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Kubuntu To Be Sponsored By Blue Systems, Rather Than Canonical 99

Posted by timothy from the flexibility-is-good dept.
JRiddell writes "Kubuntu, the KDE flavour from Ubuntu, has found a new sponsor in Blue Systems. They will be providing more resources than were available by previous sponsor Canonical. The project will remain much the same: community led, KDE focused, Ubuntu flavour. With the new independence it can branch out into new markets such as a Kubuntu Active flavour for tablets."
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Kubuntu To Be Sponsored By Blue Systems, Rather Than Canonical More

Kubuntu To Be Sponsored By Blue Systems, Rather Than Canonical

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  • "More resources than were available" (Score:5, Interesting)

    by TaoPhoenix ( 980487 ) <TaoPhoenix@yahoo.com> on Tuesday April 10, 2012 @12:30PM (#39633727) Journal

    Is that another way of saying that with Canonical's push to new UI front ends and Stores and stuff, that support for the KDE side languished?

    The summary feels like one of those "tip of the iceberg" ones, where there's a massive lurch beneath the scenes here. Anyone know where the problems are expected to arise in this?

    • Re:"More resources than were available" (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Bill_the_Engineer ( 772575 ) on Tuesday April 10, 2012 @12:32PM (#39633753)
      More like Kubuntu now has another source of money and no longer has to adhere to any implied restrictions that Canonical may place on their money.

      • Re:"More resources than were available" (Score:4, Interesting)

        by cpu6502 ( 1960974 ) on Tuesday April 10, 2012 @01:07PM (#39634381)

        I quit Kubuntu when it started becoming as big a memory user as Ubuntu. I switched to Lubuntu which uses about 1/3rd as much RAM (and less hard drive thrashing).

        • Actually, why prefer Kubuntu to Mint's KDE version? Kubuntu has made some really strange calls, such as going w/ ReKonq as their default browser. When Canonical dropped support for them, it would have made sense for them to go w/ Mint, but for their developers to refine the various KDE applications out there, such as Calligra Suite, and so on, and leave the OS part of the work to Mint.

          This would be a more useful work than just one more Linux distro, which is currently #26 on Distrowatch.

          • Re:"More resources than were available" (Score:4, Interesting)

            by Gavagai80 ( 1275204 ) on Tuesday April 10, 2012 @10:06PM (#39640121) Homepage
            Mint requires a re-installation/import whenever there's a new release. Kubuntu, I installed once somewhere around '07 and the upgrades every 6 months are painless. You can make an argument that Mint's approach is safer, but isn't it good to have distros for both strategies so both strategies can develop further and people who prefer each have a choice?

        • I assume that buying more ram isn't an option?

          I care about not running out of ram. I dont care about ram usage on its own. I'd rather it was used than sitting idle if it gives me better performance (and it does).

      • Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)

        by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Tuesday April 10, 2012 @03:33PM (#39636295)
        Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Re:"More resources than were available" (Score:5, Insightful)

      by idontgno ( 624372 ) on Tuesday April 10, 2012 @12:44PM (#39633945) Journal

      Problems? As far as I can tell, Canonical was Kubuntu's primary problem, and finding an independent sponsor is an awesome solution.

      I hope this works out. I vastly prefer KDE over that Unity abortion Canonical is trying to foist on us. I'd use Kubuntu over Ubuntu even if Kubuntu stagnated completely, but this makes avoiding Canonical's silly marketing games practical.

      • I vastly prefer KDE over that Unity abortion Canonical is trying to foist on us.

        branch out into new markets such as a Kubuntu Active flavour for tablets

        Well this actually sounds like a plan to turn Kubuntu into another abortion, something that would be called Kunity or whatever.

        • Unlike Unity and Metro, the KDE project accepts that different platforms have different requirements, and has a different UI for each so that they can be best tuned to the platform, w/o being constrained by design decisions of another. KDE has one UI for desktops/laptops, one for netbooks and one called Plasma Active for tablets. As a result, their desktop version has a taskbar similar to Windows 7 and prior, while Plasma Active is purely a touchscreen oriented interface.

