14 Oct 2011

Disappointments of Kubuntu 11.10

There are 2 times a year when all Linux users, and especially Ubuntu users, are excited. They are April and October. These are months when new versions of Ubuntu Linux are released.
This October is not an exception. 13th of October (sorry, not Friday this time) saw release of version 11.10, nicknamed Oneiric Ocelot. As usual, Canonical, company beyond Ubuntu, releases whole family of systems based on the same core: Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu and Lubuntu.
There is a lot of new in Ubuntu 11.10 version. Especially because it is first system where Unity takes ownership of the system and moves old good GNOME2 fully aside. That's why it needs more detailed review.
For the time being... Let's first have a look at little bit less popular, but still very good branch of Ubuntu which uses KDE as Desktop Environment: Kubuntu. It is also interesting for me since I am fan of KDE myself.
I tried to download Kubuntu just few minutes after its release on the 13th of October. When I tried to do so, BitTorrent file with 32bit x86 version was not available on the server. Such a pity, but that pushed me towards direct download link, which increased load on Kubuntu hosting servers. As usual, all Ubuntu releases fit standard 700 Mb size for CD, unless you want to go for DVD version specifically.
ISO image was downloaded, and that was a time for me to attempt boot from USB using the image. Unfortunately, neither command dd nor tool Unetbootin were able to create bootable USB for my laptop. The same fault as with my previous attempt to boot Debian hybrid ISO image. It is a fault of BIOS on my laptop. As a result, I gave up with Live USB creation and burned ISO image to DVD-RW disk.
Reboot. Choose to boot from optical media. Let's go for the Live run!


Boot and desktop
Booting process of Kubuntu remained the same for few last releases. Even same dot-matrix-printer style of fonts on the first screen. This screen allows you to choose between booting Kubuntu, installation, running media checks or continue to boot from normal hard disk. At the same stage you can change system language and adjust some other global parameters.
Of course, my choice was for Running Kubuntu. System continued booting process until next question was asked. This time I had a choice between running Kubuntu in Live mode or start installation. Choice again was made for Live run.
Once booted, Kubuntu lands you in the screen with Desktop Folder layout.
To finish some technical details, I need to mention that Kubuntu 11.10 uses KDE 4.7.1. This is the latest release. Below KDE you get Linux kernel 3.0.0.12. This time you get not the latest version, although fresh enough.
Freshly booted Kubuntu 11.10 operating system takes about 240 Mb of memory, which is relatively a lot.
Kubuntu 11.10
takes 240Mb on fresh boot
Are there any difference from other KDE-based distros I've seen so far? The most noticeable difference is absence of cashew nut in the top rigtht corner of the screen. Instead, I got small tab called "New activity". It does effectively the same. Just looks differently and takes a little bit of screen estate. That is not so important since you only see that tab on empty screen.
There is a standard panel at the bottom of the screen in Kubuntu 11.10. It has standard layout with KMenu button, only one shortkey "Show activity manager", virtual desktops switcher, taskbar, "Show desktop" button and standard items on the right side like clocks, KNetworkManager, USB control etc.
This is the first time when I saw "Show activity manager" button pushed towards user in such a way. I can't say I liked it a lot. I would rather see more useful shortcuts there, like File Manager, browser and so on. Of course, you can easily customize the panel, but default option is not ideal from my perspective.
Also, placement of "Show desktop" button is strange enough. I've never seen it in the middle of the panel. I would rather move it to the left, next to KMenu button, or to the right beyond the clock.
This version of KDE has an option to "pin" applications to taskbar. There is an option which allows you to quickly build your own dock of shortcuts. It is available by right click on the application button on takbar. Similar to Windows7 style, although with some difference. KDE application is only shown as shortcut when it is not running. Once started, it becomes normal taskbar item.
There are only 2 virtual desktops by default in Kubuntu 11.10. It means you can't make "Desktop cube" immediately. Of course, the number can be adjusted easily.
To be honest, I have not tried enabling/disabling of desktop effect in Kubuntu 11.10. Desktop cube is not enabled by default. If there were any enabled, they worked smoothly for me and I have not noticed any oddities.
Main menu itself in Kubuntu 11.10 is in Kickoff style. Again, there is a difference from previous versions. If you remember, once you start navigating through layers of menu, you get button with arrow on the left hand side, which allows you to come to previous level. Now there is no method to come back to previous level of menu. Instead, there is a navigation path at the top of menu, like in Dolphin. This is new, not sure if this makes life easier. But maybe it's just a configuration or "user training". I have not looked deeper into the configuration, but most likely there should be a method to switch back to previous method of navigation.
If you used to see lots of nice artwork in Kubuntu to be used as desktop wallpapers, you will be very disappointed this time. At least, I was. I was only presented with one standard desktop wallpaper which you can see on screenshot above. As a bonus, there is a button which allows to download more, but unfortunately they are not shipped on CD together with Kubuntu 11.10.

