Kubuntu 10.4 vs Mint 9?

Experts or Linux vets what are the differences between the two? I was reading a few other threads and the gist is that Mint uses Gnome and has more features ready to use and is more noob friendly but Kubuntu uses KDE and has a nicer desktop i.e. "more windows like".

If my facts are wrong feel free to correct away. So if I love Mint 9 would I equally like Kubuntu?

 

It all comes down to preference, no you can tell you the best, I suggest trying out them both if you can.

 

OMG Kubuntu rocks !

I love the look and it has a very powerful power management system and best of all it so far appears faster and a lot more responsive than both Ubuntu and Mint 9. The widget system is slick including all the stock widgets.

I'm typing this from Konqueror. I think Mint 9 has some serious competition.

 

Alright fellas I really really like Kubuntu. Not only does it look pretty slick out of the box but the UI is very responsive unlike Ubuntu and programs open lightning quick compared to Mint 9.

So far Kubuntu 10.4 is my favorite version of Linux. One problem though I can't get audio on internet radio or TV. I'm leaning it's a Flash thing but not sure. Maybe you guys can help me with that.

I did install Flash 10.1 for Ubuntu 9.04 so maybe that's a problem.

 

Make sure 'kubuntu-restricted-extras' is installed.

 

Where do I find this? I couldn't find it via Software Management.

 

Hmm, it should be there, be sure you update the repository list and be sure all repositories are enabled. Search for "restricted". This will include things like mp3 codecs, flash, java, and the like. If not, you can always bring up a terminal and install it with this command:

Code:

sudo apt-get install kubuntu-restricted-extras

But if you aren't comfortable with the terminal, that's fine too.

 

Thomas I tried what you said and I did get the message for the extra stuff. I installed it and still no sound when viewing web based video/audio content.

I do have audio including music thru the audio player but if I go to ESPN and try and watch a video, it plays but I get no sound. Man I want to fix this cause I really like Kubuntu.

 

You're comparing apples to oranges. There is both a Gnome and a KDE version of Mint just like there is a Gnome and a KDE version of Ubuntu. Just choose which windows manager you like more and download that version.

Ubuntu -> Mint (Gnome)
Kubuntu -> Mint KDE

Aside from branding, the major differences are that Mint is a more polished product than K/Ubuntu. Mint bases its releases off of Ubuntu, but it takes more time to correct bugs that Ubuntu's developers have left behind.

Mint also includes lots of popular audio/video codecs out-of-the-box that you must manually install if using K/Ubuntu. Also, Mint has written several of their own apps that are not found in K/Ubuntu:

* MintAssistant
* MintBackup
* MintDesktop
* MintInstall
* MintNanny
* MintUpdate

Mint is also supported by a very awesome development team that is eager to interact with supporters.

Often, when you read reviews of Mint, you'll find that people refer to it as "Ubuntu done right" or "Just like Ubuntu, but better".

 

Thanks sr.agent.riot, I gave up on Kubuntu even though I love the UI. My biggest problem was trying to get audio in Flash or Internet radio. It was a non issue with Mint but after doing some research it appears Amarok overrides internet radio. I had audio but nothing while playing flash.

I tried to install a couple of apps via the Terminal but that didn't do it so I gave up on Kubuntu. My problem is I can't go back to Mint 9 because Kubuntu is faster than Mint wrt speed of the GUI and how quickly apps are opened. Which is funny because I tried Mint because Ubuntu 10.4 just brought my laptop to it's knees, it was really sluggish. And more interesting is the fact that I tried Linux for the first time using Ubuntu 9.04, no issues there.

 

That's unfortunate. In my experience, I've had both faster speed and better compatibility with Mint (both Gnome and KDE versions).

 

You missed the point. Gnome and KDE are just front-end GUI interfaces. If you like KDE and the advantage of mint, try the Mint9 KDE Release Candidate
Linux Mint 9 KDE Release Notes - Linux Mint
You can have the best of both, if KDE is snappier for you. Kubuntu might be faster than Mint w/Gnome, but might be just as fast on Mint w/ KDE

*edit*
You can also try installing different audio servers. I've had luck messing around with pulse to have multiple sound applications running at once. No idea if that would solve the problem though, as I haven't played much with KDE 4.