          In fact, I've not seen KDE users

    • Re:"More resources than were available" (Score:5, Informative)

      by Tarlus ( 1000874 ) on Tuesday April 10, 2012 @12:55PM (#39634149)

      I think it is more a result of the fact that Canonical disowned Kubuntu [slashdot.org] a couple of months ago, and the Kubuntu team needed a new host.

      • It sounds like a big improvement to me. I can't help thinking that the Gnome faction was pushing hard for "integration" with the lastest Gnome whizzy idea of the week, to the detriment of KDE stability.

    • Is that another way of saying that with Canonical's push to new UI front ends and Stores and stuff, that support for the KDE side languished?

      My theory is, the only purpose of kubuntu as a Canonical project was to apply their "branding". But all I want, as a longtime KDE user, is for Kubuntu to be as much like upstream KDE as possible. Oh, and exercise better judgement about when to push shiny new upstream releases. 7.2 was a disaster, it completely broke Kmail. There is no way that should have gone into general distribution until upstream got their act together. If Kubuntu had done the right thing and held it, the worst damage would have been fi

  • What We Really Need (Score:4, Interesting)

    by macromorgan ( 2020426 ) on Tuesday April 10, 2012 @12:31PM (#39633749)
    What we really need is a Gnome flavor of Ubuntu. Still not a fan of Unity, while Gnome 3 is starting to grow on me. Where's my Gnubuntu?

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by vjoel ( 945280 )
      Mint with Cinnamon?

      I'm not advocating, I'm asking: is this what you would want from "Gnubuntu"?

    • Re:What We Really Need (Score:5, Informative)

      by mishu2065 ( 1616553 ) on Tuesday April 10, 2012 @12:42PM (#39633923)
      1) Install Ubuntu 12.04 (beta, for now)
      2) Open terminal
      3) sudo apt-get install gnome-panel
      4) Log out and back in, selecting GNOME Classic as Desktop Environment
      5) ???
      6) Profit!!! Actually, there is no step 5. :)

      • 1) Install Ubuntu 12.04 (beta, for now)

        2) Open terminal

        3) sudo apt-get install gnome-panel

        4) Log out and back in, selecting GNOME Classic as Desktop Environment

        5) ???

        6) Profit!!!

        Actually, there is no step 5. :)

        Or rather than step 3, you can get GNOME 3 by doing "sudo apt-get install gnome-shell"

      • Gnome classic with GTK3 is missing a lot of functionality and is nothing like Gnome 2.3x in flexibility. Cinnamon looks promising as a Gnome 3 shell replacment but right now it's still a work in progress.

        • Both MATE (fork of GNOME 2 retaining everything you know and love from 2.x) and Cinnamon (Linux Mint's fork of GNOME 3 aiming to bring a more traditional interface with the same powerful backend) work perfectly on Ubuntu 11.10 and I'm assuming also 12.04. I ditched 11.10 for Debian when it first released as I detest Unity with a fiery passion and don't think much more of the atrocity that the GNOME developers have unleashed either. However, Debian (testing) soon switched to GNOME 3 as well and I was back

    • I thought Unity is actually very similar to the shell used in Gnome 3. Personally, I think its better than the Gnome 3 shell.

      • Being better than the Gnome 3 shell isn't an accomplishment -- but being worse would be newsworthy. And that "very similar" part isn't exactly praise.

    • What we really need is a Gnome flavor of Ubuntu. Still not a fan of Unity, while Gnome 3 is starting to grow on me. Where's my Gnubuntu?

      From what I understand, w/ Ubuntu, one has the option of selecting GNOME3 if one ain't happy. The reason the bulk of Ubuntu users went to Mint is that they wanted to stay w/ GNOME2, not go to GNOME3.

    • Personally, I think it makes sens for distributions to begin going their own way. I don't think it's a bad idea of Ubuntu wants to say, "We're developing a Unity-based desktop OS. If you want to install KDE, be our guests. If you want to create a whole KDE-based fork, we have no objections. However, we're just going to focus on making a consistent and coherent desktop environment using Unity."

