Xubuntu - First Impressions
So, this post is being written from Xubuntu.
As most of the people who know me will know, I’m a huge KDE/Kubuntu Fan. However, I’ve been sort of “donated” an old laptop to play around with for a while. And seeing as how old it is, I decided to install xubuntu on it.
I’ve only hit a few issues so far, so I’ll outline them.
- I downloaded the Dapper ISO thinking that it was the Feisty one - this was probably a case of PEBKAC
- Feisty crashes X when trying to load a terminal (and probably other things, I reinstalled when I tried for the 13th time to open a terminal
- When booting, between the grub loading and X starting, I just have a blank screen (I’ve heard this is an issue on laptops with *buntu though - so I don’t know - It worked fine on my old laptop!)
- No IRC client installed by default
- Slow responsiveness (but it’s faster thanit was in windows!)
- No Launch Feedback - when I click an icon to run something, I don’t know if it’s actually running or whatever. This is a feature I sorely miss from KDE as I just ended up loading 5 file managers as I thought that it wasn’t loading!)
In general though, other than the points above, I’m finding Xubuntu a nice clean distro. Looks wise, I haven’t had to change anything, as I do with kubuntu (what’s with those squished title bar buttons?) and it all looks nice clean crisp and fresh.
It’s a nice Distro. I think I may look at using it on some of my other machines in the future, even if it is GTK-app based, it’s still a nice alternative.
May 1st, 2007 at 12:09 am
There is an option for launch feedback — when you go to the properties of the launcher, there is an option for “Use Startup Notification”. I don’t use it much, but it simply turns my cursor to the spinning wheel until the launched app starts up. Hope that helps.
May 1st, 2007 at 4:22 am
I get that blank screen problem too, except not on my laptop, it’s on my 55 inch tv. After upgrading to feisty, I’m having some issues with my ati drivers, and I think it’s due to that. It’s an older ATI All-in-Wonder card, and it’s only allowing me to choose between 640×480 and 740×480 (widescreen tv). I think the resolution is too low to show the grub screen and the (k/x)ubuntu loading screen, so it stays blank until it receives a signal it can use. I just set the Grub loader to display for 1 second, and ignore it for 30 seconds or so while it’s booting.
May 1st, 2007 at 5:56 am
Kudos to you for trying out Xubuntu! It seems to me that there is no irc client installed because (1) not everyone will use an irc client, so why install one if the user does not plan to use it, and (2) there are many irc clients to choose from, so why not let the user install what they want instead of having extra software on the machine that does not get used. This principle holds true for just about any software. As for the lack of launch feedback, you’re correct; however, generally, it should not take more than a few seconds for most applications to at least show some sign of launching. If you are experiencing serious lag times, it may not be an issue with Xubuntu but might rather be an issue with a lack of system resources. Even the 50 MB Damn Small Linux will experience lag times on really old (slow) machines. Like with anything in life, Xubuntu has its limitations. I’m not sure how old your machine is, but I have found that Xubuntu works well on P3’s and newer, and 256 MB RAM is generally a good idea. For P2’s, I have been using Fluxbuntu, which is even lighter-weight (currently only available in Dapper but soon to be offered with Feisty).
Being a “less-is-more” kind of a guy, I really appreciate that Xubuntu doesn’t come loaded down with a bunch of applications. It allows me the freedom to install only what I want and not have a bunch of unused software taking up space or have to uninstall unwanted software. It’s nice that both KDE and Gnome libraries will run under Xubuntu. I also really enjoy that there is one “Applications” menu and everything can be found under that one menu.
Good luck with your exploration of Xubuntu. Hope that you like it as much as I do. Cheers!
May 1st, 2007 at 7:13 am
Fluxbuntu is gonna be awesome.
May 1st, 2007 at 10:45 am
The default IRC client is Gaim, just as in Ubuntu.
May 1st, 2007 at 12:14 pm
Jani, gaim isn’t an IRC client IMHO
May 1st, 2007 at 2:27 pm
“even if it is GTK-app based, it’s still a nice alternative” and hoping that linux will be mainstream in desktop, i am kde fan boy, but just tell me what’s wrong with gtk based application, don’t you use openoffice, firefox, totem just to name some.
we are in 2007, those stupid gtk vs whatever is over
May 1st, 2007 at 9:49 pm
Dear Sir
After reading your complaints I feel the need to point out a couple of things.
1/ The issues with x would happen with all version of *buntu. It’s an X/hardware issue and therefore harsh to blame the desktop.
2/ Name Ubuntu’s irc client. There isn’t one. Why because Ubuntu is shipped with Gaim (now pidgin) which is a capable irc client. In the same way as you can use Kopete as an irc client. Yes there are better ones for all three desktops but I believe Kubuntu is the only desktop that includes one. All the other need downloading.
I would now like to congratulate you on dipping your feet into a desktop environment your not used to. I had to install Kubuntu a number of times and ensure everything worked for the iso testing team. It is hard as hell to come out of your comfort zone and use something different till you final figure out what’s what. Once you get used to the differences you learn to live with the differences.
May 1st, 2007 at 10:16 pm
note to Jani and Dave.
To be fair, I thought ubuntu came with schat (or xchat-gnome) installed by default - shows how much I’ve used it!
May 6th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
[...] on Feisty fawn can be found from Phill, Bug, Paul and Pete who uses Kubuntu now, while Mez tries out Xubuntu. While Ravi wonders if Ubuntu is over-hyped? There are probably others that I have lost, let me [...]
May 14th, 2007 at 3:00 am
Hey!
I used to have the same blank-screen prob. You get this with some special screen (like my notebook TFT). I found a solution:
Install hwinfo and run it like this:
hwinfo –framebuffer
this gives you the framebuffer modes available with your monitor (in hex) which are different from the modes you regularly use.. you can add a mode of your choice to /boot/grub/menu.lst like this:
# defoptions quit splash locale=en_US vga=0×01F9
if 0×01F9 is the mode you picked..
sudo update-grub update the data and everything should work now..