Ubuntu vs. Kubuntu – A Linux Lover’s Challenge
For the purpose of this discussion, let’s assume that you’ve already decided on or are using the Ubuntu distribution of Linux. e.g. There are plenty of linux flavors out there, and this article will only discuss the advantages and disadvantages of Ubuntu and Kubuntu.
First of all, both Ubuntu and Kubuntu are based on the same cannonical distribution and core. The only (and important) difference between them is the desktop environment offered with either option. Ubuntu comes with the Gnome desktop environment, whereas Kubuntu offers the KDE desktop.
KDE vs. Gnome
Many will say that the value of Gnome vs KDE is in their graphical presentation. KDE is a 3D highly graphical environment with much eye-candy objects. Gnome is a more basic, pleasant IMO, graphical implementation. It more resembles Windows XP in form and function.
In addition, KDE and Gnome each have different software packages that are specific to them. For example, KATE is a KDE text editor. Amarok is a KDE music player. Gnome has a whole set of tools specific to it as well. Most of these tools will work fine on either desktop. I have used Amarok on KDE and Gnome with no problems in either case.
Review
I have used Kubuntu as my desktop operating system for the last three years. I use my desktop PC for development, email, media, file management, SSH connections with servers, and just about everything else. I need my OS to be a workhorse.
After three years of strong Kubuntu performance on KDE 3.x, I upgraded first to Kubuntu 8.x which upgraded the KDE to 4.0. I found the desktop interface changes to be clumsy, and although well-meaning, were essentially a dud. After reading the much-hyped reviews of Kubuntu 9.x which shipped in May and included the update to KDE 4.1, I thought maybe we could go back to the ‘good ole days’. My wishes were not delivered. Kubuntu had been slow and causing many crashes – primarily with the media players. I found myself on a regular basis having to kill the mplayer or npviewer.bin (the 32 bit wrapper for the Adobe flash player on 64 bit OS). Granted, there are other factors, possibly hardware and/or configuration changes due to added software, but the same machine performed well in the past and after the upgrade to 9.x and until my switch to Gnome (Ubuntu) last week, had become nearly unbearable.
Verdict
After much consideration, I have changed the desktop environment on my copy of linux Kubuntu to Gnome. Essentially, I am running Ubuntu, but the logon splash screen says Kubuntu. Since both desktops rely on the same core operating system, i was able to upgrade (or simply to switch) to Gnome / Ubuntu by going to the upgrade manager and requesting the Gnome desktop. The upgrade/switch took about 20 minutes, and not only was it seamless, even the bookmarks in Firefox and all the configurations are still in place. Here’s a tutorial for Kubuntu users to switch to Gnome.
Therefore, my experience has been that if you are looking for a dependable Linux OS and without the bells and whistles of a developmental phase of KDE (at least until it’s fully baked in this new 4.x generation), stick with Ubuntu.
What have been your experiences with Kubuntu and Ubuntu? Please share with us.
Kubuntu Download
Ubuntu Download
June 9th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
I generally prefer Gnome.
Like you, I feel that KDE4 was not really ready for prime time on its release, and still isn’t. Tried to bite off more than they could chew, perhaps; I couldn’t say. It’s strange, really, because I run a tremendous lot of KDE applications: Amarok, K3B, Kid3, Kaffeine, KTorrent, to name a few. But I don’t much care for the KDE environment itself. Gnome, to me, is less obtrusive and more suited for the way I like to set up my workspace. Which is to say, very Maclike in feel. I appreciate that KDE has a much more flexible set of configuration tools than Gnome – in particular I wish the Gnome developers would pick up the “change all fonts” option from KDE’s font configurator – but Gnome does what I want it to, and seems faster and more stable than KDE, especially since the release of KDE4.
It’s quite possible that some of this is bias. I have always preferred a Maclike environment, though I’ve never owned an actual Mac. I used to set Windows 95 up to look like the Macs of the time – drive icons at upper right, trashcan at lower right, no My Network Places or My Computer icons on the desktop. And Gnome makes the pseudo-Mac look and feel easier to accomplish than KDE, so it’s possible that a long-standing preference is standing in the way of my adopting an interface that would actually turn out to be better for me – possible, but somehow it doesn’t feel likely.
June 9th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
The people that released the most recent version of Kubuntu should be ashamed of themselves. Completely useless.
June 9th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
Well, I always like KDE, I like how KDE is engineered to be good, not polished to be good. And KDE 4 proves it, it was rough at the beginning, but after the core design is completed, it moves faster than ever, it evolves and matures rapidly.