Keyboard layouts

Is Kubuntu 11.10 good with multilingual users? It would be strange if it was not. I was able to configure Russian keyboard layout in its usual place - Input Devices item of System Settings panel. Usual configuration steps, and everything works as expected.
Should I drop my notes about keyboard layout support in different Linux OSes? I have not seen any oddities for long time now. Let me think about this...

Network activation

My test was running on Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo Pi 1505 laptop. It has Intel 3945ABG card for wireless network. I was not surprised at all when I saw my network card configured automatically by Kubuntu. There was a little circle in the right corner of taskbar, which indicated the network manager was ready for my actions. Of course, my network was found automatically and I only had to enter security key. Few keystrokes, few seconds of waiting before connection is established, and I am on-line.
Once connected, I tried to use my external network drive. Package smbfs is not included in default system, that's why command sudo mount -t cifs -o guest,nolinux failed initially. I had to install smbfs first. After installation (sudo apt-get install smbfs) mounting went OK with correct support of Russian characters, even without mentioning of iocharset in mounting parameters.

Browsing

Kubuntu 11.10 has one browser included. It is Rekonq. This is KDE-specific application, based on WebKit. This is platform beyond Google Chrome (-ium), Safari, Midori, Arora and some other browsers.
I saw Rekonq in some other Linux distributions before. It was very small and not feature-rich. Now Rekonq has grown up. List of useful functions increased. For example, it now has feature to show preview of tabs. But unfortunately Rekonq is still not very stable. It crashed several times for me. As usual, crashes happened in very important moments.
Usual browser for many Linux distributions, Firefox is not included into Kubuntu 11.10. Instead, there is a link to installer in the Internet section of menu. Unfortunately, installer did not work for me in Live mode. Same was valid for Google Chrome installation. It stopped at the phase "Installing dependencies". I guess the reason was lack of space in /var directory in Live run, and system could not record installation log.
There was a problem for me. Neither of "decent" browsers could be installed, and the only present browser kept crashing from time to time.
Other that Rekonq and Firefox installer, Internet section of Kubuntu 11.10 menu lists some standard KDE tools: Kopete etc.
Let me here note another difference in Kubuntu 11.10. Many applications (Dolphin, Rekonq) do not have menu line. Instead, they have wrench icon on the right side, which opens menu. Is it latest fashion in applications - attempt to save some screen real estate for user? Unfortunately, or fortunately, this is not consistent. Some other applications still have classical menu line (Dragon Player, LibreOffice).

Multimedia

Amarok is deafult audio player in Kubuntu 11.10. Dragon Player is also available, if you, like me, prefer simpler options.
Unfortunately, MP3s are not supported out of the box in Kubuntu 11.10. Instead, Amarok suggested me to search for the plugin. If you hoped for easy install, you should be disappointed. From the first look, search for additional plugin with codecs was successful. Pop-up window said "Do you want to install following plugin". But names of plugins were not listed. Bugga? This bugga continued when Amarok claimed that codecs were installed. MP3 still could not be played.
Dolphin file manager in Kubuntu 11.10 has preview panel for the files, and you can play music files right there. But for me it was not possible. Dolphin still had same dialogues for codecs installation, which didn't help.
The root for the issue was that repositories to hold necessary packages were not activated by default. You have to activate them! And, there is no note anywhere in the system about this. The easiest way (unless you want to edit sources file manually) is to call corresponding function in package manager.
Muon is package manager in Kubuntu 11.10. After activation of Universe and Multiverse repositories, dialogue window in Amarok actually listed a lot of packages for installation. And, of course, everything worked after proper installation, both in Amarok and Dolphin.
Flash is not included into Kubuntu 11.10 either. Of course, installation is pretty simple. Adobe site has all the necessary information and necessary package. Of course, after installation of Adobe Flash, you can watch YouTube and other videos.
MP3 and Flash are supported
fter installation or relevant packages