 

Thanks Woofer i'll give Mint KDE a shot. I bought a 4GB USB Flash drive what tool do I need to install Mint KDE on a USB drive? I don't want to use up another DVD disc.

 

Use this utility: Unetbootin

It will make your flash drive bootable with the distro "burned" to it.

 

unetbootin (any distro) and usb-creator (ubuntu-only, gnome and kde) are my preferred methods of loading a new distro. Handy if you've got an old flash drive to beat up on and no cd-rw discs lying around..

 

On the laptops in your signature, there is NO way Ubuntu 10.04 would bring them to their knees. And basically, all Mint is is Ubuntu with a new theme and some custom applications. If Ubuntu is slow, Mint will be too. BTW, it's 10.04, not 10.4(it matters).

What you could have tried in Kubuntu would be changing the default backend for playing audio, which is as simple as a few clicks.

 

How? We all know i'm referring to the latest edition.

Wrt Ubuntu bringing a system to it's needs is an exaggeration, ok. The UI is very laggy and the programs take longer to launch when compared to Mint 9. My issues with Mint 9 when comparing it to Ubuntu 10.4 is that it launched programs very fast and the UI was snappy.

I've mentioned various times that i'm running these different versions of Linux on a Vostro 1500. Overall I like Linux but i've been finding out pretty quick that each version has it's strengths and weaknesses compared to others.

 

I have a single core 2Ghz proc and 1GB RAM, They are the same speed without lag for me, so I think what you are experiencing is the placebo effect.

It is *impossible* for LinuxMint to be faster than Ubuntu, because it IS ubuntu.

 

It is, too, possible for Mint to be faster. Just because Mint is downstream from Ubuntu doesn't mean that it IS Ubuntu. The Mint developers do go in and optimize much of the OS and fix bugs that are left behind by Ubuntu developers when they branch a new release.

 

I'm a Linux noob and the first thing I did was compare Ubuntu to Windows 7. After that I compared Ubuntu to other versions. Something went wrong with 10.4 because there was a delay when I clicked on the menu and when it responded. Now this happened after I installed the Nvidia drivers so maybe there is something in 10.4 that's not playing nice with Nvidia but that wasn't an issue in Mint 9. I clicked on a menu and it responded with no lag.

I must have reinstalled Ubuntu 10.4 seven or eight times between versions to see if a clean install would fix it and it did not.

What I liked about Kubuntu was it was very quick, I loved the GUI which someone explained to me is basically a CLI with just a point and click interface layered on top. To me Kubuntu was the cats meow. If I could get Internet radio and Flash audio to work I would be using it still.

Based on recommendations I downloaded Mint KDE and will give that a try.

 

Mint KDE is pretty nice. I use it on one of my machines and I thoroughly enjoy it. At work, it's CentOS CLI-only (for raw speed and functionality). And the earlier poster was right about Ubuntu's version number: it's 10.04, not 10.4. What this means is this:

10 is the version number
04 is the month it released (April)

So, you basically see versions of Ubuntu as xx.04 or xx.10, meaning that it was released in April or October (since they operate on a six month release cycle). While Ubuntu versions are done this way, other distros do it differently (e.g. Mint just gives a new version number with each new release).

 

I know, I've spoken to them, nearly every day in fact. They don't fix that many bugs, look at the size of their repo and you could see that, they try to stick as close to Ubuntu as possible.

I could have helped you with that Anyways, the reason for that is that Mint uses a completely different menu than ubuntu(and you can install it in ubuntu too).

I wish you look with Mint KDE

 

I look forward to when Mint actually ditches Ubuntu and goes back to basing off of Debian only.

 

Shhh play along will you.

 

They aren't, and never did. It *clearly* says in that blog post it won't be the main edition. And I've spoken to the developers first hand several times on this,

 

Back in 2007, they did start a Debian-based edition. clem is quoted as saying that that Debian-based test edition is "so much faster!"

In the recent blog post, it does not "clearly" state that a Debian-based wouldn't be the main edition. Indeed, it doesn't mention anything as being the "main" edition. Rather, it details why such a system would be desirable and that it would perform better than the current Ubuntu-based edition. Currently, it just says the project is secondary... currently. Who is to say what will be their main edition in time? Ubuntu-based? Debian-based? Only time will tell what the developers do.

