I have tried Kubuntu again and am delighted. I tell you why

Kubuntu stays

Several years ago, between 2015 and 2016, I tried Kubuntu for the first time and have done it several times since then. I loved its user interface, but there was always something that went wrong with me and I ended up going back to Ubuntu. I recently wrote about KDE, I tried Kubuntu again and I saw bugs that I didn't like, but once I got back to Ubuntu I realized that one of them (problems downloading packages) was widespread for a few hours. With the feeling that this time everything would be fine, I have reinstalled it and I am delighted. I explain the reasons.

I have written this article in my spare time. In it I will tell you about everything that I have been finding since I installed it a couple of weeks ago. Among the topics or points that you will see below there will be applications, functions and an endless number of small details that have made me fall in love with the flavor of Ubuntu that uses the KDE Plasma graphical environment. One of them is simply that it works, something that, at least in my case, was not going as well as now.

Kubuntu: fast, fluid and beautiful

Kubuntu is beautiful. Whenever I have had to write about it, KDE or Plasma I have felt like installing it. And I did it. And I love it. Its interface is clean, well designed, its effects are attractive without being too exaggerated. Looks good. The best of all is that It is a joy for the eyes at the same time that it is fluid and, knock on wood, steady. Everything fits and in the «everything» we have many options, functions, suggestions ...

Because Kubuntu is one of the most customizable operating systems out there. As soon as I installed the latest versions of Ubuntu, I would install Retouching just to be able to move the buttons to the left without learning a command line or doing much research. In Kubuntu this is an option that comes by default. In fact, it is so customizable that we can move only one of the buttons. You will not deny me that this is fine.

Kubuntu has no dock And after many years on Ubuntu or macOS, you have to get used to it. They can be installed, but I have decided to put a small panel on the left that is automatically hidden to access all my favorite applications: Firefox, Dolphin, Spectacle, Cantata, Discover, my own launchers ("Xkill" and three to convert images)… and all very simple. You can add shortcuts to the bottom bar, but I don't want to have that bar full of accesses and open applications.

If you don't like the Kubuntu image (heresy!), In Discover there is an add-ons section. Among these add-ons we will have themes, icons and others. It is clear that we have this possibility in practically all Linux distributions but, in this sense, the good thing about the KDE version of Ubuntu are the suggestions, which put everything in front of us.

Interesting applications

Cantata: like Amarok, but neat

Until recently and if I'm not mistaken, the player that Kubuntu included was AmaroK. I already used AmaroK when I started using Linux and, coming from Windows where there was a very complete and neat program called MediaMonkey, I saw everything very different and messy. There was a lot of information on the same screen, although it is true that AmaroK is very complete. I wasn't a big fan of Kubuntu music software, but this has changed with Singer: the new program to listen to music that includes Kubuntu is very simple, as much as Rhythmbox, but much more visually attractive, like everything in KDE. In the upper right corner we have a button that has an "i" for information, we click on it and, voilà !, we have all the information about a group, album and even the lyrics of the song. All by default and without touching any configuration.

We can configure the info screen to display the group photo below the text, which is very attractive. It has dark mode, but I have it deactivated because I have activated the general dark mode that is in plasma (at least in v5.15.2).

As well has two mini-players that will appear when clicking on the «Play» icon in the tray or by hovering over the minimized application in the bar. Although they are not the most beautiful of those that exist, they serve to advance the playback point or change tracks. If we click on the thumbtack of the one that comes out of the tray it will stay that way forever. And you know what? In all the time that I have been writing this article I have been listening to music and I have not heard small cuts as I did with Ubuntu + Firefox + Rhythmbox.

Spectacle: screenshots and tips

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This Spectacle is a show. It is not because it does things that other tools do not, but because of its ease of use and tips. As soon as you press the "print screen" button, it will appear, which is no different from other applications. What is different is what we have below:

  • From Setup We can edit the name with which the capture will be saved, the extension, the directory, use a light background or remember the selected area.
  • From Tools We can open the folder where the captures are saved, print them or "Record the screen". The latter is not part of Spectacle, but it will suggest that we install Peek to record a GIF of a specific area or SimpleScreenRecorder to record everything that happens on our desktop on video.
  • From Export we can open the capture that we just made in another program. This comes in handy for me because I can open it directly in Shutter to add arrows or other markings or in GIMP to add more complex changes.
  • The button Save originally it said "Save as" and I have changed it to save it directly in JPG and save it to my desktop with the name "capture".

