Linux drove me to get a Mac

[CLIFFORD ILKAY]

Evan Leibovitch wrote:
> CLIFFORD ILKAY wrote:
>>> The inclusion of KDE4 in Kubuntu 8.10 indicates a serious QC problem
>>> within the ubuntu community. For release 8.04 KDE4 was made available as
>>> a non-default option. In retrospect that policy should have been
>>> maintained for 8.10, a view that is not mitigated by the availability of
>>> GNOME as an option.
>>>     
>>
>> You're blaming the wrong party. It's not a KDE problem. It's a Kubuntu
>> problem.
> Isn't that what I said above? I generally have no qualms with the KDE
> folks; while I am still unclear of the new infatuation with desktop
> widgets there is a feel that soon enough it will make sense. But it needs
> more widgets and functionality that I was common in KDE3 needs
> to be restored before they can move forward.

KDE 4 is a very ambitious project the benefits of which will take some
time to see. The ability to target OS X and Windows with KDE 4 apps
seems like a huge win to me. I'm not big on the desktop widgets either
since I don't usually see my desktop anyway but that's just me. Some
people apparently like them.

> Are these KDE or Kubuntu problems?
> 
> Being able to right-click on an archive file and extract to a subdirectory
> broke between KDE3 and KDE4 because the supporting features were
> temporarily removed from the KDE4 version of Ark. That's not something
> that can be fixed by Ubuntu alone.

I generally use the shell for that so I don't miss what I don't use.

> I used to be able to right-click on a video file, select "properties", and
> find out its codecs and run-time. Also gone.

Can't you use the KDE 3 version of the app in question in KDE 4?

> The problems that have aggravated me are not in the choice of theme
> or icon set. They're basic functions, appreciated in Kubuntu using KDE3,
> that vanished using Kubuntu with KDE4.

I'll repeat the question I asked Tyler, "Why 'upgrade'?" If you insist
on running Kubuntu, what's wrong with continuing to run Hardy with KDE
3.5.10, other than the usual Kubuntu problems?

"What Kubuntu problems?", you ask. For instance, the most recent Firefox
update on the Kubuntu machine I'm using now caused the Firefox icon in
the Quick Launcher applet in the kicker panel to change into a generic
icon. There is no obvious way to change the icon. I could remove it and
add it but if it behaves anything like the other Kubuntu machines, I'll
have a HUGE Firefox icon next to the small icons for all the other apps
with no way to change the size of that icon so I'm leaving it alone for
now. It's a minor annoyance but an annoyance all the same.

For the school, I found iTalc <http://italc.sourceforge.net/>. If iTalc
is installed and I log into KDE 3, I'll get one dialogue after another
telling me port 5800 is in use. If I log into GNOME, no problem.
EduBuntu is based on GNOME so it has presumably been tested with it. It
obviously has never been tested with KDE. Playing "Whack-a-Mole" with 20
dialogue windows that pop up rapidly is very annoying.

Another choice one: I did an "apt-get install netbeans", accepted the
dependencies and then attempted to run NetBeans. On startup, it tells me
"Warning - could not install module JPDA Debugger API
JPDA Debugger API - This module requires JDKHOME/lib/tools.jar to be
accessible. This file was not found. Usually this means you are trying
to run the IDE with the JRE instead of the full JDK. If so, please use
the --jdkhome command line option to specify a JDK installation." So why
would the much-vaunted apt install NetBeans with a JRE instead of the
JDK, if in fact this is the problem?

> I also have spots of the bottom panel occasionally flickering or completely
> disappearing until I move the mouse pointer over them. KDE problem or
> Kubuntu? Doesn't matter. New users who encounter them will blame
> "Linux" and run back to XP or Vista or maybe Macs.

I don't see that in Fedora or OpenSuse so it could be a Kubuntu problem
or just a problem with the version of KDE 4 used in Intrepid.
-- 
Regards,

Clifford Ilkay
Dinamis
1419-3266 Yonge St.
Toronto, ON
Canada  M4N 3P6

<http://dinamis.com>
+1 416-410-3326
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