Kubuntu 8.04 ('Hardy Heron')
Followers of my blog may have wondered -- around the end of April -- why I never made any comments about 8.04 / 'Hardy Heron'. There are two reasons for that. The first was: It was really really bad. I'm not enough of a zealot to gloss over that and ignore it: I'll speak my mind even on things I've traditionally endorsed, and it was a load of crap. Why? KDE4. That brings me to the second reason I did not post about it: upgrading my main workstation was such a disaster, I didn't have the time to blog about it.
Even when updating Windows between major versions I've never seen this much trouble. It took me near a week to get the machine to a workable configuration (by tweaking low-level configuration files -- no less -- and fixing x.org). The fancy desktop effects rendered the GUI completely unusable: I had to boot from a live CD and reconfigure X.
So, what do I see on slashdot today? Why, the release of KDE 4.1, of course. Instead of the usual ooh, goody that normally -- for me -- accompanies a new KDE release, my reaction was what do I have to lose by upgrading.
I'll give the kubuntu upgrade packages a shot, and see how it goes. But if it goes to hell, I'm downgrading to 7.10 and staying there for a while. Or I just might switch to GNOME if it involves less reinstalling. Hardy on GNOME was very pretty and very functional in the VM I installed it to. Who knows?
This is what today's XKCD
This is what today's XKCD comic is about http://xkcd.com/456/
KDE4 isn't the default in
KDE4 isn't the default in Kubuntu 8.04, it's still three. There is, however, a KDE4 "remix" CD you might have downloaded by mistake... so, uh, you might want to check your disc.
My desktop is an absolutely stock install, and... here:
ian@shadow:~$ dpkg -l | grep kicker
ii kicker 4:3.5.9-0ubuntu7.3 desktop panel for KDE
ian@shadow:~$ cat /etc/issue
Ubuntu 8.04.1 \n \l
Intrepid, on the other hand, will have 4.1 by default. Not sure if they will have 3.5.x CDs available. I tried one of the beta cds a while ago, it actually seemed... relatively ok. Not a 3.5 replacement, but you could probably use it as a DE without too many catastrophic problems.
I think I neglected to
I think I neglected to mention that the KDE4 remix was what I used. It was a piece of garbage that never should have been shown the light of day, default or not.
Haha, yeah, no argument
Haha, yeah, no argument here.
I've been trying Intrepid... I like the look of it, but KDE 4.1 just doesn't... feel right yet. Not clear if that's because everything else on the system is a beta package too or because that's just how 4.1 is right now.
I sure am looking forward to 4 stabilizing a bit though, it's going to be great.
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