bennypr0fane
September 17th, 2011, 12:37 PM
Hello,
I guess there have been tons of pages of discussions about this topic, but i'm not trying to determine which is better here, but I'd like to piece together a system for myself that does everything I need in the way that I want it.
I installed Ubuntu on my PC 3 months ago, and coming from Windows, getting started with Gnome and setting up the applications to my liking was a basically a breeze (after clearing out some minor how-to issues with the help of wonderful people in this forum).
Then I read about Nepomuk and Strigis in KDE, which provide solutions for my dream of finding stuff on my computer, especially for my work materials where an efficient database can save me loads of search work and it would just make my life so much easier to fully implement a semantic desktop in my work.
I also learnt that I don't have to choose between Gnome and KDE, but I can just "add" KDE to Gnome and then switch from session to session or even run applications from either DE inside either of them.
So far, so great.
I installed KDE and started playing around, and I basically like the looks of it much better (but that factor is generally secondary to me). Also, Plasma in a way seems to be much more powerful, giving more direct and more integrated concept for access to modifications, tweaks and customization. That being my initial impression (not proven yet), I have considered using it exclusively. Sadly though I couldn't figure out how to perform some basic tasks with Plasma, even after quite patient research in documentation/help and forums, often finding that rather basic questions are not being answered in the documentation. I didn't succeed in finding a simple first-steps guide to PLasma desktop (mainly looked on Youtube for video tutorial, which would have been awesome). I also got tired of posting and reposting, explaining my issues in detail, so I just went back to the already-homely Gnome and tried using KDE apps from there.
Now I'm still very unsatisfied with this solutiuon for various reasons:
- The initial speed of Ubuntu that I enjoyed so much afer installation seems lost, I'm now more reminded of the typical Windows experience with lots of waiting for things to get going.
- Especially launching KDE apps inside Gnome can take forever, but some of them (media player, IM) just work much better for me than the Gnome ones, with fewer hiccups, fewer things to fix - provided they come without the confusion that Plasma puts me into. Annoying slowdown starts with that pesky KDE wallet service demanding my password for each application!
- No NEPOMUK and STRIGIS goodness in Gnome? I also found some threads that discussed making these work in Gnome, but 1) I assume that would be tied to those very same issues I am already having? and 2) It looks like there is no proven, standard method for this combo?
So, to sum it up:
- KDE has a cooler look and seems to be more powerful, especially the semantic desktop solution of Nepomuk still in process of being enhanced (I think). Some of the KDE apps work better for me than the Gnome ones - but that may also be true the other way round, I haven't tried most of them yet.
The downside is I have trouble getting used to Plasma desktop and the learning curve seems almost to steep for me, with much more tiresome forum posting, bugging helpful people with my questions.
- Gnome I am already comfortable with, which is a great asset to me. But some apps have shown annoying issues that also took some attention off work. Also it doesn't look as cool, and it dosen't have Nepomuk/Strigis built in.
- Combining the two seems to slow things down, taking me back to the Windows era, and it's just not a seamless, hassle-free switch. There is no switching without a restart!
What to do? Any advice is greatly appreciated. I just know Ubuntu/Linux can fulfill all my dreams as a PC user, with pro-level choices for all the tasks I need, but currently I'm at a loss of ideas. Help me out here!
I guess there have been tons of pages of discussions about this topic, but i'm not trying to determine which is better here, but I'd like to piece together a system for myself that does everything I need in the way that I want it.
I installed Ubuntu on my PC 3 months ago, and coming from Windows, getting started with Gnome and setting up the applications to my liking was a basically a breeze (after clearing out some minor how-to issues with the help of wonderful people in this forum).
Then I read about Nepomuk and Strigis in KDE, which provide solutions for my dream of finding stuff on my computer, especially for my work materials where an efficient database can save me loads of search work and it would just make my life so much easier to fully implement a semantic desktop in my work.
I also learnt that I don't have to choose between Gnome and KDE, but I can just "add" KDE to Gnome and then switch from session to session or even run applications from either DE inside either of them.
So far, so great.
I installed KDE and started playing around, and I basically like the looks of it much better (but that factor is generally secondary to me). Also, Plasma in a way seems to be much more powerful, giving more direct and more integrated concept for access to modifications, tweaks and customization. That being my initial impression (not proven yet), I have considered using it exclusively. Sadly though I couldn't figure out how to perform some basic tasks with Plasma, even after quite patient research in documentation/help and forums, often finding that rather basic questions are not being answered in the documentation. I didn't succeed in finding a simple first-steps guide to PLasma desktop (mainly looked on Youtube for video tutorial, which would have been awesome). I also got tired of posting and reposting, explaining my issues in detail, so I just went back to the already-homely Gnome and tried using KDE apps from there.
Now I'm still very unsatisfied with this solutiuon for various reasons:
- The initial speed of Ubuntu that I enjoyed so much afer installation seems lost, I'm now more reminded of the typical Windows experience with lots of waiting for things to get going.
- Especially launching KDE apps inside Gnome can take forever, but some of them (media player, IM) just work much better for me than the Gnome ones, with fewer hiccups, fewer things to fix - provided they come without the confusion that Plasma puts me into. Annoying slowdown starts with that pesky KDE wallet service demanding my password for each application!
- No NEPOMUK and STRIGIS goodness in Gnome? I also found some threads that discussed making these work in Gnome, but 1) I assume that would be tied to those very same issues I am already having? and 2) It looks like there is no proven, standard method for this combo?
So, to sum it up:
- KDE has a cooler look and seems to be more powerful, especially the semantic desktop solution of Nepomuk still in process of being enhanced (I think). Some of the KDE apps work better for me than the Gnome ones - but that may also be true the other way round, I haven't tried most of them yet.
The downside is I have trouble getting used to Plasma desktop and the learning curve seems almost to steep for me, with much more tiresome forum posting, bugging helpful people with my questions.
- Gnome I am already comfortable with, which is a great asset to me. But some apps have shown annoying issues that also took some attention off work. Also it doesn't look as cool, and it dosen't have Nepomuk/Strigis built in.
- Combining the two seems to slow things down, taking me back to the Windows era, and it's just not a seamless, hassle-free switch. There is no switching without a restart!
What to do? Any advice is greatly appreciated. I just know Ubuntu/Linux can fulfill all my dreams as a PC user, with pro-level choices for all the tasks I need, but currently I'm at a loss of ideas. Help me out here!