Kubuntu?

[Ken UK]

Hi,

So I thought I would try adding KDE to my Ubuntu 11.04 installation to give it ago, I don't know why as I've always tried to avoid it like the plague ever since I tried it some years ago. It looked horrible and took way too much screen space up for me, way too cluttery.

I can't believe its still the same thing! Its alot better, I was very impressed indeed and infact might consider switching to Kubuntu from Ubuntu. Every time I heard someone mention KDE I thought they where just another typical follower but I can see what they where saying was justified.

I like Unity but I dont like the looks of gnome 3 at all, can't understand why people would like gnome 3 especially if they hate Unity. KDE now looks like something ideal for someone switching from windows I also realised.

It just looks so nice and works so well although it doesn't run like lightning for me but I can't say Windows XP did either at times. I like the amount of features and effects that just work straight away without having to mess about or installing extra applications other people have made like adding desktop widgets.

I'm going to keep using it to really try it out and make sure theres nothing it falls down on for me. I think it seems more refined and next gen than gnome is, although being minimalistic like gnome 2 has its benefits too. I know its not far to compare the 2 but I did like the simplicity of gnome 2.

Any thoughts?

[frankbooth]

Not to be rude but...

Do you want us to convince you to use something else other than KDE? :P

Use whatever suits and feels good for you, it's one of the benifits with Linux :).

As for what DE is ideal for a user switching from Windows to Linux, I don't think it matters much. There will still be a small learning curve if you go from Windows to GNOME, Unity, KDE or any other DE. Once a novice computer user finds the "START"-button, they're good to go :P.

[Ken UK]

No you are correct completely and I relise that more and more. Thats the beauty of these desktop envieronments etc. I just love the fact you can install them and then switch at the login screen, one of the best Linux related ideas ever.

No I was just wondering what other people think about KDE, I've only just started looking at it and don't want to miss anything while examining it :-D

Oh I remember why I tried it, because of the article posted by OMG Ubuntu about some performance reviews of the different environments.

[jhonan]

For me the Gnome/KDE choice was actually more of a GTK/Qt choice.

I hate running Qt apps in Gnome, and vice versa. So I picked one, GTK, and stuck with it.

[Ken UK]

Yes well thats not so important for me although the applications it comes with could be a factor that effects a decision (I know you can add/remove what you want though).

I removed Amarok straight away because it wouldn't even start and added Firefox as my default.

[Joe of loath]

I use KDE on my desktops, and Gnome 3 on my laptop. LXDE for anything else not fast enough :p

IMHO KDE is really pretty, but too mouse heavy for use on my laptop. Gnome 3 wins out there, because I can do everything using gestures and keyboard shortcuts, instead of struggling to point the touchpad at little icons :p

KDE is getting much better than it was though, 4.0 was dire.

[BrokenKingpin]

I have also recently tried KDE as I did not like Unity or Gnome 3, and Xubuntu was just too buggy.

I am really liking KDE thus far. I am running into a few issues here and there, but I am working around them. Sometimes I find there is just too much to configure, and all the defaults are the opposite what I want lol. I am going to use it for the next 6 months to see if it is where I want to stay long term.

[Ken UK]

Never thought of that, not sure I would use it on my Macbook then.

Its good to hear its getting better, I like how straight forward and logical things are in it.

[Simian Man]

Yeah KDE is definitely my favorite desktop by far.


I hate running Qt apps in Gnome, and vice versa. So I picked one, GTK, and stuck with it.

QT Curve and Oxygen (the two most popular KDE styles) both come with great GTK+ themes now. There is really no problem running GTK+ applications in KDE any more.

[Ken UK]

Yes but no matter what I seem to try to do in Linux there are bugs or little problems it seems. To be fair though its a complex system and with so many possibilites theres bound to be bugs here and there at least, like I have had afew problems with acouple of applications either randomly crashing or not opening at all like amarok.

Those types of things do annoy me especially when your trying to do something simple but then I remember the greater good and get on with things and manage lol

[marl30]

I also have been using KDE full time since Kubuntu 11.04 beta came out. It's the best KDE I have ever used. I only have one issue... I can't seem to get my mic to work with my 5.1 surround sound card. I've messed around with alsamixer and did all that I've seen suggested through searching, but still no luck. I have to be using Skype in Virtualbox in Mint 11. Because of that I tried to switch my computer to Mint 11, but after a few hours I was back to using Kubuntu. I can't believe how KDE has grown on me. It just felt awkward going back to Gnome 2.