Other applications

Graphics section of Kubuntu 11.10 menu contains more or less standard set of tools: LibreOffice Draw, Okular, Gwenview and KSnapshot. Unfortunately, no GIMP in default delivery.
There is only one game in corresponding menu section. This is KPatience.
Office tools in Kubuntu 11.10 are represented by LibreOffice 3.4.3 (very fresh version), and also some KDE-specific applications like KOrganizer and Kontact.
There is a standard set of System tools, like KPartition Manager, System Monitor etc. I'd like to separately mention here that Muon is not only name for Package Manager, as I wrote above, but also new name for Software Centre. Other than name, there are not many changes from Software Centre in previous Kubuntu versions from first look.
Of course, Kubuntu 11.10 comes with set of Utilities: KCalc, Kate, Ark etc.
As usual for Ubuntu and its derivatives, there is a tool for Startup disk creation. Basically, it is a tool to copy ISO image either from HDD or from CD itself to USB stick. This Startup disk creator did not work for me initially, but worked after reboot.
Yes, I had to reboot Kubuntu! It basically froze Live session after few attempts to install Chrome and some other applications. Not a good sign... I still think this is due to lack of space in /var directory. But I may be wrong.

Running from USB

Anyway, startup USB was created. I tried to restart again, and this time I was able to boot my laptop from USB stick. Boot time is the same, which is confusing. I don't see particular reason why Kubuntu performed on USB run with same speed  as when running from DVD. To be perfectly honest, I found very little win in speed compared to DVD version, not only in boot, but in other operations too.
Unfortunately, neither DVD-running nor USB-booted Kubuntu managed to switch itself off correctly. Both times it stopped at phase "Killing all processes [failed]". I believe it was linked to mounting of smbfs partition. Error is very similar to one I faced in (K)Ubuntu 11.04, and that's a shame it has not been fixed yet. Although, error wording is different.
Why do I think this is still the same error? Because I tried to boot from USB again, without mounting of network drive. And switch off went OK that time.
Persistence did not work properly in Live USB for me either. At least, WiFi connection was not remembered. Browsing history was not saved. That is quite strange... As far as I remember, persistence worked in previous releases of Kubuntu.

Laptop-specific hardware

How did Kubuntu do with my laptop's semi-hardware buttons for volume and brightness control? Unfortunately, not better than most other operating systems.
Brightness control buttons (Fn-F7 and Fn-F8) worked fine.
But volume controls (Fn-F5 and Fn-F5) did not work. They again stuck on the low or high position, and then stopped responding at all.

What is my general feeling of Kubuntu 11.10?
I believe this version of Kubuntu is worst I've ever seen so far. At least, when it concerns Live run.
Yes, there are some positive signs:
  • New version of KDE which has lots of nice features (like quick "docking" of application to taskbar).
  • New version of LibreOffice.
  • New kernel.
But these all are not achievements of Canonical or Kubuntu team. They are taken from external sources.
Instead, there are some annoying issues which are likely to affect users:
  • Browser which keeps crashing, with no option to properly install any other in Live mode. Why Firefox is excluded?
  • Lack of artwork - only one default desktop wallpaper.
  • Issue with (un-)mounting of remote partitions after switch off the WiFi still persists.
  • Issue with adding or even running of different tools on Live run.
  • High system requirements.
Thus, my general feeling is that Kubuntu team has some areas to increase their user experience. Otherwise, I am afraid, some of them can change their preference to other Operating systems.
Will I have same or similar issues with Ubuntu 11.10? Or they will be different? Let's see it next week! Stay connected, and subscribe to this blog!