 

The Developers HAVE stated it's not replacing Mint Main.

And yes, they did start a mint debian edition a few years ago. But Mint was never based on Debian, like you said.

 

Regardless, this is what I'd like: a rolling release Debian-based Mint release.

 

what's wrong with ubuntu 10.4...or what's the difference between kubuntu 10.4 and Ubuntu 10.4? Been using Ubuntu 10.4 just fine with the laptop in my sig and enjoy it for web browsing, watching flash vids, etc.

 

I pretty much covered what I didn't like about Ubuntu. The difference between the two and i'm no expert on Linux, is that Ubuntu is built on Gnome and Kubuntu is KDE. Hence the K in Kubuntu. I could be wrong on that so correct me if i'm wrong.

The other difference is the GUI, it's a little different and looks very cool in Kubuntu. I especially like the theme and stock fade effects in the windows. Maybe some of the vets here could have you add some stuff to Ubuntu to make it look as cool. Kubuntu comes with Compiz preinstalled as does Mint 9.

For me Kubuntu ran the best of the three Ubuntu and Mint 9. I liked the snappy feel of the UI and it launched programs faster than Ubuntu and Mint. Again it's on a low end Vostro 1500 so your laptop might perform equally as well with any of those three mentioned.

 

That's right. To extend it a bit:

Code:

Ubuntu - Gnome
Kubuntu - KDE
Xubuntu - XFCE
Lubuntu - LXDE

More exist, but they're functionality changers, not interface.

If you want to see ridiculous snappiness, check out LXDE/XFCE. Unfortunately they're sometimes TOO lightweight.

 

Hey fellas i'm trying unetbootin to install Mint 9 KDE on a flash drive. When I started unetbootin all that was available was Mint 9 and it's different versions. I didn't see Mint KDE but there was Kubuntu. Not sure which one to pick.

 

So go down to "disk image" and select your Mint KDE .iso.

 

You guys would not believe what was not allowing flash based audio to appear thru my laptop speakers. The PCM Mixer in Kmix was set at 0-Zero-Nada. Nice !

I set it at 100% and no I can listen to internet radio. Oh what's the terminal command to change the "Kubuntu" Splash screen at startup?

It was easy to do in Mint 9 but Kubuntu does it differently. When I install my nvidia video drivers the splash screen goes from 1280x800 16bit to 640x480 16 colors.

 

Which one? After login or before?

 

That one, and it only happens after installing the Nvidia drivers. Prior to that the startup splash screen looks great. Then it becomes oversized.

I Googled the problem and got close but couldn't fix it. Also my refresh rate defaults at 1280x800 50hz instead of 60. I have to keep changing it in the Nvidia Server settings.

I found the command to list all available resolutions via terminal but again I couldn't default or change any of them. I'm slowly making head way.

 

Just keep at it, the OS splash screens aren't too bad to muddle around. Just don't dive into the world of customizing GRUB2. [shudder] It's better than GRUB, but still a real pain.

 

I've been playing with MEPIS lately. It's a really nice distro based on Debian. It uses KDE and has all the codecs and restricted drivers and such enabled "out of the box."

If you find you like KDE, then Mint, MEPIS, and Kubuntu are all good choices and worth checking out.

 

strange I've tried Ubuntu 9.10, 10.04, kubuntu 9.10, 10.04, mint 9(gnome only) and mandriva. surprisingly, though, I've always found Ubuntu 10.04, as well as the 9.10 to be a lot faster and snappier than the rest. Mint was cool, and mandriva was ok! but kubuntu always slowed down my computer and the booting took longer than any other distros... I'm running an Intel core 2 duo E7400@ 2.80 Ghz, with 2 GIgs of Memory and an xfx geforce 9500gt with 1gb memory for my graphic needs (that's my good old desktop anyway)

 

Well for me PCLinuxOS is tops.

PCLinuxOS vs. Ubuntu - or - Linux XXX vs. Linux YYY | ZDNet UK

The Linux Experience: PCLinuxOS 2010 Review

 

I am using Mint since 2006, very good system, especially running with GNOME, but if you prefer KDE, you might choose kubuntu, otherwise Mint is awesome.