This week in KDE: Converging towards something special
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Reasons you may like it - no new paradigm bs to learn just your plain old customizable desktop, it’s stable(they’re fixing stuff like crazy every week), if you don’t like something they are making contributing to / building KDE components very easy, HiDPI support is about the best - partial scaling, per desktop DPI works great at least on X11 and finally they are making running GTK apps a great experience with Plasma 5.18.
KDE Neon is perfect. It has the simplicity, familiarity, and stability of the latest Ubuntu LTS, on which it is based, combined with the evergreen KDE desktop.
Oh, there are plenty of new paradigms you can configure into your KDE desktop. It's a good thing that most distros come with a same-old behavior, but if you want, you can change it.
So I decided to install KDE Plasma, and I couldn't be happier! Everything works exactly as I expected. And it's a beautiful desktop environment, especially after I installed a dark theme. I also use a Mac, and now I honestly don't know which desktop experience is better! Which is a huge compliment to Plasma, as MacOS is actually quite polished.
I can't recommend Plasma enough to anyone who wants Linux on desktop/laptop.
What is fundamentally broken with their UI that a competent person can't change?
As a concrete example, the KDE application menu will close whenever you move the cursor off of it onto another window, unlike any menu in any other desktop UI widget toolkit [1].
So from some users' perspective, things like the move to plasma can seem like little more than a series of UI regressions. The basics just don't work so well any more, and the only upside is maybe slightly prettier graphics. It can be disheartening. Here is an application menu from KDE 1 in 1999 which I am sure worked just fine [2].
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/kde/comments/9a41si/possible_bug_ap... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K_Desktop_Environment_1#/media...
If other DE matches you needs better and if it does it by default then I am happy for you I am not trying to sell you anything.
Any other applications, I can bind. Any other shortcuts I can. But Meta+T/E to Konsole/Dolphin, I can't. Fortunately KDE doesn't seem to store much in ~/.local/share (which is where $XDG_DATA_HOME points to). edit: ah, a reboot later and it works as usual... go figure (not saying it's KDE's fault, it maybe be an .xprofile or some .voodoo mismatch).
And the fact that some options in the default configuration panel can actually only be used when you chown certain files to root (the login manager background for instance).
I love KDE though, the UI is way cleaner than it was before, it's fast, the whole desktop feels visually coherent, but it still feels like climbing a tree with a gazillion branches when configuring it through the configuration UI.
(and someday the automatic sound output switching will work, but not today)
My question was for OP to present the fundamental UI issue, I am sure there are hundreds or touand of bugs in the KDE bug tracker but I am not aware of a fundamental issue unlike the other popular DE that has a major architectural issue .
I went back and forth with it for 20 years, but 2 years ago I tried plasma to address an issue with XFCE4 and my 4k monitor and I never looked back.
It's stable, rock solid, lightweight and has the best support for scaling I've seen on Linux until now.
It still has some glitches on GTK apps and with theming, but overall is my DE of choice right now (XFCE4 is still my favourite, but KDE just works)
I really believe that Ubuntu and Kubuntu are reaching a high level of simplicity and stability where they can be adopted or at least tried out by people who are more casual computer users (or who just want to stay productive.)
Nope. That is an experience that will push them right back to OSX or Windows.
https://www.techradar.com/how-to/macos-1014-mojave-problems-...
Causal users just use the system how it is, I sometimes find them suffering trough a complicated workflow because they did not consider to even ask themselves "maybe this can be improved, maybe there is a setting to do this or a shortcut or some better way"
Casual user hears about Linux, and that Ubuntu is the most popular Linux, then goes to the site
And reads: "Ubuntu 19.10 is here
The latest version of the world’s most widely used Linux platform for Kubernetes, multi-cloud and machine learning.
Download Ubuntu 19.10 now"
And the problems begin -- he will have to upgrade twice a year.
The branding would have to be different for that not to happen. The LTS should not be called LTS but simply Ubuntu. All the versions between two LTS versions should be called like Ubuntu Developer Preview 19.10, and they should be offered easily on the site.
Then one could claim that the casual user wouldn't use the "Developer Preview" versions.
As it is for years, it's not so. Just explaining what the exact difference between LTS and "newest Ubuntu" and why they are still offered the "newest Ubuntu" on the web page would at best confuse or annoy the "causal user."
The casual user will "the newest" but "the newest that works" and that he "doesn't have to change." Not in the sense that nothing is updated but that the updates aren't invasive to him. And the "newest Ubuntu" versions are invasive -- the last time I've tried such, not even a GUI partition manager worked.
The people you are talking about are enthusiasts, the probably re-installed Windows before too,
Your definition is useless: it would just mean that casual users simply never use Linux OS at all, and aren't supposed to use it, as these with your definition also wouldn't have an awareness to specifically buy a separate computer with preinstalled Linux.
To make a definition of a "Linux casual user" in any way meaningful, you have to assume that it's somebody who would like to try to use Linux, especially without a specific desire to pay for a new computer for that.
Oh, and also without the specific desire and readiness to use command line having the ingrained assumption that the GUI tools simply don't work, which is relatively common case in desktop Linux, even with LTE.
By the way, my quote also shows what Ubuntu consider their casual user, based on the strengths they advertise:
"The latest version of the world’s most widely used Linux platform for Kubernetes, multi-cloud and machine learning."
I'd say, from their point of view, the target user on that page is, interestingly, somebody who needs but is undecided which Linux platform to use for "Kubernetes, multi-cloud and machine learning."
Which is also interesting, but also doesn't follow that such a person would expect his installed OS to have broken applications every 6 months because of OS experimentation in compositors or whatever.
In my definition a casual user has his computer setup and managed by somebody else. Someone that helps the casual person to buy the laptop/PC that fits their budget and needs, that installs the browser and extensions for them, that installs the apps they need like Skype.Word installs the printer and other devices for them.
Someone that can installs Linux (usually you need to go in BIOS/UEFI to enable boot order and disable secure boot and other shit) is not a casual in my opinion.
Do you think that Ubuntu users are the casuals and Arch are the power users? I will disagree with that, I used Arch in the past but now I am happy with Kubuntu LTS just because a DE and OS is a launcher for my applications and not a identity.
About Ubuntu home page, I assume Canonical is not trying to target the casuals with that page, casuals can't just download and install Ubuntu on any random laptop or PC, there s also no money to be made.
The design of the ubuntu.com download buttons encourages people to download the LTS version while making the latest stable version easy to find as well.
And yes I know about the security concerns. I'd really love to see similar apps for other messengers.
Is there a way of forcing gtk apps to use the qt file picker?
This includes the $2395 model, so it can’t be cost.
I haven’t had a daily driver screen with resolution that low since 1998. For almost all of those years, that was with desktop Linux / Unix. The problem clearly isn’t software support.
The majority of people I've actually discussed this with (note, N=V.Small) tend to agree.
I say this having had multiple laptops <=15.3" with >1080p and really not seeing any benefit. Those have all been provided by employers. I really cannot justify paying for it myself.
What is the benefit you see from higher resolutions on laptops? Am I just missing something?
It provides sharper text, better rendering of high-res photos, more working area, and the ability to run a 1080p VM or play a 1080p video in a window or browser tab.
I absolutely consider this screen worth the premium.
- “Retina” resolution with significantly less artifacting due to density (your eye doesn’t see “pixels” individually)
- Ability to tweak resolution scaling without paying a huge cost in visual artifacts (on a MacBook, the native resolution is often 1600p with virtual 800p, but you can scale to 960p, 1080p, or even down below 800p if you want, and they all look pretty good)