Kubuntu – try it, you might like it November 12, 2007
Posted by Al in : computers , trackbackI’ve used Linux for 5 years now, but only in small ways. It’s easier to program using Linux as Microsoft’s Foundation classes are so confusing and overblown that I have given up on them. Linux is also full of loads of free software that can do the tings you need to get done – however, normally not as easily as commercial Windows programs. And finally, Linux comes complete with loads of software that is used commercially on the Internet, such as Apache, MySQL, SQUID, Sendmail, etc.
After the break you will find more of my rants on Linux, Ubuntu and Kubuntu – all of which are worth reading. But if you want another, very reasonable, point of view then have a look at this article.
Unfortunately, Linux has always had one major problem: it was never easy to install, configure or use, and it didn’t support the hardware you might have in your computer. Which meant that although I dabbled with Linux, I would always return to Windows to do anything serious, or to play games, or just to be able to use easily. Things, however, have recently got a lot better, and I have to say that Ubuntu has helped dramatically with this improvement. I used to use Mandrake, which was based on Red Hat, because it at least came with a reasonable installer. I’d rather not use the command line, if at all possible, and Mandrake had a nifty graphical installation that worked most of the time. Now Ubuntu comes with a nifty graphical installer that seems to work almost all the time, which is great.
Once installed I find it boots a lot quicker than Windows XP, has almost every application that I need, is secure and actually has a few more features than Windows:
- boot time, on a reasonable system (Pentium 4 @ 2.66GHz and 512MB RAM) is around 1 minute, which beats my main Windows machine by a full minute;
- applications I use regularly include Webmin for remote access and control, Apache and MySQL, and KTorrent for downloading those useful bits and pieces;
- Adept package manager is the equivalent of Windows Update, but it updates any software you have on the system, and not just basic components;
- multiple desktops – I don’t use them much, but they can be really useful if you developing something, and you want to use the Internet at the same time;
- there’s a piece of software to do just about anything you need to do – I was amazed the other day when I double clicked on a piece of DivX media I had downloaded. On Windows you need to install the DivX codecs, and then struggle to set up file associations. On Kubuntu I double clicked on a DivX film and Kaffeine popped up and played it without a moment’s hesitation, and I had not installed any extra software since installing Kubuntu.
I have slowly, but surely, become more and more impressed with Kubuntu since I installed the latest version (7.10 – Gutsy Gibbon). When I had first installed Ubuntu it had always had a habit of freeziing, which I was certain was related to the PC’s power management, and it’s hibernation settings. However, 7.10 had resolved all these problems, and I now had an OS that I can leave on all the time without worrying about Computer repairs like crashing, freezing or failing to respond. It also does everything that I need it to do, often quicker than Windows (and never slower), and with genuine solidity. When I build my next PC I intend to run Kubuntu on it as my rpimary OS, and I will boot XP through VMWare for those applications which still remain Windows only.
I really cannot emphasise enough how good Kubuntu really is. Most of what I have just written can be applied to Ubuntu in general, but I find the KDE desktop so much better than the Gnome desktop, which is why I would advise you to use Kubuntu. The argument against the QT desktop toolkit was removed years ago, and the QT toolkit produces such excellent results that I cannot see why people would not use it. However, Linux is all about choice, so if you choose Ubuntu, with the Gnome desktop instead, then that’s fine with me. What would make me happy is if you actually tried using a Ubuntu derived OS on your PC – you can dual boot it, so you don’t need to lose Windows. There’s really no argument for not using Linux any more, and Ubuntu is now the best way of using Linux. So try it as soon as you can.
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