Pros and Cons of Kubuntu

[MikeWalsh]

@Emanate Presence :-

Heh. You're now in the same place that a ton of Linux newbies find themselves in; do I possess the determination to soldier on & try to figure out a clear path through the morass of terminology and versions.......or do I retreat to the safety & familiarity of Windows, where's there's only the ONE way of doing things?

It has for long enough been a familiar complaint from beginners; "Why does there have to be so MUCH 'choice'? I'm getting confused.....my head hurts!"

Of course, when you have a Debian-based version of Mint.....AND an Ubuntu-based version of Mint.....and THEN you find out that Ubuntu is in fact built around Debian architecture anyway, well; the confusion is perfectly understandable!

(Most of us pick a lot of these snippets of knowledge up over the course of time. Here, with your admitted unique approach to totally familiarising yourself with an OS before installing it, you're getting something of an in-yer-face, "crash-course" in this stuff all at once!)


Mike.

 

[Emanate Presence]

@Emanate Presence :-

Heh. You're now in the same place that a ton of Linux newbies find themselves in; do I possess the determination to soldier on & try to figure out a clear path through the morass of terminology and versions.......or do I retreat to the safety & familiarity of Windows, where's there's only the ONE way of doing things?

It has for long enough been a familiar complaint from beginners; "Why does there have to be so MUCH 'choice'? I'm getting confused.....my head hurts!"

Of course, when you have a Debian-based version of Mint.....AND an Ubuntu-based version of Mint.....and THEN you find out that Ubuntu is in fact built around Debian architecture anyway, well; the confusion is perfectly understandable!

(Most of us pick a lot of these snippets of knowledge up over the course of time. Here, with your admitted unique approach to totally familiarising yourself with an OS before installing it, you're getting something of an in-yer-face, "crash-course" in this stuff all at once!)


Mike.

Astute great observation, Mike!

I'm told to slow down by Brickwizard and my wife, but the Asperger's obsession gets the best of me.

It feels absolutely overwhelming to consider testing different distros live. I am a more mental person anyway so the abstract conceptual comes pretty easily.

I have wondered though if it could have been made any more confusing for a new person. I get it that I am crash coursing myself through it.

I am also a hands on learner. The first in-person computer instruction I received was in 1983 and after being shown what to do, I had no clue.

It wasn't until I overcame my resistance and started exploring on my own that I learned how to use a computer.

Thank you for confirming what I have been feeling, and giving me an understanding that my way is unique.

I have to soldier on. Windows is not an option for me. I totally don't trust the leadership of that company. My iPad is becoming non functional. There's still stuff I'd like to do that requires a computer, so soldier on it is!

 

[MikeWalsh]

@Emanate Presence :-

Being born in '61, I was still in my senior years at school when I started reading about, and getting interested in computing as a "thing".

A cousin of mine who lived locally was lucky enough to have well-off parents who were pretty "forward-looking", too. They both saw great potential in these boxes of "black magic", and they treated their boy to his very own Commodore PET (this at a time - late 70s - when most such items were usually being purchased by educational establishments. 'Twas pretty rare for individuals to have their own computers at that point in time, though not unheard of).

Jake was quite happy to let me come round and have a play with this thing, so I got ahead of the curve compared to most of my contemporaries! I enrolled in an after-hours "Computer Familiarisation" course during my last year at school (spring & summer of '79). It was comical, because it turned out I knew more about the subject overall than the teacher who was running the course.......the upshot of which was that it was ME who more or less taught everybody else on the course, with the tutor serving as MY "assistant". Even HE was learning, apparently.

Absolutely hilarious....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

The old man bought my younger brother and I a Commodore 64 when they came to market in Autumn '81. Younger bro, however, had just "discovered" girls for the first time, and couldn't think of anything else.....so I more or less had it to myself! I taught myself to use Commodore BASIC, and wrote my own 'Hangman' program (with a 'database' of all of about 30 words). I was chuffed to bits with that, I can tell you....

I've played around with the things on & off ever since then, in one form or another, so.....I've a fair bit of experience with 'em, AND I've never been afraid to try new stuff. I kicked Windows into touch at EOL for XP in April 2014. I Googled 'free operating systems', since there was no way I was going back to Windows again.....and was frankly amazed at what came up. I downloaded Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 'Trusty Tahr' - Mark Shuttleworth (owner of Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu) has always given Ubuntu releases animal names - wiped XP off the disk & out of my life, installed Ubuntu in its place.......and dived in head-first.

No messing-about with a Microsoft 'safety-net' for me! (This was probably helped by the fact that right throughout my working career, I was always employed in jobs where there was no use at all for computers.....so it wasn't like I had any pressing need to keep the Redmond 'Beast' around).

Everybody's journey is different. The above, I feel, goes to prove that.

I'm told to slow down by Brickwizard and my wife, but the Asperger's obsession gets the best of me.

Ah, I get where you're coming from, trust me. A nephew of mine is 'blessed' (or 'cursed', depending on your viewpoint) with Asperger's.....and I'm convinced one of the neighbours across the road has it. In his case, it's manifested itself as a totally OTT case of OCD. (Don't ask, 'cos I'm not going there; suffice it to say it affords us and our next-door neighbour endless hours of amusement!)

Mike.

 

[CaffeineAddict]

Heh. You're now in the same place that a ton of Linux newbies find themselves in; do I possess the determination to soldier on & try to figure out a clear path through the morass of terminology and versions.......or do I retreat to the safety & familiarity of Windows, where's there's only the ONE way of doing things?

It has for long enough been a familiar complaint from beginners; "Why does there have to be so MUCH 'choice'? I'm getting confused.....my head hurts!"

