installation completed flawlessly and a new "GNOME" entry has appeared under the KDM's "Session Type" menu; however the GNOME desktop came up with an unpopulated default panel and without the usual desktop icons. Nevertheless, the concept worked and we were able to turn the Kubuntu installation into a full Kubuntu + Ubuntu desktop.

Usable as the default Kubuntu desktop is, some users will undoubtedly want more - notably some of the proprietary applications and multimedia codecs, but also some useful open source applications that are not in the official Ubuntu repositories. This is where the above-mentioned Unofficial Ubuntu Guide comes handy - it explains things in layman's terms and guides users through re-configuring sources.list and installing applications. We followed the instructions and installed and configured Java Runtime Environment, Macromedia Flash Plugin, Acrobat Reader, Skype, several multimedia codecs and DVD playback functionality, MPlayer and RealPlayer. With instructions about how to install non-Latin fonts and how to configure input method editors for inputting Asian character sets, international users are not neglected either. The guide also explains how to install several commercial applications, popular games, the NVIDIA driver, and drivers for certain winmodems. After less than an hour of following the instructions in the guide, we succeeded in turning a stock Kubuntu installation into a powerful and highly usable Linux workstation with just about everything a desktop user might need.

And this is when we suddenly realized why the Ubuntu project has been such an enormous success. It is not just the wealthy sponsor and the skilled Linux developers that produce quality software, it is also the existence of various sub-projects and community efforts (such as Kubuntu or the Unofficial User Guide) that have contributed a great deal towards its growing acceptance. Of course, there are many excellent distributions on the market. But to our knowledge, none of them can boast an existence of a comprehensive free manual that tells its users how to install, configure and use some of the useful non-free software and how to enhance their Linux operating system to get, in terms of usability, as close as possible to Mac OS or MS Windows. This guide, already translated into a number of languages, should be the first stop of any new Ubuntu/Kubuntu user.

Both Ubuntu and Kubuntu are impressive distributions that are deservedly becoming the leaders of the desktop Linux (of course, they can be used on servers too). In fact, it is very hard to find any fault with Hoary Hedgehog - it has a solid installer, hands-off hardware setup, and many little enhancements that makes computers so much more fun. Its community resources are hard to beat and it is still the only project that has produced both installation and live CDs for three architectures. If you haven't tried Ubuntu/Kubuntu, do yourself a favor and install it on a spare partition. Chances are that it will find a permanent home on your hard disk.

Index entries for this article
GuestArticles	Bodnar, Ladislav

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to post comments

Testing Kubuntu 5.04

Posted May 5, 2005 1:38 UTC (Thu) by emak (guest, #488) [Link] (1 responses)

Chances are that it will find a permanent home on your hard disk. It did...

Testing Kubuntu 5.04

Posted May 5, 2005 8:27 UTC (Thu) by stevan (guest, #4342) [Link]

Same here. And the ability to type "server" at the CD boot prompt and get
working server in under 10 minutes has been a great.

S

Install Ubuntu instead of Kubuntu -- then apt-get install kubuntu-desktop

Posted May 5, 2005 12:10 UTC (Thu) by dowdle (subscriber, #659) [Link] (5 responses)

Don't get me wrong, Kubuntu is great... but it is so stripped down. And let's say you want both KDE and Gnome? Well, sure... you can use apt-get to grab whatever you want... but what packages exactly make up the default Gnome desktop on Ubuntu? I couldn't tell you. I can tell you an easy way to install all of Kubuntu's KDE stuff on Ubuntu... simply apt-get kubuntu-desktop... and luckily the Kubuntu website tells you howto do everything.

If you install Kubuntu, you don't get Firefox nor GIMP by default.

Reguarding the unofficial Ubuntu Guide, I'd have to give the FedoraFAQ folks some props too... they come pretty close to providing the same info about how to add all of the juicy mutlimedia apps to Fedora Core... basically just add a repository (DAG) or two to your yum.conf and away you go.

I've seen mention of a DVD iso of Ubuntu but so far, I haven't been able to find it. I know so many people like having only 1 install CD (less to initially download) but I prefer the bloated, multi-CD distros where I have less to download after the install (other than updates and adding the multimedia apps). Just think about it... download the CD set once... copy all you want. With a single CD install, download the install CD... and then on every machine you install on, you are downloading all of the additional stuff you want that wasn't part of the single CD. That's a lot of downloading. Yes, I know there are ways around that (make your own repository and carry it around on CD) but that takes some work.

Install Ubuntu instead of Kubuntu -- then apt-get install kubuntu-desktop

Posted May 5, 2005 18:54 UTC (Thu) by busterb (subscriber, #560) [Link] (4 responses)

apt-get install ubuntu-desktop gives you the Gnome stuff.