Have you tried Kubuntu 11.10 already? What are your feelings?
If you have not tried it yet, but still want to try, why not order your own CD using Buy Linux CDs service?

Update: want to read more my findings about Kubuntu 11.10? Try this link.

56 comments:

  1. It is little unrealistic review without actually installing Kubuntu. I truly believe that live CD option is not made for serious work and can give a wrong impression. Can you please try a full install and review your findings. Regards.

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  2. @Anonymous:
    Please read more on this blog before giving me such recommendations.
    Here is important bit for you.

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  3. The Kubuntu releases have never really added anything to KDE that wasn't already there by default. Some see that as a flaw, while others see it as a plus. I can see why it would be a disappointment.

    Regarding the cashew, you can unlock desktop widgets and drag that "New Activity" tab to the corner to get it back.

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  4. I've been running kubuntu for the last 2 years or so, did an incremental upgrade to 11.10 when the 1st beta was released and have experienced no problems. I really enjoy it and would recommend it to any linux or potential linux user.

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  5. I'm a fan of KDE, but it runs horrible on either of my computers (both have atom processors). When opening Dolphin, you see the elements of the window popup one by one before the windows is fully loaded (it's slow~). This bothers me to no end because I love KDE, but apparently it needs more CPU than I've got. Thus, I'm living in LXDE with kde applications :)

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  6. @Felix:
    I was using Kubuntu 10.04, 10.10 and 11.04 until I understood that bug with network drive unmounting is unresolvable. Then I migrated to Mageia which is my main system now. Unfortunately, 11.10 still has this bug, which makes idea of coming back impossible.

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  7. @Unknown:
    Strange combination: KDE apps atop of LXDE. How does it feel? Much performance gain?

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  8. Your reasons for using only live boots/installation are all ridiculous. They are useless to anyone else except for the birds.

    I believe your reason for not running a full installation is that you don't have any knowledge of how to run Linux in VirtualBox, on a separate partition, or on an external drive.

    Abe

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  9. It certainly feels faster to me. I don't have that strange lag that I had in kde.. If my netbook didn't have a large harddrive, the space requirements might bother me (all I did was install lubuntu over kubuntu and have been using that desktop). It works great for me, as my netbook feels fast to me and I can still use the applications I love.

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  10. @Anonymous Abe:

    From "Why do I do Live system reviews?" http://linuxblog.darkduck.com/2011/06/why-do-i-do-live-system-reviews.html

    "If you want to write your own review, feel free to do so, and I will happily publish it as guest post, if you send it to me. Are you ready for this challenge?"

    I'd like to see yours.

    Otherwise I may be tempted to ask for a refund.

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  11. I tried Ubuntu 11.10 this morning and wasn't overly impressed. I found it much more stable then 11.04, but a little sluggish.
    I'm sure over time I could adapt to Unity, but I'm not fond of it.

    So I decided to give Kubuntu 11.10 a shot. This was the first time I used KDE since the days of *Mandrake*.
    Speed wise I found it quite fast. I was finding it stable until I rebooted when the desktop crashed for some reason.

    Like Ubuntu, Kubuntu gives you the option to install plugins during the install progress, so I didn't have any issues with music or videos.

    Probably because I'm not use to KDE, I found it somewhat confusing. I had a hard time finding the updates, the software manager seemed to lack software when I searched for it and I'm not a fan of Dolphin.

    I'm fairly new to Linux, but can't say Ubuntu or Kubuntu 11.10 are good enough to make me leave Windows 7, or even spend less time in it.

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  12. The First Anonymous @DarkDuck:
    "DarkDuck said...
    @Anonymous:
    Please read more on this blog before giving me such recommendations."

    Do you honostly believe that someone should read "more on this blog" before commenting on a single post ? That is redicilous, who on earth does that !?

    I politely gave you a suggestion and you respond like that, and BWT i agree totally with Anonymous Abe about your live cd review reasons.

    In any case last friendly word of advice. If you are going to do only this LiveCD review at least specify it in the title or in the first paragraph, put your link on why do you do suchthings.

    If you are really a fan of KDE and are a FOSS user, you shure don't want to hurt reputatation of both KDE & Kubuntu projects by accident!