It should be noted that all Spectacle capture options (window, rectangle, etc.) appear in "Search" and that we can add the shortcut to Favorites.

KSysGuard - System Monitor

KSysGuard

KSysGuard shows what is the main process

As with the partition manager that I will talk about later, I have to mention KSysGuard because it has a much more careful image than the GNOME option. In addition, as you can see marked with the arrow, KSySGuard shows us an icon in the main process of a program, something that I do not remember being in Ubuntu and that comes in handy if what we want is to close a program that we have detected that is consuming a lot means. Rambox is a great program that allows you to access different web services that it has by default or add others. I have added two Twitter accounts Lite and Inoreader there. But sometimes it weighs a lot.

Gwenview: image viewer with interesting options

Gwenview

Gwenview

El Kubuntu image viewer is Gwenview. Like everything in Plasma, it is very attractive visually, but what I like the most is that it is much easier to convert images to other formats, crop them or change their size. Right now I do not remember that the Ubuntu image viewer has these options or, if it does, they are not so visible. This is what I like the most about Kubuntu: after years without using it, everything seems to be at hand or to be very intuitive.

KDE partition manager: GParted, but nicer

KDE partition management

KDE partition management

I had to mention it. I think I remember that Ubuntu came with GParted by default but, I don't know why, or maybe for security, it doesn't. Kubuntu has thought it to be an important tool, something I agree on, and has included its own GParted. Is named KDE partition management and it's pretty much the same, but with the polished image of Plasma. And is that Kubuntu comes with many options after installing from scratch.

KNotes: post-its all over the desk

KNotes

KNotes

En KNotes we have a perfect application for those who do not have a good memory. How many times have we seen a workplace with a computer full of post-its stuck on the screen? For that there is software like this. It comes installed by default and we can create notes of different colors, font, size and that one or more are hidden or shown. It will also allow us to configure notifications so that a note appears on the screen as a reminder when we indicate it.

Dolphin: powerful file manager… with limitations

Dolphin

Dolphin

El Kubuntu's file manager is Dolphin. It has many more options than Nautilus, for example, among which we have to select a file and drag it to another point, an option to Move, Copy or Link appears. You have to get used to using it because when copying my music from my backup partition to the hard drive, I accidentally moved several folders. This is much more productive, but to move forward we will hold down Ctrl to copy or Shift to move. The Move option is very good for, for example, that when deleting files from removable drives it does not put them in the /.trash folder.

It seems important to mention that the fact that there are Move or Copy options can be a problem if we don't take them into account. For example, if we want to drag an image into a GIMP project we will have to press Ctrl to make it copy or else it will do nothing.

Of course, it has a weak point: Kubuntu has decided to add some security so that we do not make mistakes like the one I made recently when deleting the EFI partition due to a problem I had when installing Android-x86. What they have done has been prevent us from using Dolphin as Root, which can and is a problem sometimes. If we want more privileges we will have to install another window manager that does allow it, such as Nautilus (sudo nautilus). This also happens in the Kate text editor.

Start menu with three different alternatives

The start menu is another of those points with which we will have to get used to. After years with Unity and now GNOME, a traditional start It seems strange, but we have three options available:

  • Application launcher is what comes by default. In this option we can see the favorites as soon as we click on the start menu and to the right, Applications, Equipment, History and Exit.
  • Applications menu It is a more classic menu reminiscent of MATE or Windows XP / 95. In it we will see the favorites on the left and the drop-down menus on the right.
  • Application Dashboard it is the closest thing to the option that there is in Ubuntu.

Locker

This is one of the functions that I like the most and that I do not know if it is available in other versions of Ubuntu. Is an all-in-one for searching, calculating and other tasks. It allows not only to search our PC, but also to search the web. If we combine it with DuckDuckGo, productivity will multiply by many integers.

