I’ve always been a Windows guy, but had a soft spot for Linux because it’s a viable alternative that has come a long way. And it’s perfectly free. And Ubuntu is probably a front runner here, being one of the most popular distros in existence today, excluding Android.
What is strange to me however is the whole Ubuntu and Kubuntu deal. And it’s a bit baffling actually. Debian is probably the most widely used Linux foundation and Ubuntu is the most popular distro within Debian family. But the desktop (interface) Ubuntu is running is such absolute trash that should be exterminated with orbital nukes.
It just wastes so much screen estate and is so incredibly clumsy for multitasking I have no idea how it can be a thing people actually use. It’s so incredibly bad, for real.
And here is the funny part. Till just few days ago I thought Kubuntu was a 3rd party fork of Ubuntu with KDE desktop instead of Gnome and I was generally avoiding it because I don’t like micro distros that are a fork of a fork of a fork etc. They tend to have crappy support and as a result crappy general experience. What I didn’t know is that Kubuntu is actually Canonical’s (makers of Ubuntu!) own fork of Ubuntu! The very maker of Ubuntu is the maker of Kubuntu as well!
That’s right. They get new releases at the exact same time, Ubuntu and Kubuntu are identical down to very last bit, except the desktop interface on top. Ubuntu runs Gnome and Kubuntu runs KDE.
I just don’t understand why Canonical is doing this extreme separation of both to a point people might think they are entirely different distros like I have. I just can’t understand why Canonical doesn’t list Ubuntu and Kubuntu on same webpage and just gives users option to pick between both types of desktop interfaces on same page instead of running two ENTIRELY separate entities on entirely separate webpages that hardly mention they are actually “sibling” distros and not “cousin” distros. And also making it ubundantly clear (see what I did there? 😉 ) that they are the same thing everywhere, so people know it right away instead of having to dig out this information across various Wiki pages. Coz only identification of them being related is mention of Canonical at the bottom of Kubuntu webpage. Something anyone can so easily miss.
It’s really a shame because Ubuntu is super popular and a great foundation, but Kubuntu is just a better experience thanks to KDE. It’s just weird why Canonical is pushing Kubuntu on the side when it’s actually a much better version of Ubuntu. Without any downsides of being a 3rd party fork of Ubuntu like many others…
Come on Canonical, give Kubuntu same love and endorse it more. A lot of other distros like Manjaro offer choice of Gnome or KDE on same webpage and you just pick whatever you like the most. Where with Ubuntu and Kubuntu, they are separated so hard you can’t even know they are related without doing some extensive info digging.
Is it really so hard to add “Don’t like the Gnome desktop interface? Here is our Ubuntu alternative named Kubuntu. Same thing, different interface”. And just point the link to Kubuntu page. Then do the same on Kubuntu webpage, just for Ubuntu. And make it clear they are sibling distros. It would greatly help the popularity instead of people who dislike moronic Gnome just turning away entirely. Like I have for so many years…
Angry Sheep Blog 
I just moved to Kubuntu from Manjaro via a waste of time on openSUSE. All KDE.
If Mint still had KDE, that’s where my choice would have been. Mint is just superior in terms of stability and refinement.
LikeLike
RejZoR, unfortunately you got it wrong. Kubuntu was officially developed by Canonical until 2012, but was later handed over to Blue Systems. In the current state Kubuntu is a community driven project and thus not marketed by Canonical. I was a long time Kubuntu user (almost a decade), but I’m not coming back. The best KDE experience is definitely provided by a rolling release distro + reporting bugs to KDE upstream.
LikeLike
Isn’t KDE Neon the OG KDE test bed, Andrej?
LikeLike
Yes, it probably is, but since it’s based on Ubuntu LTS, a everyday user might encounter a non-KDE bug that he will have tolerate for two years …
LikeLike