    You should really be open more to criticism on your blog, comments like why don't you write your onw review before criticising mine are redicilous.

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  13. I'm with you on the shoddiness of the Live CD Darkduck.

    I don't know if kubuntu would run on my Aspire One using a fresh install. The Live CD doesn't allow me to turn on wireless, so the Kubuntu .iso is now wiped from my hard drive. Simple really!

    By the way, my installed OS is Ubuntu 11.04, which works flawlessly. kubuntu-desktop also works in this install. The Live CD doesn't. Does anyone seriously think an OS live CD with a 'Try Kubuntu' option that doesn't provide wireless is going to get installed.

    Pffft...

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  14. I'm downloading this right now, and I'll let you know how it "really" works. no usb-flash-crap attempts, and NO virtual env ?!. Just da' real thing.
    -maybe I'll try the alternate test-based installer, and for gawd sakes, dump 2D-crapola nouveau !, and put a REAL MAN'S Drivers' in it,...
    Driver MacGyver :)

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  15. About the artwork and what ever else... the defaults are fine. People can adjust these settings. The main reason for limited choice here it that Kubuntu comes with more useful stuff like gcc etc for people who have no internet. There is no free disk space in the kubuntu iso for artwork. Notice the iso is 699mb?

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  16. Oh and if you install kubuntu and enable desktop effects, I assure you it will perform better than any other distro. This release rocks. Worth considering and switching back

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  17. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  18. maybe i will repeat someone else's words since i did not read all replies...

    i tried ubuntu 11.10 with unity, gnome3 and kde...all of
    them have serious annoying bugs. gnome processes are crashing, unity menu crashed and never came back and kde just looks the same :S

    I am not sure but this version has a lot of stability issues...to be honest i want to always to be up to date but if you really want to stick up with something you must using version with proved stability and not always the latest....

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  19. Why in the world would "All Linux Users" be excited about a Ubumtu release. Thats the dumbest thing I have ever heard. And then, lets do a review on the worst KDE distro anywhere, and then be surprised that it sucks. Nobody likes Ubumtu unless they are newb fanboys looking for a copy cat cult to follow. Ug, the wost time of the year, always brings out the newb dorks in the world.

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  20. I could not get DUN to work between Kubuntu 11.04 and my Nokia N950 phone. With 11.10 it was quick and painless... that was a major need so I'm pretty happy!

    Some of your complaints are about cosmetics and easily-rectified things that I can't get worked up about. However, I am quite irritated that the application manager did not appear under system setting s as it did before! I'm still trying to figure out what's going on...

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  21. Hie. I have been using Kubuntu 11.10 for about 3 months now (I installed the daily-live CD). I think the final CD is very stable. I made a Live USB on Saturday and i actually installed Clamav to clean a virus infected laptop with Windows 7. The only problem I had, it was refusing to shutdown and would hang. I have installed KDE 4.7.2 and now everything is fine.

    I have noticed that when I used Kubuntu Live USB on my Windows 7 Basic laptop it was noticeably faster than Windows 7.

    Overall I am more impressed with Kubuntu 11.10 compared to 11.04. I actually moved to Chakra Linux for sometime till I downloaded the 11.10 daily-live CD. I moved from Chakra only because of its limited applications.

    I had tried Fedora, but was disappointed when Wine could not run.

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  22. @Anonymous (Abe):
    These are my reasons and my blog. This is a policy. If you are not happy with the policy, feel free to write your own review, as you were advised by hoofist. I am more than happy to publish it here.
    It's much easier to criticize than to create, isn't it? ;-)

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  23. @hoofist:
    Refund from whom???
    8-)

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  24. @Unknown:
    Great it works for you!!
    Although I always thought that getting Qt / KDE onto another DE would not be helpful and tried to avoid this.

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  25. @Ryan:
    (K)Ubuntu are not the only OSes in Linux world. Maybe you can try other systems...
    Depending on what you're looking for...

