Basic Questions with KDE.

[Roasted]

Long time Gnome user here, ended up setting up my Ubuntu system to dual boot with Kubuntu to try it out. So far - I'm fricken loving KDE. Very smooth, very solid, and very quick. I just might make the full time switch. But before that, I have a few questions I'd like answered.

1 - I have dual monitors. In Gnome I used to just use 1 big wallpaper across both monitors. In KDE it doesn't seem as if I can do that. How can I get wallpapers on both monitors? I can do this by either 1 wallpaper per monitor or 1 large wallpaper to span across both. I just need to know how to do this.

2 - How do I get rid of that bouncing icon whenever I launch an application?

3 - I tried to install the latest Virtualbox from their web site but it errors out when I try to launch the deb. I'm running Jaunty 9.04 64 bit and that's the package I got but it errored out. Any ideas?

4 - Because Karmic had problem with multiple drives in my system when I tried to use Ubuntu Karmic, I didn't even try to use Kubuntu Karmic - So I'm using Kubuntu Jaunty 64 bit. But I'd like the latest KDE version - how do I upgrade KDE in Jaunty to have the latest available?

[Zorael]

1. Hmm. Hit the cashew (top right corner) and Zoom Out. Then pick Configure Plasma and "Different activity for each desktop". That should hopefully do the trick with two screens; it certainly does with multiple desktops.

2. System Settings -> Desktop -> Launch Feedback. The placing is a bit unintuitive.

3. Any interesting error output?

4. There seems to be 4.3.2 packages for Jaunty in the Kubuntu backports ppa (ppa:kubuntu-ppa/backports). There doesn't seem to be any 4.3.3 packages, though I guess you could try to add the Karmic ones and see if your package manager accepts them as updates (or throws in the towel because of unresolvable dependencies).

[bentoport]

I'm new to Linux and installed ubuntu 9.10 KK three days ago, all went well, except that when I login choosing kde desktop I have the following problems:

1 - Amarok refuses to play files (located on a windows partition). It recognizes them but when I touch play nothing happens.

2- I don't seem to have all the options with KDE, for ex. in the Settings menu I don't have Appearance as an option.

3- No shutdown or Restart option availabe (in the Leave menu I have Logout, Lock, Swith use, Hibernate and Sleep).

Any ideas why is this happening? Thks.

[gastly]

1 - Amarok refuses to play files (located on a windows partition). It recognizes them but when I touch play nothing happens.

You need to install libxine1-ffmpeg

sudo apt-get install libxine1-ffmpeg

[tuxeee]

Long time Gnome user here, ended up setting up my Ubuntu system to dual boot with Kubuntu to try it out. So far - I'm fricken loving KDE. Very smooth, very solid, and very quick. I just might make the full time switch.

can you please expand on why you'd switch over to Kubuntu?
whats the pros over gnome? (from your experience)

[Roasted]

I didn't fully switch over. I still actively use Ubuntu with Gnome. You see, my partitions are split from root and home. Originally my disk was:

20gb Root - Ubuntu
380gb - Home

I downsized the 380 to 360 and left the remaining 20gb to Kubuntu, making my disk look like:

20gb Root - Ubuntu
360gb Home
20gb Root - Kubuntu

Both Kubuntu and Ubuntu point to the same home directory. So I literally share the same documents, personal data, music, pictures, etc between both Kubuntu and Ubuntu. This allows me to tinker with Kubuntu knowing I can reboot and be back to Ubuntu if I need more familiar ground.

I guess I came into KDE thinking that what Gnome users say against it were true. That it was bloated, unstable, stupidly laid out, etc. I find that not to be the case. It is unusually fast on my computer. Not faster than Gnome, but no slower than Gnome either. I guess I just really like the way things are laid out, the menu system, the overlay that seems very customizable, etc.

I've been following the development of Gnome Shell and I use it on a spare computer, but I'm just not totally sold on it. Yes it's unfair to judge this early since it's in what, some kind of Alpha stage, but even still, I'm just not sure if it's my cup of tea to have the overlay activated EVERY time I want to access ANYTHING. I like being able to activate the overlay if I need to but not get dizzy when I explore my menu to open a program. This is something that KDE already has that was nice to see. The one thing that bothers me about KDE is the panel being at the bottom. Once you switch the panel to the top, it suddenly felt more familiar to my Gnome roots. Panel at the top - Dock at the bottom - Just like I had it set up in Gnome. I can see how the panel at the bottom would be a little more enticing to making hardcore Windows users feel at home, but thanks to Gnome I prefer the panel at the top - which was the first thing I changed when I booted into KDE.

I love Gnome. It has a special place with me and I'm sure I'll always use it. But KDE is pretty damn robust, and I definitely see why it's a very worthy competitor to Gnome.

[bentoport]

You need to install libxine1-ffmpeg

sudo apt-get install libxine1-ffmpeg

Thanks

[bobzr]

Panel at the top - Dock at the bottom - Just like I had it set up in Gnome. I can see how the panel at the bottom would be a little more enticing to making hardcore Windows users feel at home, but thanks to Gnome I prefer the panel at the top - which was the first thing I changed when I booted into KDE

I've done exactly the same and I'm also using both gnome and kde, but I still prefer Gnome. I'm searching for a good KDE dock like AWN but I couldn't find yet. (Kooldock, Daisy, etc. they're all unstable).
KDE is better for the available software and I can't find any app like KDEnlive, KeepassX or KMyMoney in Gnome. But it seems like KDE 4 is not yet mature and apps often crash.

[Roasted]

I've done exactly the same and I'm also using both gnome and kde, but I still prefer Gnome. I'm searching for a good KDE dock like AWN but I couldn't find yet. (Kooldock, Daisy, etc. they're all unstable).
KDE is better for the available software and I can't find any app like KDEnlive, KeepassX or KMyMoney in Gnome. But it seems like KDE 4 is not yet mature and apps often crash.

Based on what I read (on web sites, forums, etc), KDE 4.2 fixed a lot of bugs. A lot of die hard KDE fans I spoke to blatantly said KDE 4 brought on a lot of bugs while KDE 4.2 fixed a ton. And currently we're at... 4.3.3 or something?

As far as the apps go, a lot of apps I used were already KDE apps to begin with - Amarok, Ktorrent, etc. Never had a problem in Gnome with them - so far no problems in KDE with them. *knock on wood*

The only times I had KDE crash was on my spare computer. But when I open Google Earth, Google Earth flashes like a high speed white disco scene. Not only that, but my login splash screen for when Ubuntu and Kubuntu are loading, it looks choppy and mixed up as if it was a puzzle gone bad. This suggests I have a serious video card issue. I'm trying to find a spare PCI video card to test this but, I have issues in Ubuntu on that machine too, so seeing them in Kubuntu wasn't too surprising.

Have any users with KDE 4.2+ experienced any problems with stability?

Something kinda funny - I found an article somewhere with Linus Torvalds backing up KDE 100%. It was an interesting read...

[Zorael]

Something kinda funny - I found an article somewhere with Linus Torvalds backing up KDE 100%. It was an interesting read...

He's gone back and forth, I think. He doesn't like the way GNOME wants to make things simple, and he detested KDE 4.0 which was inarguably in a pretty poor (and very alpha) state.

2. Appearance isn't there? That's alarming. I'd try reinstalling systemsettings.

$ sudo aptitude reinstall systemsettings

3. System Settings -> Advanced tab -> Session Manager, check Offer shutdown options.