Screenshots Of My Linux DesktopIntroductionThe one true thing that can be said about Linux is that there is a huge amount of choice as regards the desktop and the operating system programs. Basically you have the Linux kernel - this operates the computer hardware - all Linux systems use the Linux kernel. The complexity and choise comes when you want to choose the interface between the user and the Linux kernel and all the programs which use the kernel. Using Microsoft the user has no choice - apart fom the choice between XP, Vista and Windows 7 (all which have to be paid for). With Linux ther are many choices as regards the visual interface - the GUI (graphical user interface). I was introduced to Linux by a live CD from Ubuntu. (A live CD means that you put the CD into the tray and then restart the computer and you can try out Linux just using the CD WITHOUT installing the operating system - when you turn of the computer and restart it you are back to you original operating system.) The CD was free and was even posted to me for free!! I didn't actually begin to use it till 2008. That version of Ubuntu was 6.06 (it was released in June 2006). I liked the operating system but didn't really like the GUI which is called Gnome. There are 2 main GUIs in Linux - Gnome and KDE - there are others (as I've already stated there is a huge amount of choice in Linux systems). I tried out KDE and really liked it immediately. It allows the user to configure it to their own tase as much as possible. I then decided to install the latest version, at that time, of Kubuntu (Ubuntu with KDE desktop environment) which was 8.04 (April 2008). Since then I have downloaded many many programs and have set up the system the way I like it. Kubuntu release upgrade versions twice yearly but the newer versions have totally changed the interface to the point of distroying the very ethos of Kubuntu - choice. Unfortunately they seem to have copied the attitude of Microsoft and have a glossy interface with looks good if one likes glossy superficial glam but is not suitable for long term use. (If you have been unfortunate enough to have to use Office 2007 you will know what I mean - in work I have to use Office 2007 and the choice of colours are limited to sick pale blue, really sick pale 'silver'and unusable jet black - they are horrible choices and don't give the user any real choice whatsoever. To have to use Office 2007 is totally unpleasant). I would expect that attitude from Microsoft but not from KDE, but unfortunately the newer versions of Kubuntu, which use KDE 4.xx as the desktop interface, is just as ugly so I still use Kubuntu 8.04. At this point in time it is 2 years old but it is still beautiful, user friendly and a total joy to use. Every day I appreciate the freedom Linux - and Kubuntu 8.04 - gives me when using the computer at home. I just wish I had discovered Linux a few years earlier. I presume the 4 in KDE4 is either the mental age group the developers are aiming at, or is the average IQ of the user they are aiming at. To destroy such a beautiful and user-friendly destop interface and replace it with something so ugly is unforgivable, but unfortunately some computer desktop environment developers have egos which far exceed their abilities. So - these screen shots are of Kubuntu 8.04 which uses KDE3 and NOT the latest glam sick unfriendly broken version of KDE4 (there are many who will not agree with me!!). Lou, (April 2012) Screen 01 (using Kubuntu 8.04)
Updated: 10th April 2012 |
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Neither will I accept responsibility for global warming, terrorism, the two world wars, pot holes on my road - well maybe, injustice in the world, USA torture and bullying, or the madness of King George or the other mad George (W Bush). I also will not accept responsibility for the beating of a butterfly's wings in the rain forests of South America, the Wall Street crash in 1929, the fall of the Roman Empire, or the stupid dumb-ass reality tv programmes aimed at the plebian mentally retarded brain-dead idiot generation of the 21st century.
In fact it looks as if I am not taking any responsibility for anything - does that make me totally irresponsible??!!"
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