“Moving Beyond Kubuntu

Over the years I’ve used many Linux distributions… far too many to list here without boring everyone. Needless to say, I cut my teeth on Linux during it’s early 1.2.x kernel days and I haven’t been wanting for choices over these many years.

I started using Kubuntu about two years ago when I wanted to see what the hype was all about and not only was it far easier to get going on my laptop of the time than the Debian installation I had been using, it was easy enough to use that I could recommend for new users.

So I stuck with it and I learned its myriad of quirks and all those little deviations that inevitably occur between releases as a distribution project matures. I didn’t just stick with the KDE variant either, I downloaded and used the gnome desktop. xfce, as well as the studio version and often ran the bleeding edge of everything. However, through all of it, KDE has pretty much remained my default desktop.

It seems that now… for me at least… it’s time to move on.”

More at: Moving Beyond Kubuntu

My Comment:
This is something everyone on the KDE team and everyone who makes KDE based distros needs to hear.
I’ve been struggling through KDE4 from 4.0 to 4.2.2, but when my distro started incorporating Koffice 2 and I read an article claiming 2 years before it becomes reliable again, that was just it. No more KDE, I’ve moved to Gnome and OpenOffice.

KDE 4.2.2 Release Announcement

"April 2nd, 2009. The KDE Community today announced the immediate availability of "Cano", (a.k.a KDE 4.2.2), another bugfix and maintenance update for the latest generation of the most advanced and powerful free desktop."

GNOME vs. KDE: Which Has the Evolutionary Advantage?

Framing the KDE vs. GNOME Question

The KDE Evolutionary Advantage

KDE Vision, GNOME Maintenance

Xfce Linux Desktop: Better Than KDE or GNOME?

Improved Features

Desktop Usabiltiy

Xfce vs. Kde and Gnome

Personal note:  I’m still using KDE4.2.1 at the moment, but occasional I take a walk with Gnome or Fluxbox or Xfce.  Summing it up, I’m currently slightly unhappy, but what other OS gives you four and more desktop window managers to chose from?

KDE 4.2.0 Visual Guide

Was trying to figure out these workspaces again.  And here is what transpired:

This is something that has been bothering me for quite some time.  Linux Desktop Workspaces, and now KDE4 Activities, both have the same irritating problems, for me at least.

So, I click on the pager button for Desktop #2.  Hmm, nice new clean desktop, just like you’d expect. But notice how the panel in Desktop #2 shows you all the open programs from Desktop #1.  To me, this is a problem, I thought I would get a nice new clean workspace unencumbered by whatever else I was doing on Desktop #1.

Now open, say, Akregator. I start reading the new items and a good link presents itself.  I click on it and … wow, I am transported back to the open Firefox in Desktop #1 and a new tab opens with url.  But wait, I thought I was in Desktop #2 because I wanted to start a new set of tasks unrelated to what I was doing before.  This just isn’t right.

So I go back and open the Akregator Settings –> Configure Akregator –> Browser.  I have "Left Mouse Click" set to "Open in External Browser" with "Use this command" set to "firefox %u" for opening the url in firefox.  But, why in Desktop #1 and not Desktop #2? So off to Desktop #1 I go, and bring up the Firefox Edit Preferences –> Tabs and I see that "New Pages Should be Opened" is set to "in a New Tab". I change this to "in a New Window". I know, I know, from now on every time I click a link a new Firefox window will open instead of a new tab.  But alas, I guess we can’t have everything we wish for.

Now, I go back to Desktop #2 and try this again. It opens in the Firefox in Desktop #1 again. Wtf? Ahh, I suppose %u means to open url in a new tab. So I change this by going back to the Akregator Settings –> Configure Akregator –> Browser and change the "Use this command" to "firefox" without the %u. Arrrg! Clicking the link now makes Firefox open in Desktop #2, but to my default start page and not to the requested/expected url. Changing it back to "firefox %u" and clicking the link again, it opens the url in the Firefox newly opened in Desktop #2. But, but, the problem here is I must remember to open Firefox in Desktop #2 BEFORE I click any links!  And if I happen to return to Desktop #1 and use the Firefox open there, then return to Desktop #2 and click a link, I’ll go back to Desktop #1’s Firefox, evidently because it somehow remembers which Firefox window I used last to open a new url!!  Double Arrrg!

If there is an answer to this "Madness of the Workspaces", I have yet to find it.  This behavior seems to carry over into the new KDE4 Activities also.

Note: Sheesh, never fails, post a long rant about how something works or doesn’t work and you go back and notice something stupid you did.  That Firefox preference somehow didn’t get set to "in a New Window" like I thought I had done.  After making this change, I discover clicking the link opens a new Firefox in Desktop #2 and opens the url, just like I wanted.  Now, off to find out how to do this in every application I use.

Additional Note: The problem with the panel showing all open windows from all desktops in KDE4 still exists, however. Also, the problem of switching back and forth between desktops can still lead to the problem where a new window opens in the previously accessed desktop instead of the desktop you are in. I never could get this working correctly back in the old KDE3 days either, leading me to give up on using workspaces altogether.  I hope these issues get resolved somehow in KDE4.

Featuring Layla Kayleigh: And be sure to check out her website at: http://www.laylakayleigh.com/

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