Kubuntu, ArkLinux Announce KDE 3.4-Based Releases

arexx writes "Kubuntu, the new Linux flavour based on the fast-climbing Ubuntu but with a KDE desktop as standard has reached its first preview release, with the first full release due next month. ISOs and torrents are available for all major architectures from cdimage.ubuntu.com. Kubuntu is the first distribution to ship with the new KDE 3.4, released just two days ago. Existing Ubuntu users can grab KDE 3.4 with a quick and customarily painless 'sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop' in the nearest terminal window." Kubuntu isn't alone, though: as reader fixertechno puts it, "After 3 years of development, testing, and me waiting patiently, the first stable release of Ark Linux has been released; Bero's announcement is here. Ark Linux is a KDE based desktop version of Linux with similar goals of 'it just works' to Ubuntu Linux. If you've been waiting to try Ark Linux -- or any Linux distribution for that matter, now's the time!"

Comments

Ark has a long way to go

[Timesprout]

I just had a look at the screenshot for the 'easy to use' network config dialog. It lists nice clueless user friendly things like

eth0 running Ethernet adapter
lo running Loopback adapter

All of which is perfectly clear to the average end user so presumably this is why there is no help button. And they seem to have a problem spelling associated, there was no z in it last time I looked.

So after a very very brief look I dont see anything particularly user friendly but I do see sloppiness.

Re:Ark has a long way to go

[ctid]

I just had a look at the screenshot for the 'easy to use' network config dialog. It lists nice clueless user friendly things like

eth0 running Ethernet adapter
lo running Loopback adapter

All of which is perfectly clear to the average end user so presumably this is why there is no help button.

I think you're being pretty harsh here. It's years since I looked at a network setup screen on my linux boxes; nowadays all that just seems to work immediately after installation. I suspect that the only people who use such tools are experts. As for the spelling thing, who cares? It's not as if anyone would fail to see what is meant by the word. The guy has created a whole distribution. I am personally prepared to overlook the odd spelling mistake from someone who offers me so much of his time for nothing.

Re:Ark has a long way to go

[darthpenguin]

While I won't argue with you about general sloppiness (I've never tried out that distro), I think it's necessary to understand that only a certain level of "clueless user friendly things" can be allowed.

The dialog you mentioned (link) labels the eth0 interface as "ethernet adapter". How much more abstraction can you expect? Should it be labeled "thingy that lets your magic number-adding box 'talk' to other magic number-adding boxes through a metal wire which fits into a rectangular-like hole in the back of both boxes"?

At some point, you have to expect the user to know what they're doing, or expect them to learn something. There is no way around that, short of having someone knowledgable literally hand-hold them through every step.

Re:Ok I might regret this but,.......

[Slack3r78]

Basic rundown:

Gnome is a GTK based desktop environment with a focus on usability and simplicity, at times to a near detrimental level. Philosophically, it's a solid approach, but developers and users do butt heads from time to time. It's generally considered more 'Mac-like.' (More MacOS = OS 9 than X).

KDE is a QT based destkop environment which focuses primarily on flexibility and a high degree of customization. KDE focuses more on giving those that consider themselves power a larger degree of control. This degree of control does, however, lead to an increased level of complexity. Interface wise, it's the more Windows-like of the two.

And it's this point that has me slightly confused with the Kubuntu project. If you spend any time around the forums, you'll pick up that Ubuntu is built around an almost severely strict regimine of usibility. For example, in one thread I was watching, the idea of using red/green to indicate OK/Fail during boot up was shot down on the grounds that it could cause problems for people with color blindness.

While I appreciate that some people honestly prefer KDE as an environment, I don't quite see where it fits into Ubuntu's philosophy. Ubuntu is almost painfully easy to use - I have a friend who is a geek and a bit of a Macintosh zealot who's previously expressed a rather strong dislike for Linux, and even he's fallen in love with this distribution. I just don't see how it can maintain its character on KDE without pruning away many of the things the KDE advocates really like.