It does appear that I might be using KDE in the future, as everything else just works. Dolphin is the best file manager for Linux, no question about that. Performance wise, there's no difference with the speed of Mint 11 and Kubuntu 11.04 on my computer. They are both snappy.

As for GTK apps, since KDE 4.6, you can't tell GTK apps apart from the QT apps. They've done a lot of work to make them blend perfectly. I still use more GTK apps in KDE and they look and work as well as they did in Gnome. I would highly recommend KDE. It's gotten way better than it used to be.

[Ric_NYC]

I'm using it and it is good.


It's fast... take a look:


http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/3923/60352805.png (http://img151.imageshack.us/i/60352805.png/)

Source: http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=home

Don't believe when people say that it is slower than the others!



I like the "start menu"... the single panel.

The "shell" thing is not for me. I want things easy to be found on the desktop... no hidden stuff.


I had to do some adjustments... I don't like some defaults on Kubuntu.

Examples:

1- I changed the mouse cursor... I prefer the DMZ theme.

2- I use Chrome as the defautl web browser.

3- Installed Ubuntu Software Center

4- Changed the Window Decoration to "Plastik".

5- Installed MS Fonts (There's an application called "Font Installer"... Just go to the "Fonts" folder on your Window partition and import all the fonts if you want.


After those changes I think Kubuntu is the best.

[I_can_see_the_light]

As you can tell from my signature I'm trying out a few different systems, however PCLinuxOS (KDE version) is probably the one I boot usually.

In my opinion a rolling release distro is the best way to go when it comes to KDE since so much has happened lately. You can of course upgrade via PPA:s and such but with a rolling release you won't miss out on any improvements or new features. I started using KDE full time less than a year ago with Kubuntu but in March I made the switch to PCLinuxOS.

The later releases maybe since KDE 4.3 have been really stable and crashes are rare (for me at least). My favorite feature in KDE is probably Krunner, the alt+f2 program launcher (although I guess Unity and Gnome 3 have similar features now).

Here's an interesting post about Plasma Activities and how to use them: click me (http://hanschen.org/2011/02/04/activities-a-change-in-workflow/)

There's many things to discover and it can be quite different from Gnome, both good and bad.

[uRock]

I've been running Kubuntu in a VBox recently and I am impressed with well it has run. If I had a quad core PC, then I'd probably use it for production. I am looking at changing from Gnome to Openbox or Awesome on my dual core system for more speed.

[screaminj3sus]

I tried kubuntu 11.04. I still can't stand kde. The UI is a convoluted mess. Especially the system tray/notifications. Huge overuse of transparency. The panel options UI is one of the most atrocious things I have ever seen.

The system settings are not organized well, options just scattered everywhere. (for example changing themes, the plasma theme is in a totally different place.

Gnome is far more streamlined and consistent. Not as many features out of the box but I gladly take that tradeoff.

My other big complaint is more kubuntu specific than kde specific. Kpackagekit's UI is just horrible. Its a frame, within a frame, within a frame, within a frame.

Only thing I liked when I tried it was kwin's much improved performance (although compiz still performs better for me) and dolphin which I think is a lot better than nautilus.

[I_can_see_the_light]

I tried kubuntu 11.04. I still can't stand kde. The UI is a convoluted mess. Especially the system tray/notifications. Huge overuse of transparency. The panel options UI is one of the most atrocious things I have ever seen.
To each their own, you can always change theme though.


The system settings are not organized well, options just scattered everywhere. (for example changing themes, the plasma theme is in a totally different place.
When it comes to changing themes I agree, the other stuff seem OK to me and it's been getting better and better. A nice feature is the ability to use Alt+F2 to start any control centre application (standalone).


Gnome is far more streamlined and consistent. Not as many features out of the box but I gladly take that tradeoff.
Agreed on the streamlined thing, not so much when it comes to consistency. There are so many KDE apps and they are tied together and integrated really well.


Only thing I liked when I tried it was kwin's much improved performance (although compiz still performs better for me) and dolphin which I think is a lot better than nautilus.
A nice feature in Kwin is when you press Alt+F3 to bring up the window menu for the focused program, there you can easily specify window rules and such.