    I found little bit inconsistency in your words. You claim to be newbie in Linux world, but also claim you tried KDE in Mandrake Linux. That's strange time gap.
    8-)

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  26. @Anonymous:
    "Live" is first mentioned in the very beginning of the post. Boot from USB created by dd - can it be anything but Live run? Isn't is enough indication?
    Link to "why do I do live reviews" is available from Start Here section at the top.
    I am quite open minded about criticism. But this should be constructive criticism, not something like "your review is rubbish because it is Live run".
    BTW, I am KDE fan (using Mageia 1 KDE as my main system at home now), and I am adept of FOSS.
    I was using Kubuntu until it failed to work properly on my hardware.
    I am not criticizing Kubuntu and KDE in general. I am stating that I was disappointed by new version and its lack of... won't repeat my reasons here.

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  27. @Murchadh Bhaba:
    Have you checked drivers for your hardware - maybe they are blacklisted? I had similar experience in Ubuntu 11.04 which blacklisted b43 WiFi drivers for whatever reason. It was solved easy enough, but required some digging before the reason was found.

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  28. @Anonymous:
    >Worth considering and switching back
    Not before the issue with partition unmounting after WiFi switch off is resolved.
    I can't afford to wait for 5 minutes before my laptop switches off.

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  29. @Anonymous with deleted comment.
    Personal assaults are not permitted, even if they accompany useful information.
    Thanks for understanding.

    ReplyDelete
  30. @Texrat:
    Nice to see another happy person using Linux.
    Unfortunately, I am not happy with (K)Ubuntu, and will not be until I see the bug with unmounting fixed.
    So, will wait for next release...

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  31. @Kennedy:
    Did you know reason of hanging during shutdown? Is it the same as mine (Wifi vs network partition)?
    If this can be resolved with KDE 4.7.2, I will be happy to install Kubuntu and try it!
    BTW, is 4.7.2 officially in Ubuntu repository, or you installed it from PPA?

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  32. Thanks for everyone who commented on this post. Even though I have not replied all the comments, I find them very useful!

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  33. @DarkDuck
    I've tried Linux many times over the years, but never actually stuck with any distro and usually ended up back with Windows.

    More recently I've taken a more serious look at Linux because they've become easier for people such as myself, which is why I consider myself a newbie, though I know much more know compared to then :p

    I finished trying openSUSE 11.4 out, and must say it's quite amazing. Although I prefer a debian based OS, it out preforms Kubuntu 11.10 in every aspect (IMO at least).

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  34. Some of the issue you noticed about Kubuntu 11.10 are actually upstream changes. e.g the new activity and the breadcomb style of Kmenu. Kubuntu for the most part stick to stock KDE with very little downstream customization. Unlike Ubuntu, everyone working on Kubuntu is a volunteer and work on their own free time. The Kubuntu community decided it was based to stay close to stock kde rather than have to carry the extra work of maintaining downstream customization. Most of work which goes into Kubuntu is forward upstream to become part of kde.

    Just thought to point these out.

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  35. Well I don't know what your stability issues are but mine runs flawlessly running Kubuntu 11.10 64 bit.
    PC Specs.
    4gb's ddr2 ram, Intel E6850 Core2Duo over-clocked to 3.60Ghz stable.
    MSI P35 Neo2-FR motherboard.
    Main hard-disk 500gb Sata Samsung HD501LJ and an old 120 ide hard-disk, Maxtor 4R120L0.
    Nvidia 8800 GTS(640mb GDDR3)
    Pioneer sata DVD-RAM/DVD-R/DVD-RW/CD-R/CD-RW drive.
    Sony ide DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive.
    I did a fresh install after previously having Ubuntu 10.04 64 bit installed with both gnome and kde desktop gui's installed.
    Ubuntu 11.04 64 bit gave me wireless issues(ralink chipset) But with this Kubuntu 11.10 release the only issue I had was that wireless didn't run when running the live cd try os option but this isn't an issue as it runs fine once installed.:)

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  36. @Ryan:
    Have you tried KDE or GNOME version of OpenSuSE? I found KDE is much better, but still "not my cup of tea".
    Anyway, I am happy you found something you were looking for!

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  37. @Bigbrovar:
    I am not sure that lack of artwork is an upstream issue. Ubuntu has enough images.
    Also, I did not have an issue with laptop shutdown in Ubuntu 11.10.
    So, something's wrong in Kubuntu itself...