As I can consider myself a power user, I listen to their advice, I didn’t install KDE 4 until KDE 4.2, which is quite good, and KDE 4.3 will be even better. (even though I always maintain a KDE installation fresh from SVN)
June 9th, 2009 at 11:14 pm
No, another key difference is the amount of work put into the Ubuntu distro shows with much higher quality than Kubuntu. Kubuntu looks and feels like an afterthought. Compare it to a rich KDE experience like that in Mandriva 2009.1. There’s simply no comparison. It’s a pure letdown to KDE lovers.
June 9th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
I have been using Kubuntu (main desktop) and Ubuntu (laptop) 9.04 since they were released in April. My experience is that Ubuntu is far more polished, but a lot of things weren’t obvious until I had to live with each OS for a while. At the moment KDE4/Kubuntu doesn’t seem complete–there are important things missing like easy file sharing, for example. Both the KDE and Kubuntu teams are to blame in this case–KDE for leaving holes in the user experience, and Kubuntu for not adequately filling those holes (Mandriva does a good job of filling many holes with its control center). That being said, I believe the situation will improve rapidly, as KDE development is happening at a very fast pace.
Despite its current flaws, I do prefer many things about KDE and its apps. The KDE developers are thinking big, and I like how they’ve paid attention to some issues that GNOME ignores (such as hiding the cursor while typing–nice touch). In all, KDE/Kubuntu just needs some more time to mature before we can feel as confident handing a friend a Kubuntu CD.
June 10th, 2009 at 2:06 am
I’m running Kubuntu 9.04 (since abandoning the Gentoo Path), but I’ve installed ubuntu-desktop and KDE 3.5 on it as well, so I could always jump between the environments, if so desired. The rest of the family is still using KDE3 and they’re perfectly happy with that.
Here’s a guide to installing KDE3 on a more recent (K)ubuntu:
https://wiki.kubuntu.org/Kubuntu/Kde3/Jaunty#KDE4.x%20compatibility
June 10th, 2009 at 7:28 am
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June 10th, 2009 at 8:48 am
I love KDE 4.2 but yes, the 4.0 release was a rough start (that is why everything about KDE 4.0 said not to use it unless you’re a KDE developer!!). However, I’ve never found Kubuntu’s implementation of KDE to be very good. They (the Kubuntu dev team) limit KDE’s abilities which makes it too GNOME-like for my tastes.
June 10th, 2009 at 9:17 am
I’ve using both Gnome and KDE since 2002. They are great, but I see that KDE is near of users than Gonome is. Gnome is near of the corporations uses when is simplify a lot of things that a linux lover user wants, as example I can say the time to implement tabs on the nautilus.
KDE 4.0 grows to 4.1 and after to 4.2 showing that things is working faster than ever and ever. On the other hand, I see gnome is still trying to find a vision to the new Gnome 3.0 series while KDE is doing a great job working on their KDE desktop vision.
Kubuntu is not an example of KDE implementation as Opensuse or Mandriva are. On the other side, Ubuntu is a great example of Gnome implementation.
If you want to use KDE, try Opensuse or Mandriva!
June 10th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
Good to see you tried KDE. KDE 4 is still new and the version you got doesn’t sound like the best. Unfortunately (like was echoed above) Ubuntu doesn’t a poor job of putting KDE on the desktop. Gnome creates a very basic, flexible, usable desktop and does it nicely. If you’d like to try KDE 4, I’d suggest like LinuxLover said and try Mandriva, or perhaps even better: The Chakra Project:
http://chakra-project.org/
June 11th, 2009 at 2:38 am
Reason you don’t like KDE4 in Kubuntu is that its not given the same developer muscle as Ubuntu. Even without all the love that GNOME-based Ubuntu has got, Kubuntu is quite usable. So, I wonder what Canonical developers can accomplish if they decide to choose KDE4 as their default desktop and customise it like they currently do with GNOME!
June 11th, 2009 at 2:39 am
Just to add that if you want a distribution that is built around KDE (and now KDE4) you should go with Mandriva. The 2009.1 iteration is excellent, really.
August 28th, 2009 at 7:57 am
I tried Mandriva, and now I’m dithering about which flavour of Ubuntu to go back to, because I agree that Kubuntu is not exactly prime-time. One word about Mandriva: RPM. The package management tool (even the GUI wrapper) is shite and I loathe it. I am definitely missing apt and Synaptic desperately.
October 9th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
check out KDE 4.3 you will never look back to Gnome.