Install Ubuntu instead of Kubuntu -- then apt-get install kubuntu-desktop

Posted May 5, 2005 18:59 UTC (Thu) by dowdle (subscriber, #659) [Link] (3 responses)

Cool. I'm glad I brought it up... as an opportunity for someone to tell me how. I was thinking that it might be something like that but I didn't see it documented anywhere. Now I know.

I wonder which is a bigger package download, kubuntu-desktop or ubuntu-desktop?

Install Ubuntu instead of Kubuntu -- then apt-get install kubuntu-desktop

Posted May 6, 2005 22:11 UTC (Fri) by fergal (guest, #602) [Link] (2 responses)

Cool. I'm glad I brought it up... as an opportunity for someone to tell me how.

Another way to find out was to actually read the article before commenting :) Paragraph 4.

Install Ubuntu instead of Kubuntu -- then apt-get install kubuntu-desktop

Posted May 6, 2005 22:26 UTC (Fri) by dowdle (subscriber, #659) [Link] (1 responses)

Ok, I did read the article... but somehow I missed that detail. I wish I could say that the article was edited and that part added after I commented... but that would be a lie. In an attempt to throw off some of the embarrisment, I think there are more packages associated with Gnome than KDE so again, it still might be worth it for those who want both to download / install Ubuntu rather than Kubuntu. I mean, Kubuntu only has Konqueror for a browser. Now Konqueror is nice, but I want more...and I have to have GIMP too!

I have installed both and I can tell you that Kubuntu has so few applications... it's like there isn't much there... other than KDE... and a subset of KDE at that (no kdeedu, kdegames, etc). Compared to say Knoppix (where they use miraculous compression), it is skimpy.

I have to admit though, it is good to see both install disks available.

Install Ubuntu instead of Kubuntu -- then apt-get install kubuntu-desktop

Posted May 6, 2005 22:38 UTC (Fri) by fergal (guest, #602) [Link]

Actually, that's a very good point. I've been thinking of install Ubuntu for a while but I use KDE. The separate Kubuntu disc sounded a big dodgy to me. It's good to know I can start from standard Ubuntu and add KDE.

Testing Kubuntu 5.04

Posted May 6, 2005 0:31 UTC (Fri) by dberkholz (guest, #23346) [Link] (1 responses)

> But to our knowledge, none of them can boast an existence of a
> comprehensive free manual that tells its users how to install, configure
> and use some of the useful non-free software and how to enhance their Linux
> operating system to get, in terms of usability, as close as possible to Mac
> OS or MS Windows.

I usually try to avoid being a Gentoo fanatic, but documentation is one instance in which it really shines. If you look at its desktop docs <http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/index.xml?catid=desktop>> and its handbook <http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/index.xml>>, along with the rest of Gentoo's docs, I bet you'd find much of the same information and more.

Testing Kubuntu 5.04

Posted May 16, 2005 18:15 UTC (Mon) by zakaelri (guest, #17928) [Link]

I must agree: the Gentoo documentation is some of the best I have read with regard to Linux.

I wanted to set up a 64 bit version of Linux for my Athlon 64 box, so I downloaded the Kubutu liveCD and tried running it. Overall, my experience was prety good. The only gripe I had was that it ran rather slowly. I chalked this up to it loading off my CD drive, and decided to install the official desktop on my machine.

Unfortunately, after I had installed it, I found it lacking. For any binary-distributed distro, I believe that things such as the nVidia drivers should be included on-disk. Also, like the article above says, the devs for Kubuntu neglected to include apps that KDE doesn't currently provide, such as image editing software. And, on top of that, it was still running woefully slow.

So, I am now back on gentoo (compiled -O2 -march=athlon64) and am *mostly* happy (Gentoo has problems of it's own, but I digress). Other than the DE (I am not a fan of GNOME), I found Ubuntu to be a very polished distribution. Having been a witness to that, I belive I may have put too much faith in Kubuntu. Hopefully 5.10 will have more of what I am looking for.

-- My 2 cents

Testing Kubuntu 5.04

Posted May 12, 2005 8:41 UTC (Thu) by joib (subscriber, #8541) [Link]

After using debian since 1996 or so, I finally got tired of waiting for the next stable release, and upgraded from sarge to hoary when hoary was released. The upgrade went smoothly, although it required some messing with apt pinning to downgrade some packages to the official supported ubuntu versions. In general I have been very happy, Ubuntu is very polished.

The one thing that really annoys me though, is that a security update to kdelibs-data was broken (couldn't be installed since it conflicted with the knetworkconf package IIRC), and AFAIK they still haven't fixed it even though it was something like 3 weeks ago.