      Different distributions can make different choices. Fedora might make a Gnome distribution and SUSE might make

  • Good (Score:2, Informative)

    by bacon.frankfurter ( 2584789 )
    Because Unity sucks.

    • Re:Good (Score:4, Insightful)

      by causality ( 777677 ) on Tuesday April 10, 2012 @12:55PM (#39634145)

      Because Unity sucks.

      About the only things I want from a distribution are a good package manager, a good selection of available packages, and timely attention paid to security.

      What comes installed by default is something I'm likely to rearrange anyway. I don't like Unity either, which is why it would be installed for all of a few minutes until I replace it with something else if I decided that Ubuntu/Kubuntu fit my criteria.

      So how many Slashdotters really just stick with defaults no matter how much they like something else better? Seems like a total non-issue (and a non-complaint) to me.

      • If it's going to uninstalled in a few minutes, why install it in the first place? It seems like it would be easier to just do a minimal install. I don't know of any distros that don't allow a minimal install. Either that or find a spin with the software that you actually want.

      • Re:Good (Score:4, Insightful)

        by jawtheshark ( 198669 ) * <slashdot.jawtheshark@com> on Tuesday April 10, 2012 @02:02PM (#39635265) Homepage Journal
        I don't know for other slashdotters, but I can tell you why I care about sane defaults. Support. You see, many slasdotters live in a void where there is their desktop and the rest can just suck it up. I, on the other hand, help other people with their computers.

        Ubuntu, until the version 10.04 LTS, was a distribution you could take, drop on a machine, install half a dozen packages (Thunderbird, Restricted Extras, ....) and be done with it. Installation time very quick. This compared to a Windows install which can take a up to a day, including hunting for drivers, software, securing it and finally setting the GUI to sane defaults. It's a complete pain.

        Now, assume just for the sake of it that I ddi default installs for my friends and family and let them figure it out, and I do my thing in my corner. First support call, I get from them will put me and Linux in a bad light (either, or... ) and I want neither. Thus, I use the default desktop in order to be able to support them! Eating your own dog food, you know.

        Deviating significantly from default install, increases the initial install time and increases the risk that you forgot to change a tiny GUI setting you use. (Example from the Windows world: you work with extensions turned on, the default is off. You forgot that on you family/friends computer. Try explaining the how to turn it on and why you need it, as it now suddenly deviates from what they are used.

        That's my personal problem with the whole debacle. Furthermore, there has to be said something about software quality feels. If you have sane GUI settings from the beginning, your software is perceived as higher quality. That is also very important for the normal user. That we, nerds, can change everything to our hearts desire is not important to them.

        As for Unity, I hated it at first too, but the changes in 12.04 beta, improved its usability. It's not perfect, but by now I can see my mom use it. (She's on 10.04LTS) and that /is/ important to me.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Rashkae ( 59673 )

          Does Unity still play Hide the Menu? That might seem like a pet peeve, but I think that right that demonstrates just exactly how much attention is put to "useability" of Unity.

          • Nope, that was one of my biggest issues with it and I must not have been the only one. It's fixed now.
            • Just to make sure, I'm talking about the icon bar at the left side of the screen (They call it dash or somesuch).

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by Rashkae ( 59673 )

                I should have been more clear. I was talking about the menu bar.

                The the previous versions of Unity I tried, the menu bar would be hidden at the top of the screen until you moused over it to see the menus.

                • I'm not at my computer right now, but I'll check for you when I can. It's something I never noticed, so it probably doesn't irk me. I can understand that such small things annoy. Many of those and the frustration adds up.
                  • I just checked. No, it still hides the menu and you need to hover over it to get the options. Weird, I never noticed this before or at least it didn't annoy me. I bet that now I know, it will start to annoy me. *sigh*

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by zoward ( 188110 )

        So how many Slashdotters really just stick with defaults no matter how much they like something else better? Seems like a total non-issue (and a non-complaint) to me.