Locker

Locker

We will access KRunner by pressing Alt + Space or Alt + F2 (in my case only the first option works). A small box for entering text will appear at the top center of the screen. To find out everything we can do, we will open «Web shortcuts» and take a look. For example, if we put «1 + 1» directly it will put us «2». If we put "dd hello" it will look for "hello" in DuckDuckGo. If we do the same with "gg" we will search in Google. But as a DuckDuckGo user I just need to remember "dd": if I want to search for a YouTube video I will type "dd! Yt search", where "search" is what I want to search for, and "dd" will ask you to use DuckDuckGo, "! Yt »You will tell DuckDuckGo to search YouTube and we will search directly on the Google video service.

The ! bangs by DuckDuckGo they are a definite reason to use the duck finder. It is as simple as that if we always want to use Google we will have to get used to adding "! G" without the quotes in front, behind or even in the middle of a search. The good thing is to learn other bangs such as:

  • ! yt for YoyTube
  • ! g for google.
  • ! gi for Google Images.
  • ! password X, where "x" is the number of letters we want, to generate a random password.
  • ! rae is used to define words. That is supposed to do it by itself, but it doesn't work for me.
  • and so hundreds of options.

Graphic elements or widgets

Graphic elements in Kubuntu

Graphic elements in Kubuntu

They call them Graphic elements when we have to add them, but we all know them as "widgets". By default we have some interesting ones, such as the clock, the time clock, shortcuts (such as the calculator or the calendar) or information from the system monitor, that is, the memory that is occupied. I personally like to have a clean interface, but I know that this is a feature that many users will like, which is why I mention it.

There are more widgets to download on Discover.

What I do not like

Changes of things that I counted on

But not everything is perfect. Sometimes it is difficult to make changes and, for example, By default we cannot launch the Terminal (Konsole) with the shortcut Ctrl + Alt + T because it is assigned to "New Task". As it is something that I have never used (the new task shortcut), I went to Preferences / Shortcuts / Right click / New / Global shortcut / Order or URL, where I added a comment, a combination of keys and configured the command « konsole »in the third tab. Yes, you can, but you have to add it. So I have also added the option to kill applications, that is why I have crossed it out above.

One thing I liked about Ubuntu 18.10 was the Night Light, that is, at night it changes the color of the screen, eliminating blue tones so that our body "understands" that it is getting dark, begins to relax and we sleep better and more soon. This is not in Kubuntu, so I have to pull RedShift. It is not configurable and not very reliable, but we can always activate it by hand.

I can live with that

UPDATED: As Night Vampire and newbie comment in the comments, it can be modified from the settings.

I DO NOT KNOW if I like that it seems that Kubuntu never starts from scratchThat is, even if we restart, it will reopen all the programs that we had open when it re-enters. This can be somewhat confusing if, for example, we have left KTorrent open on the tray, we do not see the icon, we start and when we enter we see it on the screen. I have looked at the settings to see if I had the option to start with the system activated, but no. Then I remembered that Kubuntu goes back to where it was every time I turn it on.

Although once inside the feeling is smooth, takes a long time to start up and shut down. I think everything has improved by updating Plasma to its latest version, but it is still slow in that regard. In any case, I prefer the slowness in those moments than the loss of fluency once the system has started.

Putting it all on a scale Kubuntu stays on my PC and not like what happened in the header photo that has motivated hundreds of memes. And have I convinced you to use this great operating system?

Oficial web page.


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  1.   Enrique de Diego said

    With Piqué there, he will surely go. XD

    1.    malcarat said

      I tell you…. 🙂
      I was curious, I have installed Kubunto and I have installed Dropbox that is already "from the factory" in the application installer and I have it working without problems. 🙂

  2.   malcarat said

    Have you installed Dropbox, does it work?

    1.    DigitOptic Technology Services said

      I use KDE-Neon 18.04 (Similar to Kubuntu but more modern Plasma) and it works Excellent !!!

  3.   Jose Francisco Barrantes placeholder image said

    Coincidence. . . Yesterday Today ) ?????? I finished installing it at almost 1:00 AM ~ CR my definite favorite flavor of Linux !!! ???

  4.   Hephaestus Mephisto said

    Well, I have not had a problem with my fedora, it is more version 28, I know that it is something old, it has served me for everything, I have not had crashes and if I have it with kde that's why I put it up.

