[Gachie, Kenya]
SO, WHAT’S THE BEST Linux distribution that delivers a high quality KDE experience? Well, I don’t really know since I’ve been a religious GNOME Desktop whore after my first experience with Ubuntu and now Linux Mint 8 (based on Ubuntu 9.10 – aka Karmic Koala) but SEXIER.
Mind you, I did take PCLinuxOS 2009.2 for a spin on a LiveUSB but I was not that impressed with its use (it’s a super reliable distro for Windows new commers though) of KDE 3.5, which looked and felt a little stale. You see, the word on the street is that KDE 4.3.x is AMAZING, and based on the screenshots I’ve seen lately, I’d have to concur.
On the other hand, I’m sort of hooked on GNOME’s minimal and functional elegance. In the past (around 1998 to 2004) when I was Linux distro hopping (Corel Linux, Xandros, Mandrake, the reliable Libranet, Puppy Linux, and Vector Linux), KDE was the superior desktop environment for Linux, and GNOME was out to lunch. But things have changed — big time! — for the GNOME project thanks to the deep pockets of Ubuntu’s backers (and razor sharp focus) as well as Novell’s technical expertise.
Anyhow, I suggest you read this article and decide which desktop Linux distro has the best KDE setup.
Cheers!
[Gachie, Kenya]
YOU MAY NOT know it, but when you cruise the Net to read your mail on Yahoo, GMail, Hotmail (ran on FreeBSD before Microsoft purchased it), Mail2Web, or from your ISP (via POP3/IMAP), you’re mostly using a free mail server (qmail, Exim, Postfix, or Sendmail) that’s either running on Linux (CentOS, Red Hat, Debian, SUSE, Slackware, et al) or rock-solid BSD Unix variants such as NetBSD, FreeBSD, or OpenBSD. And what do you think Google is running their profitable multi-billion dollar Search engine business on? Linux!
Great Linux desktops a plenty…
Yes, we know Linux has been a huge success on the server side of things. But thanks to free sexy desktop user interface projects such as KDE and GNOME — as well as Xfce and Fluxbox for older PCs — Linux looks just as good (or better) than XP, Vista, Mac OS X or Windows 7. And things are getting better each and every day.
As a result, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, PCLinuxOS, OpenSUSE, SimplyMEPIS, Puppy Linux (great for old desktops and laptops that run XP slooowly!) and other distros are stepping up to the plate with fabulous desktop solutions for the home or office user. Anyhow, I expect to see some great developments from KDE (4.x) and GNOME (version 3.0) in 2010 that will make more users abandon Windows for good.
Related links
[Gachie, Kenya]
WELL, IT’S OFFICIAL, I’m now a big fan of the amazing Linux distro called Linux Mint. You see, it’s based on the fabulous work that Ubuntu (which is based on Debian) has already done; that is, making Linux easy for the masses to use, install and manage — just like Windows XP (I hear Vista & Windows 7 are a “lengthy” nightmare to install).
So, you can look at Linux Mint as a more polished (take a peek at my Mint 8 desktop above!) and kinder, gentler version of Ubuntu that simply does EVERYTHING right out of the box, like:
- Playing any video or music format (DivX, Windows Media Audio/Video, Ogg, and tons more that I didn’t know existed).
- Detecting your Nokia celly so you can connect to the Internet with it (on XP you have to download Nokia PC Suite to do this!).
- Detecting all of your hardware and installing the proper drivers during the install process without you even noticing.
- Setting up Flash in Mozilla Firefox right off the bat.
- Ditto for Java!
- Plus lots of other “little” things that make you say, “Wow!”
Suffice to say, I heart Linux Mint. Really. Things just work on my laptop — or on any other old or new system that I’ve test driven it on. Ya don’t believe me? Well, take a peek at the following screen shot where I’m running the ever popular (and FREE) Evolution email client that was given to the community by Novell. It can connect to my GMail via IMAP or POP3 — and it’s sooo slick. By the way, it’s touted as an Outlook killer in every way — except for all those annoying Outlook bugs. Well, you know deal when you’re using Microsoft products. Oh, Evolution can even connect to a Microsoft Exchange mail server, too.
Of course I do this to show peeps down here that Linux Mint is a better alternative to Windows from this point of view:
- Your system is responsive and runs fast since it’s not saddled with layers and layers of archaic, proprietary Windows “technologies” that have, unfortunately, become a nightmare (or headache) for Microsoft in order to maintain backward compatibility — ie. millions and millions of lines of bloated Windows programming code going back to Windows 3.1, 95, 98, ME, XP, Vista and now Windows 7. I truly feel sorry for Microsoft on that note! Have you ever wondered why Windows XP, Vista or 7 takes up so much damn hard disk space?
- No chance in Hell of catching a virus, trojan, or worm that’s so prevalent on the Windows “platform”. I really believe Symantec, McAfee, Kaspersky, Esset, Trend Micro, Panda, Grisoft and other well known Windows antivirus software companies just love the insecurity that’s built into the Windows architecture starting from the late 1980s to the present — all the way to the bank. If they had to depend on Linux, OS X, or a popular BSD Unix variant like NetBSD, FreeBSD, or OpenBSD, they’d all go out of business. No sh!t.
- Easy system updates and software installation thanks to its remarkable Debian lineage.
Related links
[Gachie, Kenya]
MY FAVOURITE WRITER on all things IT is always on the ball with his analysis on events that could change the landscape in this industry. I just wished more tech companies that fell on hard times over the past decade or 2 would’ve read John C. Dvorak’s timely and insightful articles. Here’s another excellent observation on why Google is always ahead of the curve in comparison to its competitors.
Take a peek at how Dvorak sees things that should be obvious to other important players in the telecom business:
Now that Google is behind the latest push for free calls, the whole process will likely be accelerated worldwide. Soon enough we’ll all be wondering why the whole process took so long, and why Google had to be behind it. Where was Microsoft? Or IBM? What about the almighty Apple? None of the CBG (Came Before Google) companies seem to have any telecom vision whatsoever.
Google entered the phone business with Android. The company saw Google Voice as the next logical step in the evolution of its it telephony business. There’s even a Google Voice Android app that gives Google phones a cost-cutting edge. Of all of the major players in the phone space—Nokia, Ericsson, Sony, Samsung, Apple, Motorola—only Google thought of this idea? Ericsson has been in the phone switch business and knew the writing was on the wall. What were they thinking? Nokia was working on all sorts of mesh-technologies, saw thing coming, and did nothing? {source}
For any one who has a PC and is looking for el cheapo phone rates, I urge you to take Google Voice for a spin.