        The problem is that in most distros the default system is installed around the default desktop UI, so just typing

        apt-get install xxx-desktop

        might get you the desktop, but many apps designed for the new desktop UI only partially work, and some not at all. This is why kubuntu, xubuntu and lubuntu end up with their own install discs, even though (IIRC) they use the same repositories (ie, codebase) as ubuntu.

    • I agree. And that's why i eagerly anticipate the public reaction to Windows 8! :-D
  • As long as they don't expect me to use my desktop like a tablet I don't give a damn.

  • Blue Systems (Score:5, Funny)

    by Tarlus ( 1000874 ) on Tuesday April 10, 2012 @12:52PM (#39634075)

    Given KDE's (and especially Kubuntu's) affinity for the color blue, this seems appropriate.

  • Blue Systems? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 10, 2012 @01:02PM (#39634295)
    OK, who or what is Blue Systems? The only information on their website [blue-systems.com] is a list of projects sponsored by them.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward

      A quick whois lookup shows affiliation with IT Works Unlimited GmbH & Co. KG [ http://www.itwu.de/index.html ]

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Whoever they are, they seem to be very interested in KDE. All the projects they sponsor are either KDE apps or KDE based OS.
      They sponsor NetRunner OS with is based on Kubuntu. So it does make sense when they decided to put their money behind Kubuntu when Canonical made the announcement that they were turning Kubuntu to the community.

    • I agree. Googling it revelead nothing. Does anyone else know anything about this company?

  • When Canonical was supporting Kubuntu it allowed one of its developers to work on it as part of his job. And the guy happened to be the soul of Kubuntu.

    Now how is the support by Blue Systems supposed to help? The guy would resign from Canonical and work freelance or what?

  • Excellent News! (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Wattos ( 2268108 ) on Tuesday April 10, 2012 @03:37PM (#39636325)

    This is really awesome!

    I was always a Gnome fan and Ubuntu fan. Have been using Ubuntu since Ubuntu 6.4. When Unity came out, I wanted to give it a fair shot and I did. However things like the total lack of customization and general slowness when opening dash turned me off (gnome-do + docky offer a much faster solution). I also tried gnome-shell for a bit. This is also somewhat limited in the ways you can customize it (e.g. what about 2x2 workspaces?) and general problems with graphic drivers ( I was getting hard freezes 1-3 times a day, which made it impractical)

    So couple of months ago I tried KDE 4.7. I Instantly liked how it is very similar to the desktop Im used to, but also offers interesting things like plasma widgets and is very customizable. I would not want to go back to gnome again.

    So now I have a choice of distributions to pick. There is the Chakra project, which is totally awesome (I tried it for a while), however, it is not yet ready for prime time (things like installing non-KDE is very cumbersome and requires a lot of time). Kubuntu on the other hand comes with the awesome packaging system from ubuntu which makes installing applications a breeze. Moreover, almost any project out there, has an ubuntu repository (if its not already in the default repositories) making it the default choice if you dont want to start compiling applications for yourself.

    When I heard about Canonical dropping Kubuntu, I was worried at first that it might go under. But this development makes a very happy camper and am looking forward at the next releases of Kubuntu!

    • Have been using Ubuntu since Ubuntu 6.4.

      That must have been the Cranky Caribou edition. So cranky that they didn't bother telling anyone about it...

  • Yeah well can they please ditch the utter DISASTER that is KDE4 and go with TRINITY!! Pleaaaaasse!!!!!!
  • Kubuntu is one of the worst KDE-based Linux distros around. No wonder Canonical wanted nothing to do with it.

  • LOVE THAT KUBUNTU (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Typing this on x64 natty. So what you say ? Kubuntu finally allowed me to leave windows for good !
    Now there is no going back. I experimented for many years with all different distros. There was always
    somegodforsaken problem with network or sound or dependancies. About 2 years ago i put Kubuntu
    on my Laptop and for the first time everything just worked. It allowed me to get confident with the linux
    environment, i got my iphone to sync and then it was my main desktop, and then i was converting friends

    I too got

  • Surely, they will have to change their name to Blue K Systems...
    • Since the OS will no longer be connected to Ubuntu or Canonical, it would seem more appropriate to rename it to something else other than Kubuntu.

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