Ubuntu + Derivatives...

Mr Jones

Mr Jones

Mr Jones

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Hi guys, with the release of 8.04, I'm going back to abit of Ubuntu fun but never really got interested in what other derivatives offers till today on this page;
Derivatives

Ubuntu
Edubuntu
Kubuntu
Xubuntu
Gobuntu
Ubuntu Studios

So from my readings, Ubuntu Studios is stuffed with more creative setup like for photos, art and videos, Gobuntu is for mobile devices and Edubuntu is for more or less, kids.

What is the difference between Ubuntu, Kubuntu and Xubuntu?
I've only ever tried Ubuntu so unsure what Gnome, K and XFCE desktop environment is all about.

Anyone here can kindly explain these to me in layman terms?

If it's just office, web browsing and some multimedia work on a Dell 9400, should I just stick with Ubuntu or does the K or even XFCE environment offer me more?

Also, any of these distro should support Wine (for gaming) right? I'm interested in installing Orange Box / CS:S on Linux, because these are essentially what I play on Windows anyway - so I can boot into a Linux 90% of my laptop usage... That's more or less the only thing keeping me away from committing to Linux.
 
Dr Jones said:
So from my readings, Ubuntu Studios is stuffed with more creative setup like for photos, art and videos, Gobuntu is for mobile devices and Edubuntu is for more or less, kids.
Click to expand...
Ubuntu Studio, not Studios. Gobuntu is not for mobile devices, it's a distro that features absolutely no software with restricted licenses. It's pretty much GPL, MIT, and BSD all the way. Those are some of the official derivatives. There are unofficial ones too. I'm a big fan of Mythbuntu and Fluxbuntu.
What is the difference between Ubuntu, Kubuntu and Xubuntu?
I've only ever tried Ubuntu so unsure what Gnome, K and XFCE desktop environment is all about.
Click to expand...
They're just different desktop environments. KDE has a bajillion options and you can tweak everything without jumping through hoops. Gnome tries to hide some configuration options for the purpose of simplicity. XFCE is designed to be fast and simple for people who demand the fastest while still wanting all the nifty features.

If it's just office, web browsing and some multimedia work on a Dell 9400, should I just stick with Ubuntu or does the K or even XFCE environment offer me more?
Click to expand...
It's a matter of preference, try 'em all. You can install a program meant for one on any other system wi6hout a problem. If you have, say, a working Ubuntu system you can turn it into a working Kubuntu system by passing it one command.

Also, any of these distro should support Wine (for gaming) right? I'm interested in installing Orange Box / CS:S on Linux, because these are essentially what I play on Windows anyway - so I can boot into a Linux 90% of my laptop usage... That's more or less the only thing keeping me away from committing to Linux.
Click to expand...
Yes, Wine will install on any of them.
 
BillytheImpaler said:
They're just different desktop environments. KDE has a bajillion options and you can tweak everything without jumping through hoops. Gnome tries to hide some configuration options for the purpose of simplicity. XFCE is designed to be fast and simple for people who demand the fastest while still wanting all the nifty features.
Click to expand...

So a KDE interface on a Kubuntu is better if a user would like to customise (more than Gnome) their desktop interface, with advance user experience?

Also, with the Xbuntu, if I'm running it on a fast computer - it'll be unbelievably fast when compared to Ubuntu? Sounds useful for me if I'm only using it for office + odd gamings...


BillytheImpaler said:
It's a matter of preference, try 'em all. You can install a program meant for one on any other system wi6hout a problem. If you have, say, a working Ubuntu system you can turn it into a working Kubuntu system by passing it one command.
Click to expand...

What one command?

Sorry, abit of a noob in this area and a little guide into it will help lots :)
 
Dr Jones said:
So a KDE interface on a Kubuntu is better if a user would like to customise (more than Gnome) their desktop interface, with advance user experience?

Also, with the Xbuntu, if I'm running it on a fast computer - it'll be unbelievably fast when compared to Ubuntu? Sounds useful for me if I'm only using it for office + odd gamings...




What one command?

Sorry, abit of a noob in this area and a little guide into it will help lots :)
Click to expand...

I found installing KDE on Ubuntu caused a load of problems especially with the desktop effects manager.

I would advise against it.

sid
 
sudo apt-get installl ubuntu-desktop
sudo apt-get installl kubuntu-desktop
sudo apt-get installl xubuntu-desktop
sudo apt-get installl edubuntu-desktop
etc

Takes any working system and adds all the missing packages of the other system. You switch between them using the Sessions button at the GDM login screen. As above it may break Compiz.

Both are customizable. Check out the Linux desktops thread to see what others have done. It really is a matter of preference. I happen to like Gnome more than I like KDE. Others feel differently. Check them all out and discover what you like and what you don't like.
 
Not done it sid's way round but I did install Gnome onto my Kubuntu installation a while ago, and it worked just as it should.

The way I did it was to use Synaptic, the package management tool, to select Gnome. It then installed all the pre-requisite stuff that I'd need too. Then when I restarted my box the next time I had the option at the log-on screen to choose which desktop environment I wanted to use, KDE, Gnome, etc...

However, I've found that I prefer XFCE rather than Gnome or KDE - to me, KDE is just too much like using Windows, whereas Gnome seems too little configuration. XFCE seems to be right for me. I've got Compiz Fusion running on it, so it can do all the eye candy stuff if I want to show off what it's capable of.

On my E2200 (OC'ed to 3GHz but even at stock it was the same) with 4GB RAM (again, even when I was only running 2GB it was the same) and a 8800GT my machine absolutely flies. Once the OS is up and running, everything runs so quickly I don't have to wait while my hard drive is being thrashed or while memory is freed up (which I seemed to have my XP install for some reason :().

The only problem I do have which I've not had time to look into yet, is that when I boot my box I get lots of errors to do with my hard drives (they're not failing so I'm not worried enough to look into it) which means I have to wait for timeouts to happen... which makes the time to boot up considerably longer. However, once the timeouts have happened, the rest flies and I find that once I've signed-in I can start using the OS straight away... with my Windows box, it seems to be quicker getting the desktop displayed but then I have to wait a long time before the applications are actually usable because things such as my software firewall and antivirus take a very long time to initiate.
 
sid said:
I found installing KDE on Ubuntu caused a load of problems especially with the desktop effects manager.

I would advise against it.

sid
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up. I'll give Xubuntu a try and see how it goes - from the sounds of things, it's a slimmed down, faster Ubuntu?

Thanks all :)
 
The only real difference is the windowing environment. XFCE is written with GTK so you can run Gnome applications natively. If you want to install any KDE applications, such a KWrite or AmaroK you can do that too, it'll just be a bigger initial download since it has to download all the KDE libraries it needs. No big deal, really.

Gnome is probably the most polished desktop environment for Ubuntu since that's where most of the focus is.
 
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