    Here are my Ubuntu 11.10 Live review, so please compare.

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  38. @SpeckyTeckie:
    You computer is much more powerful than mine.
    But that's not the reason for difference.
    Maybe the reason is that I tried Live, not installed version.
    Do you reckon I should go on and install Kubuntu 11.10?

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  39. kubuntu 11.10 animation not running smooth like 11.04...i dont know why because my recurrent hardware are high end....Intel i7 2600K 3.4 GHZ, RAM Corsair Vengence 8gb 1866MHZ, ASUS Sabertooth P67 mobo, ASUS GTX560 1280mb Graphic card...i think my hardware are to strong but the animation dosn't smooth at all...

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  40. @DarkDuck
    I would say yes go ahead with the install.
    Also there is a slight issue with ralink based wireless adapters you may not notice it at first.
    But it doesn't connect as well as the same issue from all the way from Ubuntu 10.04 is still half there.
    Where three different drivers are trying to be used for the same wireless chip.
    So I recommend doing a quick Google search on your wireless probably best to start from Ubuntu 10.04 results and work your way up to see if any old issues have been fixed.
    If there is issues nine times out of ten if the chip is being supported just not be managed right you will have to blacklist the other drivers/modules that are not needed in the file blacklist.conf and ad them to one module/driver in separate lines. One after the other.
    This file is located in etc/modprobe.d
    use su or sudo permissions and in kubuntu type sudo kate blacklist.conf and in gnome sudo gedit blacklist.conf
    Now simply type sudo reboot and hit enter and voila your connection issues should be gone.
    If it is a wpa_supplicant issue you need to edit the driver for your wireless and then re-install the driver modified.

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  41. @SpeckyTeckie:
    I don't have ralink card luckily. My laptop has Intel 3945ABG - please see below, it's mentioned in the post.
    Also, I have already installed Ubuntu 11.10, and WiFi works fine there.
    Anyway, thanks for short how-to. Hope it will be useful for somebody.

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  42. As other posters here, I was a bit confused by your focus on the live aspect of the distro. Maybe a small explanation at the beginning of your review would have helped?

    As far as Kubuntu goes, I have upgraded my 11.04 installation to 11.10 without issue (after waiting a couple of days to get decent download speeds again). The upgrader informed me about some repositories getting deactivated as part of the upgrade (maybe related to the problem you faced when you tried to install "non-free" packages). I have yet to play much with the new version, but it was mostly working as fine as previously (with a setup as simple as mine, it's not much of a surprise). All in all, as a recent Ubuntu user after many years of Slackware, I'm rather satisfied with the distro.

    As far as live distros are concerned, I've never liked CDs or DVDs, which stress the drive too much to my taste, and I'm more reassured by USB-specific distros than by generic distros. On this matter, I've been a satisfied GRML user for the past six months, after spending a while with Slax.

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  43. @boa13:
    Thanks for the idea!
    I included link to my explanation of "why Live" in the first part of the post. Hope this helps.

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  44. Hi DarkDuck


    I have been using Kubuntu 11.10 (AMD 64 bit ver) for a week now. I was using Ubuntu-Genome earlier. Problem with Kubuntu 11.10 that I am facing:
    1. It just hangs up after some 10-20 mins after successfully starting the login. I can move mouse pointer on screen but No click is registered, the whole desktop env becomes non-responsive.
    2. While booting in Kubuntu:
    2.1 Grub Loader shows countdown of 9 sec, This means the laptop will restart it self and would not go to Kubuntu login screen.
    2.2 After restart the Grub loader comes again but this time no count down and I would get the Kubuntu login screen successfully.

    So I have to wait some 2-3 min in this grub showup :(

    Any idea, what could be done to rectify these two problems.

    Arun

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  45. @Arun Kumar:
    I think p.2 is definitely configuration of GRUB. Have you tried to check what you have in grub.cfg and other GRUB-related configuration files?

