Switching from SUSE to KUbuntu

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Firefox
Date: Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:01:07 +0800
From: Wei-Yee Chan
Organization: Google Inc.
To: Fred A. Miller


Fred A. Miller wrote:
> Wei-Yee Chan wrote:
>> Fred A. Miller wrote:
>>> Why isn't Firefox included in the newest KUbuntu?!
>>>
>>> Fred
>>>
>> Are you positive? KUbuntu and Ubuntu are basically the same thing, with
>> variations in certain packages. All it takes is one command to turn my
>> Ubuntu into KUbuntu. I'm using Firefox 3.0.3 as I speak.
>> Did you download KUbuntu 8.10 or is it an earlier version?
>
> I'm trying to like KUbuntu 8.10, but I'm not having an easy time of it.

Are you using the US repositories? Cos in my experience, they're the most reliable.

> After refreshing the list of repositories several times, I finally did
> get Firefox, but Thunderbird won't call it up as it should.

Easy. Click on: System - Preferences - Default Apps Then choose
Thunderbird as the default mail app.

Evolution is the default mail app for Gnome. I prefer Thunderbird too .

> I can't get get the codecs, nor libdvdcss wtih apt-get. Not much is
> intuitive and ALL of the media stuff SHOULD be be simply made
> available by default!! So far, I'm not real excited about it.
Install kubuntu-restricted-extras from the multiverse repository.

One reason why the codecs can't be made default is that it may be illegal to do so. The other reason is, Linux zealots do not want them included by default, as this would "taint" the OS.

For instance, unlike Novell, we have no agreement with M$ over the distribution of the codec to play wmv files. I am licensed to play wmv files as I have a Windoze XP licence, but you see, not every Linux user has one.

> Oh yeah....were can I get screen savers, since KU doesn't ship with
> any and apt-get it too ignorant to find them! :(

Install kscreensaver-xsavers-extra.

Apt works pretty much like yum. I'm surprised that you've run into problems with it. My guess is, you just need some "orientation" to get used to the way things are organised in Ubuntu. If you have any further questions, just feel free to ask me. Even though I don't use KUbuntu, I've helped tons of people who're using it. I'm in a position to do so as I've been with Ubuntu for years, and as I've mentioned, Ubuntu and KUbuntu are more or less the same thing. Alternatively, you could join the Ubuntu technical mailing list, but I cannot vouch for the quality of the solutions provided by the volunteers. Sometimes, you'll get the most outrageous "solutions". *Lol*

Ubuntu is easy and intuitive. You're not starting from zero, so it should be really easy for you to make the switch. When I made the transition from CentOS to Ubuntu, I felt like a commando being assigned to a normal infantryman's job. :-)