[vox-tech] Ubuntu vs. Kubuntu

[Jeff Newmiller]

Bob Scofield wrote:
> I've always thought that Kubuntu was the same as Ubuntu except that it had KDE 
> instead of Gnome.  And I notice from their respective websites that Kubuntu 
> is part of the Ubuntu project.
> 
> But I've noticed that on the debian-laptop list some people are recommending 
> Ubuntu as the distro to run on laptops with no problems.  And one of the 
> posters said that he put Ubuntu on his laptop, and then added KDE!  Why would 
> he do such a thing unless Ubuntu was in fact different from Kubuntu in ways 
> other than GUI's?
> 
> Does anyone know of any difference between Kubuntu and Ubuntu that would make 
> one choose the latter for a laptop?

I think you are reading too much into these "opinions".  Some people have
had bad experiences with Kubuntu, some have had bad experiences with Ubuntu,
but unless there are some temporary packaging or upstream problems, either
one should work fine and let you install the key components of the other.
It is all too common for people to encounter a problem in one or two
packages and blame the entire distro.  Clearly, a problem with XWindows'
support of your video or sound hardware can ruin your day... but
in practically all cases this should have nothing to do with deciding
between KDE or GNOME.  For short periods of time it may have something
to do with deciding between an on-hand older Kubuntu install disk or a newer
Ubuntu install disk... but such issues are transient.

Some people will argue that using a lightweight WM for a laptop is
preferred, but I think KDE and GNOME are both pretty heavyweight and
that current laptop hardware should have no problem with either.

Disclaimer: I have installed Kubuntu several times last year, but have
never installed Ubuntu.  It seems to be about time to do some more installs
this year to see how things are coming along...

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