Things That Could Be Better: Kubuntu 9.10
So let’s get something straight. I’m a Linux- Kubuntu Linux- user. Have been for several years now.
But they keep ‘upgrading’ the operating system. Why the tiny sarcastic air-quotes?
Every time they release a new update, I want to beat my head against the wall. I’m using Kubuntu 8.04- that particular version number denoting an April, 2008 release.
Tomorrow will mark the release of 9.10, the third major release since 8.04.
Why am I still on 8.04? Why this update-inspired violence?
They keep rolling out new ’shiny’ features, or even actually shiny features, along with a lot of drek. The only way to get at the nice new stuff is to upgrade. But-
- The new system has a bunch of features I use removed (k3b only got ported recently; KDE4 just doesn’t feel ready in general)
- These have been replaced by features I actively dislike (Dolphin; Amarok 2 (seriously? You didn’t think I LIKED being able to use a MySQL backend for my music collection? You didn’t think I LIKED being able to do spreadsheet-style filtering of my massive music folders?))
- The stuff I DO want (boot speed improvement!) is buried deep within these strata of drek.
It’s sort of like someone trying to tell you your 1972 Camaro in perfect condition should be replaced with a 1984 Dodge Dart. It’s really, really not an upgrade.
Thanks, I’m sure… but I’m downloading the Release Candidate for Ubuntu 9.10- no K- and if anything makes me install a newer version, that’ll be it. See, the Ubuntu devteam has actually developed tools that do 90% of what I want with Gnome- Gnome, for crying out loud!- and it’s less of a work-around to install Kate and Amarok (version 1) on Gnome than it is to trim the bloat that is KDE4. Sad, really.
Edit to Add: As has been pointed out in the comments, I should mention that I would really rather use KDE 3.x than KDE 4.x. Absolutely this is true. Unfortunately, I can’t get a KDE 3.x version of Kubuntu 9.10 without spending a few hours installing workarounds. Ergo, I’m trying Gnome now.
“Amarok 2 (seriously? You didn’t think I LIKED being able to use a MySQL backend for my music collection? You didn’t think I LIKED being able to do spreadsheet-style filtering of my massive music folders?)”
*shrug*
Honestly I have had a little too much of this “They decided to take their app in a different direction that initially will not have feature parity with what I already use and LIKE (and am free to continue using) and I am going to take this a as a personal attack” attitude.
For the first version of Amarok 2 (2.0.0) it was very clearly stated in the release announcement that it did not have feature parity with 1.4.x and for the current version (2.2.0) both the things you mention are possible. Amarok uses an embedded MySQL server per default and can easily be switched to using an external one, and you can create playlist layouts that almost completely mimic the excel style from 1.4.x with filtering and even more powerful sorting capabilities. One missing feature for the total retro feel (easily changing of “column” widths) is already included in the upcoming 2.2.1.
Likely you can find other pet features from 1.4.x that are not yet in Amarok 2 (I’ll even help you, moodbars and labels are still missing, although moodbar integration is on its way back http://amarok.kde.org/blog/archives/1115-Post-Amarok-2.2.1-Adding-some-color-to-your-life!.html ) but if these are more important to you than the mane new features of Amarok 2, then feel free to continue using 1.4.x and consider switching to a distro that still supports it.
“They decided to take their app in a different direction that initially will not have feature parity with what I already use and LIKE (and am free to continue using) and I am going to take this a as a personal attack”
From my point of view, that’s not the issue; any dev is (always!) free to take their app in any direction they want. The problem I have is, as stated above, that to install version 9.10 of the operating system is to utterly abandon my choice to be ‘free to continue using’ the old version of certain programs. Amarok 1.4, as just one of the things I mentioned, doesn’t exist in Kubuntu 9.10, not unless I start using workarounds- at which point, you are quite correct, I should probably just switch distros to minimize the amount of workaround I have to apply.
That last run-on sentence hearkens back to the core point of this post; I, as the user of this computer, am unhappy with the distro forcing a software upgrade from the version of a program I want to use and like using to a version I do not like to use, if I want the operating system itself to be upgraded. Thus the last paragraph where I point out that I am, in fact, switching distributions.
KDE 4.3 is actually quite stable and is ready for mainstream use. K3B for KDE 4 works just fine. Amarok 2 is a shift, I’ll admit, and does require some adjustment, but it does support the MYSQL backend. And Dolphin may be the default file manager, but you can open the default applications setting in System settings and happily revert to konqueror just fine.
I think your beef is you’d rather run KDE 3.x, which is fine. However, you should come clean about that point before dismissing the system.
Just my honest 2 cents
Cheers,
Rod.
Actually, I was really looking forward to 4.3- The last version of 4 I tried was 4.2 and was seriously disappointed (the full list of petty griping would take a while; we could probably leave it at “It didn’t do what I wanted”).
Then I read the Karmic release candidate page and saw a bunch of my old friends from my experiments with 9.04 (PulseAudio bugs, wireless trouble with the KDE 4 version of the network manager applet, slow compositing/compositing interfering with Skype video) and decided that since KDE (as of 4.2, the last I tried) doesn’t have File Size View in Konqueror, I might as well just install a seperate program for it- Filelight for example.
Then I realized that with my switch to Pidgin when I was trying 9.04 (Kopete under KDE 4.2 wouldn’t connect to MSN for me), a persistent and frustrating audio glitch in Kaffeine, and the lack of Amarok 1.4 in the modern repos, I might as well give Gnome a shot- the only really distinct features of KDE I was still using were k3b and Kate.
Absolutely, I’d love to run a KDE3-based 9.10 install; problem being one doesn’t exist. The point of the post is that that simple fact frustrates me, so I’m trying something else. I’d be happy to edit the post to point that out, and, in fact, will do so as soon as I hit the Submit Reply button.
https://wiki.kubuntu.org/Kubuntu/Kde3/Karmic
At time of writing the link to the cd image seems to be broken. Perhaps you want to use a normal minimum base install so as not to get all the kde4 nifties. Or, perhaps easier, install from a desktop CD, then apt-get autoremove some core kde4 component once you have kde3 installed.
As far as I know, you can add repos from older releases and grab Amarok 1.4 from there, unless there are some hard version dependencies. You can likely use the https://edge.launchpad.net/~bogdanb/+archive/amarok14 ppa in Karmic (setting up as a Jaunty repo, obviously), though.
At least you can install it. I can’t get past the boot menu. I select “Install Kubuntu” and the optical drive makes some noise, the computer momentarily doesn’t respond to input, then it goes silent and responds to input again. That happens no matter what menu option I choose. Kubuntu 9.10 RC installed fine, btw.
Yeah, neither can I (Ubuntu 9.10 rather than Kubuntu). Odd glitch. I’m downloading the DVD ISO, just on a whim (and because I have more DVD writable media than I do CD ones).
I’ve used Linux until I’ve started playing WoW.
I’ve tried a lot of tweaks and the performance in Linux are worse than on Windows. Some say the opposite, but this is it in my machine.
Do you play 25men raids? How are the performance while raiding? What is your hardware spec?
Thanks, I really would like to turn back into Ubuntu.
I don’t play WoW any more but, yes, I did used to run 25-mans with Linux. 25-mans worked fine for me until the upgrade to Lich King, then I started to get noticeable graphical slow-down.
GeForce Go 7600 w/256 mb RAM, 3Gb of RAM on the system; AMD Duo Core 1.6ghz.