Hey this is so true!
I was facing same problem and not once returned to Windows, it took me long time to finally make a 100% sure decision.

I think Linux community should be able to recognize this among newbies just like you did and let newbies know the problem.
I wish somebody told me this before and prevented me from leaving Linux.
Maybe even this forums should have a sticky about this, something like how to deal with effect on switching OS's and how not to give up, it's not really easy to stick with alien environment.

 

[MikeWalsh]

Maybe even this forums should have a sticky about this, something like how to deal with effect on switching OS's and how not to give up, it's not really easy to stick with alien environment.

Yeah, I get that.

I mean, think about it; you willingly leave a known, comfortable, 'safe' environment (Windows) - where you may, or may not, have at least SOME knowledge & mastery of what's going on! - and voluntarily throw yourself into a completely alien one, where everything's an unknown quantity.

It's very easy to get discouraged.....but the rewards are SO worth it. A system where YOU are in complete control, and it does what YOU want it to (as opposed to you seemingly being at the mercy of the OS!)

(shrug...)


Mike.

 

[KGIII]

We didn't immediately know how to use Windows. In fact, to become proficient beyond the mere point-and-click types of users, we spent years reading, learning, exploring, breaking, fixing, and tweaking.

Linux is going to take much of that same amount of effort - but you do have some advantages coming in. You already understand the concepts of menus, sub-menus, clicking, right-clicking, file management basics, and more. You already know how to use a browser, an email client, and more...

So, you come to Linux with some advantages. There will be differences, but there's always a search engine available to help you when you get stuck. Frankly, unless you're diving deep into the OS, it's just a logical system that makes sense. Things are where you expect them to be and do what they say on the tin.

 

[Emanate Presence]

Problem is that it did happen, and when such thing happens it's loss of trust that is hard to recover, especially when a company is behind it, so it's not just random mistake.

From what I know the feature is still present except it's not enabled by default, a casual user who doesn't understand the implication might end up enabling the feature without understanding what it means.

If the company behind ubuntu decided to remove the feature entirely that might change my mind but they didn't, they made it optional which is not enough to restore trust.

THIS IS WRITTEN FOR MY LINKS LIST
Feedback is appreciated.

In the Linux development history, in certain distros, there arose issues of privacy that included sending user information to corporate entities, a common practice which is anathema for some. It's a matter of weaknesses in human character, differences in values and perspectives, and overall relates to the human condition.

Advancing the human condition is one of my favorite subjects but not suitable for discussion along these lines in the Linux forum, I would say. Generally a question arises of whether those responsible for breaches of trust in the community have had a true change of heart or would do the same again. A reformed alcoholic can be the most stalwart proponent of righteous behavior. Who knows a man's heart? It's just something each person has to resolve in and for themselves.

Regarding the Linux distro issue, apparently it hasn't been resolved for all. Personal information on the computer remaining private is preferable, but I feel no strong concern with it anonymously going to Amazon for example. There's always the possibility of this type of thing being misused in the future, that's the state of the human condition. Integrity in the development team would allow no opening for such possibilities.

The distro in question as I understand has disabled the automatic sending of information while keeping it a user option. I support awareness in the community so there is always a choice for informed consent. The present situation is not enough to prevent my installing an Ubuntu based distro like LM Virginia. I appreciate being informed.

 

[KGIII]

In the Linux development history, in certain distros, there arose issues of privacy that included sending user information to corporate entities, a common practice which is anathema for some.

The problem wasn't so much that they did so, it's that they did so by default. It was easily turned off and not hidden. It was just enabled by default and should have been opt-in instead of opt-out.

Also, I seem to recall it was only in Ubuntu and not in the various flavors - but my memory is pretty dim.

 

[kc1di]

At that time I was using Xubuntu and I don't recall it being a problem on that flavor. I think it was only ubuntu and if I remember right, which may not be the case. It was on their unity Desktop not any others.

 

[Emanate Presence]

The problem wasn't so much that they did so, it's that they did so by default. It was easily turned off and not hidden. It was just enabled by default and should have been opt-in instead of opt-out.

Also, I seem to recall it was only in Ubuntu and not in the various flavors - but my memory is pretty dim.

That clarification is much appreciated!

I haven't been clear if it affected flavors like LM Virginia. Originally I think the person told me it affected Kubuntu.

It's always good to read slow and pay attention, especially when installing an OS!

I'm really glad my ThinkPad hasn't already arrived. It's given me time to sort things out in my head first. I feel good about making a test drive and checking it out before the full install. Also am convinced to not do dual boot.

Notifications indicate the laptop will arrive tomorrow or Friday.

 

[Emanate Presence]

At that time I was using Xubuntu and I don't recall it being a problem on that flavor. I think it was only ubuntu and if I remember right, which may not be the case. It was on their unity Desktop not any others.

Thanks.

 

[KGIII]

At that time I was using Xubuntu and I don't recall it being a problem on that flavor. I think it was only ubuntu and if I remember right, which may not be the case. It was on their unity Desktop not any others.

Yup. That matches my memory.

The Unity desktop sent search data to Amazon to potentially make some money with affiliate links. This was enabled by default. It was transparent and open but drew the ire of people who like to be angry. It was easily disabled.

But, I have to mostly side with the angry people - in that it'd best be opt-in and not the opposite. That sort of thing should be something you turn on.

 

[bob466]

I have gone through the distribution interview. Very useful tool. Will go through again before deciding. Meanwhile, what are Pros and Cons of Kubuntu?

I've only tried it in Virtualbox some time ago...looks good. As for pros and cons it's up to the user...I like Mint Cinnamon because it has all the tools I need...that's why we have heaps of Distros...If you don't like one choose another...not everyone is the same.