fjellstad.org

For the last couple of years, I’ve been using Kubuntu on the desktop and Debian on the server. Initially, I used Debian both places, but after feeling that Debian on the desktop didn’t give me an unified look ‘n feel, I decided to try out Kubuntu.

I recently decided to visit that decision again. After trying out both Kubuntu and the Kubuntu remix (and Ubuntu remix), I decided to try Debian on the desktop again. The experience has been pretty good, although I think most of it is how far KDE has come since I used Debian on the desktop.

Kubuntu pro
1. Unified look’n feel (still)
2. Most things just work (keybinding etc)
3. Out-of-the-box home encryption

Kubuntu con
1. Too many applications installed that I don’t use. Uninstalling them breaks upgrade path
2. Upgrade is not smooth (compared to Debian)
3. Too much control given up in name of user-friendliness

Debian pro
1. Pick ‘n choose exactly what I want installed
2. Same system as I use on servers
3. Easy upgrade path

Debian con
1. Still not unified (Iceweasel on KDE looks horrible)
2. Difficulties implementing fileencryption with ecryptfs

Still haven’t really decided. Right now I’m running Debian/KDE Plasma Netbook on my EeePC, Kubuntu Lucid Lynx on my workstation and Debian on my servers.

I’ve been playing with KDE4 for awhile now since Kubuntu released 8.04. Although it’s a little more polished and useable than when I tested the 4.0 release, it’s still not quite there yet. That is, it doesn’t give compelling reason to switch from KDE 3. That said, KDE4 is beautiful.

One of the complains against KDE that it wasn’t very beautiful. It was very functional, but beauty… To me, it was like most enterprise level software. Functional, does what you need it to do, but it’s not a thing of beauty (if you want beauty, check out what Apple is doing with their stuff). KDE4 is beautiful. The artwork team in KDE has done a really good job. And with the addition of 3D accelerated graphics, it actually feel smoother too.

I really look forward to what the KDE team has in store for v4.1 and beyond. It’s going to be an exciting year.

I’ve decided to reinstall my Linux system, and in the process upgrade to the next Kubuntu version, 8.04, also known as Hardy Heron. I usually don’t like to reinstall my OS when I upgrade to a new version. One of the reason I decided to move to a Debian distribution was that I didn’t have to reinstall during upgrade. Unfortunately, when I initially installed Kubuntu 6.06 (Dapper), I made the / partition too small. Although it was big enough for normal usage, during upgrades, with multiple versions of the kernel, firmwares and kernel modules, it got too tight. Hopefully, the current size of 1 Gb should be enough.

In general, I hate reinstalling an OS. Mostly because I spend some time customizing it, writing scripts to help me in the day-to-day work. Most of the time, I forget to backup these scripts, so I have to recreate them once I notice they are missing. Mostly finding everything to make the desktop look and feel exactly as I had it before I made the upgrade do take time. Of course, I’m also finding functionality that I’ve never noticed because they have been hidden because of customization, or I just hadn’t looked.

Although I stopped installing beta software (unless force to it), I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the stability of Hardy. Stuff like hibernation and suspension that I previously had problems with, works now. I never got the kernel in Gutsy to boot, so I had to be content with the kernel from Edgy, but 2.6.24 works perfectly now. And Kontact seem more stable than previous versions. The addressbook has gotten a much needed speedboost (when using LDAP), although it still doesn’t expose all the fields. This version seems to be a keeper.