Kubuntu and Xubuntu are mistakes?

[.t.]

For a nice simple base system, get the server CD.

[maniacmusician]

as someone else said, it doesnt really take much to maintain something like X/Kubuntu because it's based on the ubuntu framework. Everything is basically the same. the majority of the work is done by the community anyways. what I mean is, the ubuntu devs just make changes to the ubuntu infrastructure (regardless of DE), and that gets inmplemented in all of its derivatives.

I do agree with your statement that more thought should be given to specialized distro. and the best part is, since it's all buntu in the end, any changes they make will be applied everywhere (such as Kubuntu Tablet Edition or Xubuntu Media Center)

[prizrak]

What is it with the obsession with tablets? They are a solution searching for a problem. I HAVE used tablet. And I honestly don't see the point. By paying more you get a machine with crappier screen and a feature that doesn't really offer anything. So you can write on the screen. And that's useful because... ?

Touchscreens make sense in PDA's and the like. I have yet to see one valid reason why having them in a general-purpose computer is a good idea.

I will respond to both parts of your question at once. I got a convertible (Tablet + Laptop in one) for the same price with the same specs as I was gonna get a Thinkpad. Whether the tablets make sense or not is kind of irrelevant as they seem to be quite well liked by people if for no other reason than "coolness" so Ubuntu should be able to work with them.

What are tablets for?
1) Artists - I have yet to see one artist whose medium of choice is computers and who wouldn't want a tablet to work on.
2) GIS/field applications - Digitizing a map with the mouse is a pain in the butt, and I have only done a map of an area of like a square mile. Tablets are used quite extensively in the field where the ability to write (or type on an on-screen kbd) is very important as there may not be a chance to sit down with a laptop. Also they tend to be connected to big GPS backpacks for city planning, a very important niche.
3) Law enforcement makes extensive use of tablets - NYC cops use Panasonic toughbooks right now. Organizational adoption is key to OS success so I think it's important.

If you think resources are tight, try donating some money...

That is beside the point. I meant human resources not monetary.

I think you are wrong and biased towards a certain DM.

If it was up to me and I was aked what they should drop I would say Ubuntu as I don't use gnome. But thats just me.

I have no bias whatsoever I use just about any GUI that is supplied and don't care too much what it is. Ubuntu was the first one and used Gnome for default so I used that as the one to stick with. I do believe that KDE is a bit overwhelming to set up for a new user and XFCE is too different so the learning curve is increased.

I've seen thousands of Notebooks but only 2 or 3 Table pc

When the 286 portables came out no one thought that their sales would overtake regular desktops. It is a fresh market where MS isn't a monopolist and is good opportunity for Linux based OS's to exploit. As well as HTPC.

That made my mouth water we currently have an xp for HTPC and wouldn't mind changing it, but it is the same what you wrote about art.
Creating a HTPC distro seems harder to me than just use kde or another WM as gui.

Not really, an HTPC distro would just have to include MythTV (or some other program like that) and drivers for DVR cards along with remote controls. All the semi legal codec stuff can be user addable through Automatix-like scripts.

[compres]

I think you are wrong and biased towards a certain DM.

If it was up to me and I was aked what they should drop I would say Ubuntu as I don't use gnome. But thats just me.

This is my case also, since I prefer kde to gnome.

Seems like the original poster likes gnome and he can't care less about support for the other mayor DE. I like how things are currently, ubuntu and kubuntu for different tastes.

[mips]

Would be nice if you could get a dvd with all the DM on it so you can choose for yourself at install time.

[zenwhen]

I complained about these same things when Kubuntu became an official project. I still feel the same way, but gave up on it a long time ago. I did originally come to Ubuntu because they were not splitting their resources between KDE and Gnome. I will never want to use KDE, and love Gnome more and more every release.

I stayed with Ubuntu because it was, and still is the best distro out there for my needs.