All in my opinion of course :)

[Ken UK]

Wow I've learned so much from these replies, those shortcuts are handy.

As I say I dont like to say I really like something until its had some wear & tear, lots of things look nice on the surface.

That does remind me of one thing I want to ask, what is missing from Kubuntu that you get in Ubuntu? One thing I noticed one of you mention is the Ubuntu software centre, I want that for sure but if I started with a fresh Kubuntu install in the future I would need to add that afterwards?

Seems bizarre Kubuntu doesn't have a software centre, puts it behind Ubuntu in that aspect really. What about Ubuntu One support? I want that too.

Is there anything else I might be missing?

PS. I tried to reinstall Amarok but still no luck so will stick to Banshee (I really like it anyway).

[el_koraco]

My other big complaint is more kubuntu specific than kde specific. Kpackagekit's UI is just horrible. Its a frame, within a frame, within a frame, within a frame.


They're moving to Muon as a package manager in the next release. It's a Synaptic clone created by a Kubuntu developer, that uses aptdaemon as a frontend, and will also have a Muon store, kinda like USC.

[el_koraco]

I also have been using KDE full time since Kubuntu 11.04 beta came out. It's the best KDE I have ever used. I only have one issue... I can't seem to get my mic to work with my 5.1 surround sound card. I've messed around with alsamixer and did all that I've seen suggested through searching, but still no luck. I have to be using Skype in Virtualbox in Mint 11. Because of that I tried to switch my computer to Mint 11, but after a few hours I was back to using Kubuntu. I can't believe how KDE has grown on me. It just felt awkward going back to Gnome 2.


I'm not a100 percent sure, but I think this problem can be remedied by not using Gstreamer as a backend. You can google it, or ask in the kubuntuforums, I know some people have had trouble with this, and suceeded at solving it.

On topic, I'd be using Kubuntu if my graphics card would play nice with it.

[Ric_NYC]

Wow I've learned so much from these replies, those shortcuts are handy.

As I say I dont like to say I really like something until its had some wear & tear, lots of things look nice on the surface.

That does remind me of one thing I want to ask, what is missing from Kubuntu that you get in Ubuntu? One thing I noticed one of you mention is the Ubuntu software centre, I want that for sure but if I started with a fresh Kubuntu install in the future I would need to add that afterwards?

Seems bizarre Kubuntu doesn't have a software centre, puts it behind Ubuntu in that aspect really. What about Ubuntu One support? I want that too.

Is there anything else I might be missing?

PS. I tried to reinstall Amarok but still no luck so will stick to Banshee (I really like it anyway).


To install Ubuntu Software Center:

sudo apt-get install software-center

( K > Applications > System > Software Center )



There's a nice QT based music player called Clementine.

[Ken UK]

hmmmm Im starting to think that the KDE default applications aren't working for me. Kopete doesn't seem to work either. Again Im not too fussed because I wouldn't use it anyway but Im surprised they don't.

I think Kubuntu and Ubuntu need to be closer together, literally the only difference being one is KDE and one is gnome (and of cause the vary basic applications being different) but everything else should be the same eg. software centre by default.

[I_can_see_the_light]

What about Ubuntu One support? I want that too.
Here's a thread I had bookmarked 'just in case'
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1522137
I haven't tried it myself so I don't know how well it's working.

[I_can_see_the_light]

hmmmm Im starting to think that the KDE default applications aren't working for me. Kopete doesn't seem to work either. Again Im not too fussed because I wouldn't use it anyway but Im surprised they don't.
Perhaps a badly burned CD, did you check the disk for errors at boot?

[Ken UK]

Perhaps a badly burned CD, did you check the disk for errors at boot?

No I installed the Kubuntu packages ontop of my Ubuntu 11.04 install so I'm not completely surprised it doesn't fully work but still strange.

I may download the DVD however and give it ago from the live disc just to see if theres any major differences.

[ilovelinux33467]

I love KDE. Every day of using it I always seem to discover a new feature in it that I did not know about.

[BrokenKingpin]

I think Kubuntu and Ubuntu need to be closer together, literally the only difference being one is KDE and one is gnome (and of cause the vary basic applications being different) but everything else should be the same eg. software centre by default.
I generally agree, but the problem with the Software Center is that it requires GTK and most likely a bunch of Gnome dependencies. I k now Gnome apps run fine under KDE, but why bring in all that stuff just for one application.