    ReplyDelete
  46. I started out with Yggdrassil[sp?] (0.99.14j) in 1994, went on to Slackware, SuSE, RedHat 5+, Mandrake, and am currently running Mandriva 2010.2. I find someone judging the capabilities of a Distro (especially a Debian based one) based on their Live-CD release just a little uninformative. Might want to consider using their Live-DVD images instead, since 700mb is a really small space to pack a "full featured" OS into. Anyone remember their first Windows 95 CD installation and how capable it was straight out of the box?

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  47. @Anonymous:
    I would not compare something what was released 16 years ago with modern software. Also, compression methods can make wonders. Look at Knoppix, for example. It has so much on a CD or DVD...

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  48. @DarkDuck - what is this unmounting network drive error you mention?

    "I was using Kubuntu 10.04, 10.10 and 11.04 until I understood that bug with network drive unmounting is unresolvable. Then I migrated to Mageia which is my main system now. Unfortunately, 11.10 still has this bug, which makes idea of coming back impossible."

    Do you have a link to the bug report? Thanks.

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    Replies
    1. I don't have bug report, but the link below explains the issue.

      Delete
  49. Solution for the shutdown/unmount problem here:
    https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/ubuntu-63/11-04-hangs-on-reboot-shutdown-880309/

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    1. Funny enough, that was my thread.
      Strange enough, I did not get last updates on it, so thanks for reminding me about it.

      I don't have Kubuntu installed now. But I tried to test the solution in Live CD version. It did not work. Maybe I should come back to it when Kubuntu 12.04 is released, if the bug is not fixed there.

      Delete
  50. If someone can't go on with a distro like Ubuntu, shouldn't write a tech-like blog. Gee.
    I'm using 11.10 right now (Unity), and first, i admit, i had issues on my new Acer Aspire, processor usage was high, fans spinning too hard, Nvidia was installed, but not used. Ok, let's look around. Guess what, two updates, total around 420-430 pieces(2 kernel upgrades in those) and with that upgrade of nvidia with to version 285, installing Jupiter for a bit more control about power if using mobile.
    Now: fans relaxed, CPU on 5 to 10% if not working, just browsing with 4 tabs and 1 extension active, nvidia in use, and nothing buggy, Unity serves great, temperature is on : 48 - 54 Celsius. 11.10 is polished buddy! Like Kubuntu too.
    Now, answer dude! And no, i'm not a newbee fanboy nor ignorant. And yes, i test all kind of distros if they got new version, on a desktop testmachine, installed, in-depth tests!

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    Replies
    1. If you don't like the blog, don't read it. Very simple.
      This was a review of Live run. So, why do you think your comments about 420 update packages are relevant? What do I have to answer you?
      I'd rather be careful next time, dude!

      Delete
  51. If you are going to post reviews of Linux distributions based off of the Live CD experience, you should make it more clear in the review that you are doing so. This should be the first thing stated. (You owe it to readers and to the development teams who produced those distributions you are saying negative things about.)

    For example, you say Amarok does not support MP3s without configuration, but only a careful reader will realize you are talking about the Live CD. This support was likely yanked from the Live CD environment because people have usually not yet installed their MP3 collection when running the Live CD. (or possibly other reasons.)

    I get that you do Live CD reviews because you are worried about breaking your existing install. If this is the case, you are saying you do not want to do your due diligence of testing an actual install because you do not want to go through the effort and expense of disconnecting your existing hard drive and connecting a testing drive for the install. For someone who wants to be an informer of the community, this is not a very good reason for not performing due diligence and testing an actual install. (But, like I said, would be helped if you were more careful to have a disclaimer on each article that this is a Live CD review.)

    I will take the advice you have given so many others who have pointed this out, and remember that 'DarkDuck' is a blog I should not read when a Google search sends me there. However by not doing your due diligence to test a real install and not having a disclaimer that you have not done your due diligence, you are effectively slandering the distributions you review. Take that advice or leave it, this is up to you.

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    Replies
    1. If you're lazy enough to carefully check the blog post, I'd quote for you: "Reboot. Choose to boot from optical media. Let's go for the Live run!"

      You can also read my notes about installed version of Kubuntu 11.10, if you want to.

      I never ask people to read my posts. Therefore, I will be more than happy if you skip reading and commenting in this style in future.

      Delete