I will be very honest though... I love to see a distro that has feature parity with Ubuntu (a fork perhaps) come about that focuses only on providing a perfect Gnome desktop.

[deeptingler]

We all know the saying that "Variety is the spice of life...."

I originally started out on an Amiga all those years ago and had to re-learn things for Windows 95 usage. Here I am now, a decade later, trained into how Windows works.

Hmmm, I want to try Ubuntu.....

Gnome, Nice but too restrictive, I felt like I was using a MacOS/Amiga style machine but wanted to try KDE as Gnome was becoming to frustrating for me (my own personal opinion by the way)

I tried Kubuntu instead, and this one has been on my machine ever since. It is more intuitive IMHO if you have come from Windows (and that is where a lot of new users come from...), therefore it would be a bad idea to drop this as a standard supported option.

On the whole, I personally believe it is great that we are given the option of whether to use Gnome or KDE and that packages/framework are shared throughout.

Who knows? Tomorrow I might decide I don't like KDE and wish to revert to Gnome? I have been given that choice!

[K.Mandla]

I'm afraid I don't see the logic: Jettison Xubuntu and Kubuntu because tablets are becoming popular?

Seems to me that if, as you say, tablets become more mainstream, the greater number of tablet users will make a larger breakaway base for tablet Ubuntu users.

So in that sense, rather than trying to reroute development efforts away from something proven -- a X/Kubuntu user base -- toward something as yet unproven -- the possiblity of a tablet explosion -- doesn't seem to mesh.

I think if/when tablets take over, we'll see more people contributing toward Tabluntu. Dropping two established DE's to guide Ubuntu's evolution doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

Just my $0.02, which is only worth exactly that.

[Sushi]

I will respond to both parts of your question at once. I got a convertible (Tablet + Laptop in one) for the same price with the same specs as I was gonna get a Thinkpad. Whether the tablets make sense or not is kind of irrelevant as they seem to be quite well liked by people if for no other reason than "coolness" so Ubuntu should be able to work with them.

they are not well liked by people. i mean, overwhelming majority is not getting tablets. they are getting regural laptops instead.

What are tablets for?
1) Artists - I have yet to see one artist whose medium of choice is computers and who wouldn't want a tablet to work on.

the thing artists want is the "pen & touchpad"-thingy (it's name escapes me at the moment) that replaces mouse, they are not interested in tablets as such. and since tablets have crappier screens, i would say that artists would steer clear of tablets.

2) GIS/field applications - Digitizing a map with the mouse is a pain in the butt, and I have only done a map of an area of like a square mile.

a niche, hardly worth wasting resources for. if some oem wants to create syztem for such an use, they are free to do so. it's not ubuntus place to do it, however.

[quote3) Law enforcement makes extensive use of tablets - NYC cops use Panasonic toughbooks right now. Organizational adoption is key to OS success so I think it's important.[/quote]

another niche best served by specialized oem.

I do believe that KDE is a bit overwhelming to set up for a new user

since it doesnt need any specific "setting up", i dont know what you are referring to here

When the 286 portables came out no one thought that their sales would overtake regular desktops. It is a fresh market where MS isn't a monopolist and is good opportunity for Linux based OS's to exploit.

tablets are just a subset of laptops. and laptops are totally dominated by microsoft. including tablets.

[Sushi]

I complained about these same things when Kubuntu became an official project. I still feel the same way, but gave up on it a long time ago. I did originally come to Ubuntu because they were not splitting their resources between KDE and Gnome. I will never want to use KDE, and love Gnome more and more every release.

I stayed with Ubuntu because it was, and still is the best distro out there for my needs.

I will be very honest though... I love to see a distro that has feature parity with Ubuntu (a fork perhaps) come about that focuses only on providing a perfect Gnome desktop.

so, you feel that existence of kde and kubuntu has somehow harmed ubuntu? how so? and is you personal choice of desktops a valid reason to hope for kubuntu to disappear? i use ubuntu as well, but i really value the existence of kde and kubuntu