  5.   newbie said

    To fix kubuntu not starting from scratch, check the startup and shutdown settings in the kubuntu system preferences.

  6.   Hello Zun said

    I love Kubuntu I've been using it for a long time…. especially for broadcasting since OBS entered the world of Linux all that has been a love!

  7.   Mario Zamora Madriz said

    You should try Manjaro KDE, it seems to me that it has much more polished things and it is Rolling Release

  8.   Francisco Javier Castillo Diaz said

    Well, I prefer xubuntu, which is simpler, but it's great

  9.   Andreale Dicam said

    Kubuntu is one of the rare cases that exist within the KDE ecosystem because personally respecting conflicting opinions, it should be absorbed by KDE Neon, indeed, both belong to the same BlueSystems company. The only redeemable thing about Kubuntu is its LTS version that offers Plasma LTS version (currently 5.12) perfect for business workstations. Otherwise, it is totally superseded and superseded by KDE Neon.

    KDE Neon is the official KDE® and the K Desktop Environment® repository (Rolling Release development model) and is mixed with Ubuntu LTS repositories (Point Release development model), being a colossal engineering achievement since these two models are diametrically opposed and synchronizing them requires a lot of work and experience due to latent dependency incompatibility. The result, a very stable distribution and with the latest in Plasma. This concept defeats on all sides what is tried by the non-LTS versions of Kubuntu that force to install the Kubuntu Backports repository to try to match it, but the Neon repository is definitely more complete and integrated.

    BlueSystems should offer a single distribution that offers its users the Plasma LTS version (Kubuntu) and the Plasma Rolling Release (KDE Neon) version. It is clear that it cannot do so under the "Kubuntu" membership as it is owned by Canonical, and the relations between the two companies were not on good terms after BlueSystems decided to bring in several front-line developers to work with them, including Jonathan Riddell. the most important code contributor in Ubuntu history and current leader of KDE Neon, after Canonical turned its back on Kubuntu. The solution is to use the KDE Neon brand. Surely there must be some economic condition that prevents BlueSystems from taking definitive control of the KDE Plasma version and merging the two mentioned.

  10.   Joshua Mogollon said

    Carlos Caguana: v hahaha

  11.   John Baker Silva Moncaleano said

    And how is Kubuntu vs ubuntu going?

  12.   yoxfce said

    Well, no, you don't convince me to install it, whenever I've tried plasma I've gotten rid of it by running, I just see it pretty, but neither functional nor simple. Simpler than a click on an icon and running there is nothing, xfce with your icons in the wimdows-style panel and that's it, a single click and it opens, everything else I see complications, if you want simplicity, effectiveness, super stability and lightness of feather xfce, if you want to complicate your life because you like kde.

  13.   Jose Gonzalez said

    There is some video in your clickbait xD

  14.   Christian Echeverry said

    I have tried to move to KDE several times, but it is slow on my computer, I could not get used to the Discover store, I use Google services and I could not sync contacts and calendar in the default applications either.

    It seems to me that it has a beautiful, powerful and customizable environment but I will still stick with GNOME.

  15.   Night Vampire said

    Pablinux, so that the programs that you have open are not reopened every time you log in, you have to go to the "Startup and Shutdown" section and there in the "Desktop Session" section (Start and logout from the desktop) In the box "When logging in", choose the option "Start with an empty session". That way it will no longer restore the programs that you had open.

    1.    newbie said

      I think something similar I commented 2 days ago 🙁

  16.   Nacho said

    Hello
    Thank you for bringing knowledge to the world.
    I particularly have been using Kubuntu for a decade. I am installing versions and updates and despite some problems that have arisen, as with other distros, I continue with Kubuntu.
    I highly recommend digikam.
    By the way ... not only does DropBox work, but also Mega.

    Salu2
    Nacho

  17.   show said

    It is incredible to read comments based on ignorance and personal tastes (some like women, others men ... and many others in the middle). And the good article ... you don't know how to configure the shutdown or "what I don't like" because you don't KNOW how to open the terminal ... it's too much. I think that to do something like that, the minimum is to put a bench, comparison, etc.