[Ken UK]

I generally agree, but the problem with the Software Center is that it requires GTK and most likely a bunch of Gnome dependencies. I k now Gnome apps run fine under KDE, but why bring in all that stuff just for one application.

I see well isn't there a middle ground? A platform that is equally support by both? I don't particularly know about these things but surely there must be an easy way to bring both together. Kubuntu is a great thing and it would be ashame if it didnt get the same level of treatment as Ubuntu.

[tx0105]

Yes but no matter what I seem to try to do in Linux there are bugs or little problems it seems. To be fair though its a complex system and with so many possibilites theres bound to be bugs here and there at least, like I have had afew problems with acouple of applications either randomly crashing or not opening at all like amarok.

Those types of things do annoy me especially when your trying to do something simple but then I remember the greater good and get on with things and manage lol

The small annoyances of Linux are better than the 5 minute boot up in Windows, the hours lost cleaning up malware/spyware/virus infections, having to update and run scans on 3-4 different "protection" tools and the lack of choice when you don't care for the OS or it doesn't perform well (like the 2 years I ran Vista).

I still dual boot out of necessity, but I'm a hell of a lot happier running Linux 90% of the time.

[lykwydchykyn]

I think Kubuntu and Ubuntu need to be closer together, literally the only difference being one is KDE and one is gnome (and of cause the vary basic applications being different) but everything else should be the same eg. software centre by default.

At the project level, there's a more important difference: Ubuntu is officially supported by Canonical and development is driven in part by Canonical's commercial interests.

Kubuntu is a 100% community project, even though it is recognized as an "official derivative", it isn't run by Canonical or it's interests. It has its own goals, which is basically to deliver a good KDE desktop on top of an Ubuntu core.

[Ken UK]

The small annoyances of Linux are better than the 5 minute boot up in Windows, the hours lost cleaning up malware/spyware/virus infections, having to update and run scans on 3-4 different "protection" tools and the lack of choice when you don't care for the OS or it doesn't perform well (like the 2 years I ran Vista).

I still dual boot out of necessity, but I'm a hell of a lot happier running Linux 90% of the time.

Exactly which is why I'm trying to stick it out, because long term its a better choice. Its ashame that Linux can't do everything everyone needs but its understandable, theres still stuff it can't do that I want but its getting there and I use it full time at home so its good enough for most things.

Its just hard to explain to people who don't understand computers who just want things to 'work' why to bother, they just don't see that its more than just getting a program to work or do a single task but the fact that if people switch to it then it opens up better possibilities for the future.


At the project level, there's a more important difference: Ubuntu is officially supported by Canonical and development is driven in part by Canonical's commercial interests.

Kubuntu is a 100% community project, even though it is recognized as an "official derivative", it isn't run by Canonical or it's interests. It has its own goals, which is basically to deliver a good KDE desktop on top of an Ubuntu core.

I thought that was the case but thanks for clearing that up. I think Ubuntu has the best chance out of any Linux of making it big.

[marl30]

I'm not a100 percent sure, but I think this problem can be remedied by not using Gstreamer as a backend. You can google it, or ask in the kubuntuforums, I know some people have had trouble with this, and suceeded at solving it.

On topic, I'd be using Kubuntu if my graphics card would play nice with it.

I'm going to see about that. I'll give it a shot with VLC backend, though I may have tried that before.

[el_koraco]

Try it with Xine too, what the hell.

[BigCityCat]

Wow I've learned so much from these replies, those shortcuts are handy.

As I say I dont like to say I really like something until its had some wear & tear, lots of things look nice on the surface.

That does remind me of one thing I want to ask, what is missing from Kubuntu that you get in Ubuntu? One thing I noticed one of you mention is the Ubuntu software centre, I want that for sure but if I started with a fresh Kubuntu install in the future I would need to add that afterwards?

Seems bizarre Kubuntu doesn't have a software centre, puts it behind Ubuntu in that aspect really. What about Ubuntu One support? I want that too.

Is there anything else I might be missing?

PS. I tried to reinstall Amarok but still no luck so will stick to Banshee (I really like it anyway).

ubuntu one in kubuntu ppa

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/kubuntu-devel/2010-August/004622.html


sudo add-apt-repository ppa:apachelogger/ubuntuone-kde

After that you just need to refresh your package cache and install ubuntuone-
kde.

