By: Steve Taylor

Realizing that this review may be read by more than a few Linux/Unix geeks, I’ll get some key points out of the way first… I’ve been on Linux (off and on) for about 10 years now, but I’m not an expert at using it. I do know some ways to “coax” the system to do what I want it, or need it to do but I would classify myself as a computer user, not a ‘leet’ hacker or some such. Also, this review has been written from a mainstream user standpoint, as I’ve had over 20 years of using computers under multiple operating systems at a time, and much prefer using them to get things done, versus fiddling around with the system on a regular basis. So with that groundwork laid, I’ll talk about the current Kubuntu version, and what usefulness I’ve been able to get out of it so far.

All those years ago, I jumped in the deep end and started using Slackware on my very first laptop. Early on, I found that I really preferred the GUI side of things a lot more than the terminal/command line, and that’s when I discovered the KDE graphical environment. After trying, and liking Gnome, Black Box, Enlightenment, and the sort, I always went right back to KDE. The same thing happened when I (finally) installed and used the Debian flavor of Linux (the APT packaging system is nothing short of elegant and lovely, after all ). So, by the time Ubuntu came around, I was ready to dive in and make it my full-time, mission critical computing platform; Kubuntu wasn’t long after that.

Along the way, there were a few things that I just couldn’t get done with Linux that I was already doing with either Windows or MacOS. Things like burning CD’s/DVD’s, or proper printing output, or watching DVD movies, or using a TV tuner to watch my favorite cable stations… Even using any kind of USB device was a pain in the butt. So, as each successful use of those functions began to happen, I became more and more pleased and confident with my Linux system, but more importantly, I expected the system to become more stable and useful with each upgrade. An expectation that (sadly) has yet to be fulfilled.

I’ve been using Kubuntu almost exclusively for my home computing needs since the Feisty Fawn version, and with each version upgrade, it’s been 3 steps forward, and 1 step back as far as system stability, or functionality (or both) is concerned. But every time I found a great program to use (for free, of course), or each time I used Linux to do a Windows data recovery for friends and family, I just hung in there with Kubuntu and either tolerated system glitches or loss in functionality, or learned how to fix it, or get around it somehow. I’m unhappy to report that my upgrade to Karmic has not only followed the same trend, but has been worse.

I’m sorry, but I just can’t understand, nor easily tolerate a loss in the sound system after an upgrade. It’s happened more times than I can recall anymore, and I gotta tell ya… Mainstream computer users wouldn’t put up with crap like this, time after time. And given the other OS’s available (or forced on) today’s computer users, they don’t have to either. Without sound, watching movies, and (nowadays) YouTube “stuff” just ain’t happening. I had been doing my system updates every week, and with the previous version of Kubuntu (Jaunty), which was quite enough to keep my system working really well, for all the security updates, and bug fixes each update got me. Since upgrading to Karmic, I’ve done about 3 updates a day, and the stability and functionality problems still persist. Other problems include:

• Booting into the command line because KDE keeps having some sort of intermittent video failure. And then ‘startx’-ing into Gnome from there (but Gnome gives me a full resolution every time… Not lower).
• Having to use the system monitor to shutdown certain programs, because they’re not quitting cleanly on their own, but just freezing instead.
• The sound system dying in mid-session, and then having to do a reboot to get it going again. Once more… Which GUI will I get after a reboot? Who knows? It won’t consistently land me into a KDE graphical interface on system startup.
• Some multimedia apps won’t play the files that they used to play in the previous Kubuntu version. I had to futz around with each app to see which played what file types. Man; that is sooooo 1999 .

I’ll add an update here to that first bullet item – A very mysterious solution to this problem has been to boot the machine a couple of times without the Ethernet cable plugged in. If you’re making an odd face right about now, it’s perfectly understandable to me, but if any part of that “solution” makes sense to you then possibly you’re on the short list for l33t hacxor of the decade! Long story short; I took the laptop to my mother-in-law’s house for a weekend visit (no cable TV or broadband connection whatsoever), and use it to watch a movie (no need to have the network cable connected). Ever since then, the machine boots (somewhat) correctly into KDE every time. Go figure.

Ok, so… What are some of the positive aspects to the Karmic version of Kubuntu, you asked? Well, I can’t tell if there’s a new version of KDE itself, or just a new skin (a few GUI elements were looking a bit different after the upgrade), but the graphics of KDE are every bit as gorgeous as I’ve expected them to be. The interface definitely has a more responsive snap, and that makes my computing sessions a pleasure. KDE was starting to get a slow, bloated feeling to it after the major upgrade to 4.0 they did a year or so ago, but that slowness is gone now. Firefox was slowing/freezing up on me quite a lot in the previous version, but I’m getting far fewer slow ups in the current version (and I run, on average, about 14 tabs per session). The OpenOffice suite of programs feels faster as well. I have a lot of pictures, music, podcasts and videos, and the file managers I use in Kubuntu (Konqueror, and Dolphin) handle hundreds of files in a given folder with all the finesse and quickness my hardware interfaces (USB, CD, what have you… ) can handle. So there seems to be more improvements “under the hood” with Kubuntu 9.10 than a lot of visual ‘razzle dazzle’ added to an already excellent GUI. And with the better speed and stability of the interface, the foundational fixes are very welcome, indeed. Let’s face it; style is nice, but substance makes for happy computing sessions in the end.