[CraigPaleo]

I use KDE on my desktops, and Gnome 3 on my laptop. LXDE for anything else not fast enough :p

IMHO KDE is really pretty, but too mouse heavy for use on my laptop. Gnome 3 wins out there, because I can do everything using gestures and keyboard shortcuts, instead of struggling to point the touchpad at little icons :p

KDE is getting much better than it was though, 4.0 was dire.

In KDE, there is a "Shortcuts and Gestures" option in the system settings.

[Joe of loath]

In KDE, there is a "Shortcuts and Gestures" option in the system settings.

But it doesn't behave like Gnome 3, does it? XD G3 just suits my workflow so well I don't want to change it.

[CraigPaleo]

No I installed the Kubuntu packages ontop of my Ubuntu 11.04 install so I'm not completely surprised it doesn't fully work but still strange.

I may download the DVD however and give it ago from the live disc just to see if theres any major differences.

Things can get a little funky when you have multiple desktops installed at once. I can remember times when I'd have applets from both desktops appear on each other's panels. Another when my Gnome mouse pointer would show up in KDE. :confused:

[CraigPaleo]

But it doesn't behave like Gnome 3, does it? XD G3 just suits my workflow so well I don't want to change it.

That's cool. I've never used it as I have a desktop computer. I just noticed the settings were there. It looks pretty configurable though. :)

[Joe of loath]

Yeah, it's the dock and the expose and the way you can drag windows from the expose into the flexible number of workspaces that pops out down the side. Very finger friendly on a crappy touchpad :lol:

[neu5eeCh]

I have also recently tried KDE as I did not like Unity or Gnome 3, and Xubuntu was just too buggy.

Funny you would say that. I found just the opposite to be true, I'm using Xubuntu 'cause I didn't like Unity or Gnome 3, and KDE was just too buggy. I could give examples but I don't want to turn this into DE vs. DE thing. I really, really want to like KDE. I don't understand why it feels so slow and laggy, even on my 64bit Centrino 2 with 4 Gs of memory? It's not as if it uses all that much more RAM. Does one really need a desktop to run KDE these days?

[Ken UK]

Things can get a little funky when you have multiple desktops installed at once. I can remember times when I'd have applets from both desktops appear on each other's panels. Another when my Gnome mouse pointer would show up in KDE. :confused:

Well even if things did go smooth its still annoying having 2 sets of apps, one from gnome and one from KDE. Its nice just to try out though for now. In the end of course I would eventually just stick to one or else just dual boot but I don't think its worth the time and space. It is annoying when there are bits from both you want but neither of them have both,

When my computer goes to sleep in KDE its much quicker to wake infact its instant, where as Ubuntu seems to not respond for 30 seconds and then suddenly come back. The automatic window sizing thing when you drag windows to the side of the screen is better in Kubuntu, you can have just a quarter of the screen just by dragging to the top right/left corner instead of just halves which isn't always enough especially on a big screen.

[DZ*]

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:apachelogger/ubuntuone-kde

What does it do? On my laptop, Ubuntu One is syncing files in KDE without having this enabled. I installed KDE on top of "regular" Ubuntu and Ubuntu One just continued to work.

[SeijiSensei]

I've given up on Kubuntu 11.04 and just today reverted to 10.10 with the backports (https://launchpad.net/~kubuntu-ppa/+archive/backports) repository enabled to get KDE 4.6.x binaries. With my setup there seems to be problems with kernel 2.6.38 that I got tired of coping with (random wireless disconnects with the rt2500usb driver and some really funky display issues with my NVIDIA card being the primary culprits).

It would be nice to see Kubuntu detach itself from the Ubuntu release schedule. 10.10 should probably be the LTS version for Kubuntu; it was definitely better than 10.04 for me.

I've never liked Amarok2 so I was happy when some folks forked Amarok1 to create Clementine. I suggest giving it a shot.

I've been using KDE for about a decade now and 4.6 is probably the best version of the desktop that I've encountered.

I still use a number of non-KDE programs like Firefox, Thunderbird, smplayer, and LibreOffice. They all look fine to me. You can fine-tune their appearance in System Settings > Application Appearance.

For those of you with microphone problems, try System Settings > Multimedia > Phonon and check to make sure the microphone you want to use is at the top of the list. I have a Logitech Webcam Pro 9000, but it wasn't set as the default in the audio settings. Once I promoted it over the internal microphone jack, programs like Skype and Cheese worked fine.

I've never used the Software Center. What advantage does it have over the normal repositories? KPackageKit has improved so substantially over the past few releases that I no longer feel the need to install synaptic. (In general, though, I handle most package management tasks from the command prompt with apt-get and friends.)

[wolfen69]

I see well isn't there a middle ground? A platform that is equally support by both? I don't particularly know about these things but surely there must be an easy way to bring both together. Kubuntu is a great thing and it would be ashame if it didnt get the same level of treatment as Ubuntu.

Don't let these people fool you into thinking that if you mix environments that bad things happen. The extra files DON'T take up much room, and it WILL NOT slow your computer down. A lot of people here make up stuff.

This is not windows. Installing more things generally won't slow down your computer.

[I_can_see_the_light]

I really, really want to like KDE. I don't understand why it feels so slow and laggy, even on my 64bit Centrino 2 with 4 Gs of memory? It's not as if it uses all that much more RAM. Does one really need a desktop to run KDE these days?
What video card do you have? I've had problems with the Kwin + ATI combo in the past.

[neu5eeCh]

What video card do you have? I've had problems with the Kwin + ATI combo in the past.

I'm not at the relevant laptop this morning but it does run a Radeon ATI card. I can get more info this evening if you think it will make a difference.

[Ken UK]

Don't let these people fool you into thinking that if you mix environments that bad things happen. The extra files DON'T take up much room, and it WILL NOT slow your computer down. A lot of people here make up stuff.

This is not windows. Installing more things generally won't slow down your computer.

haha that made me laugh, I can only imagine :-) Yes you are probably correct although I often tend to believe the more stuff you have the more stuff can go wrong which can be applied to alot of things in life such as cars :-D

[lykwydchykyn]

I'm not at the relevant laptop this morning but it does run a Radeon ATI card. I can get more info this evening if you think it will make a difference.

That's probably the issue. I've found ATI to be hit-and-miss when it comes to KDE's compositing.

Once you get compositing involved, performance is all about the video hardware and the quality of the drivers. You can have terabytes of RAM but poor video support will make KDE slow IME (not that I have experience with terabytes of RAM, but you know what I mean).

[lykwydchykyn]

Don't let these people fool you into thinking that if you mix environments that bad things happen. The extra files DON'T take up much room, and it WILL NOT slow your computer down. A lot of people here make up stuff.

This is not windows. Installing more things generally won't slow down your computer.

I gotta agree; my first KDE experience was with SimplyMEPIS rather than Kubuntu, and it takes a more "best of breed" approach with applications rather than sticking to KDE apps. So I've always run Firefox, synaptic, thunderbird, etc. instead of sticking to KDE apps.

Use the apps you like; you aren't using KDE for the browser or package manager, after all.

[CraigPaleo]

Don't let these people fool you into thinking that if you mix environments that bad things happen. The extra files DON'T take up much room, and it WILL NOT slow your computer down. A lot of people here make up stuff.

This is not windows. Installing more things generally won't slow down your computer.

Right. It just takes longer to load apps that use different libs than your DE is using. Some people see that as slowing down their system.

[Joe of loath]

My previous Arch installation was as slow as treacle to boot because I had every single DE you could think of installed, AND all the apps for it.

I guess the auto-start features on all of them were clashing.

[I_can_see_the_light]

I'm not at the relevant laptop this morning but it does run a Radeon ATI card. I can get more info this evening if you think it will make a difference.
I'm not sure I can be of much help, I abandoned Kubuntu in favor of PCLinuxOS where the performance was much better, Chakra also played nicer with my setup. You could always try a live CD of another distro to find out if the same applies to you. I haven't however tested the latest Kubuntu, I believe it uses the Gallium drivers now.

I gotta agree; my first KDE experience was with SimplyMEPIS rather than Kubuntu, and it takes a more "best of breed" approach with applications rather than sticking to KDE apps. So I've always run Firefox, synaptic, thunderbird, etc. instead of sticking to KDE apps.

Use the apps you like; you aren't using KDE for the browser or package manager, after all.
That seems like a good choice, always the best tool for the job :)