The Perfect Desktop - Kubuntu 12.10

This tutorial shows how you can set up a Kubuntu 12.10 desktop that is a full-fledged replacement for a Windows desktop, i.e. that has all the software that people need to do the things they do on their Windows desktops. The advantages are clear: you get a secure system without DRM restrictions that works even on old hardware, and the best thing is: all software comes free of charge. Kubuntu uses the KDE desktop environment.

The software I propose as default is the one I found easiest to use and best in their functionality - this won't necessarily be true for your needs, thus you are welcome to try out the applications listed as alternatives.

I do not issue any guarantee that this will work for you!

1 Preliminary Note

To fully replace a Windows desktop, I want the Kubuntu desktop to have the following software installed:

Graphics:

Pinta - open source drawing application modeled after Paint.NET

KolourPaint - paint application with elemental functions

MyPaint - paint application with a large variety of brushes

The GIMP - free software replacement for Adobe Photoshop

Shotwell Photo Manager - full-featured personal photo management application for the GNOME desktop

Internet:

Firefox

Opera

Chromium - Google's open-source browser

KMail - KDE email client

Evolution - combines e-mail, calendar, address book, and task list management functions

Thunderbird - email and news client

Deluge - free cross-platform BitTorrent client

Transmission BitTorrent Client - Bittorrent client

Vuze - Java BitTorrent client

qBittorrent - free alternative to µtorrent

Marble - desktop globe similar to google earth

GoogleEarth - Google's desktop globe

Flash Player

FileZilla - multithreaded FTP client

Kopete - multi-platform instant messaging client

Pidgin IM Client - multi-platform instant messaging client

Skype

Dropbox Client - cloud storage

Gwibber Social Client - open-source microblogging client (Twitter, Facebook, etc.)

Office:

Adobe Reader

Evince - document viewer

Okular - document viewer

LibreOffice Writer - replacement for Microsoft Word

LibreOffice Calc - replacement for Microsoft Excel

GnuCash - double-entry book-keeping personal finance system, similar to Quicken

kMyMoney - personal finance manager for KDE

kMyMoney - Scribus - open source desktop publishing (DTP) application

Sound & Video:

Banshee - audio player, can encode/decode various formats and synchronize music with Apple iPods

Amarok - audio player

MPlayer - media player (video/audio), supports WMA

Rhythmbox Music Player - audio player, similar to Apple's iTunes, with support for iPods

gtkPod - software similar to Apple's iTunes, supports iPod, iPod nano, iPod shuffle, iPod photo, and iPod mini

Sound Juicer CD Extractor - CD ripping tool, supports various audio codecs

Nightingale - audio player similar to Winamp, but not yet as feature rich (Songbird fork)

XMMS - audio player similar to Winamp

Clementine - Amarok 1.4 fork

Exaile - audio player



VLC Media Player - media player, plays all kinds of videos (video/audio)

Totem - media player (video/audio)

Xine - media player, supports various formats; can play DVDs

Winff - free video converter



SoundConverter - free audio converter

Soundkonverter - free audio converter

XCFA - free video/audio converter and ripper



K3B - CD/DVD burning program

Brasero - CD/DVD burning program

Audacity - free, open source, cross platform digital audio editor

Kino - free digital video editor

dvd::rip - full featured DVD copy program

Multimedia Codecs

Programming:

KompoZer - WYSIWYG HTML editor, similar to Macromedia Dreamweaver, but not as feature-rich (yet)

Bluefish - text editor, suitable for many programming and markup languages

Eclipse - Extensible Tool Platform and Java IDE

Other:

VirtualBox OSE - lets you run your old Windows desktop as a virtual machine under your Linux desktop, so you don't have to entirely abandon Windows

TrueType fonts

Java

Read-/Write support for NTFS partitions

Lots of our desired applications are available in the Ubuntu repositories, and some of these applications have been contributed by the Ubuntu community. Some may also not be in the default repositories and have to be downloaded from the internet or from extra repositories.

The software provided in the above list covers most of the basic tasks one may need to do on their desktop computers, sometimes there are multiple choices for same functionality. If you know which one you like best, you obviously don't need to install and test the other applications, however if you like choice, then of course you can install more than one.

I will use the username falko in this tutorial. Please replace it with your own username.

2 Installing The Base System

The installation of the base system is easy as 1-2-3 because the Kubuntu installer doesn't offer a lot of options to choose from, so you cannot go wrong.

Download the Kubuntu 12.10 desktop edition iso image from http://www.kubuntu.org/getkubuntu/download, burn it onto a CD, and boot your computer from it. Select Start Kubuntu to begin:AdvertisementAdvertisement

Select your language from the dropdown-menu and click on the Install Kubuntu button to start the installation:

On the next screen you see a few requirements for the Kubuntu 12.10 installation (the system should have at least 5.4 GB available drive space and should be connected to the Internet). Please check the Download updates while installing and Install this third-party software checkboxes (this will install the software necessary to process Flash, MP3, and other media files) and click on Continue:Advertisement

Now we come to the partitioning of our hard disk. Usually Guided - use entire disk is a good choice, unless you need custom partitions and know what you're doing. Guided - use entire disk will create one big / partition for us. Also select the drive that you want to install Kubuntu on:

Then choose your time zone:

Change the keyboard layout, if necessary:

Type in your real name, your desired username along with a password, and click on Continue:

Afterwards, Kubuntu is being installed. This can take a few minutes, so be patient:Advertisement

After the installation, you will be asked to reboot the system. Click on Restart Now:

Your new Kubuntu system starts. Log into the desktop with the username and password you provided during the installation.

This is what your new Kubuntu KDE desktop looks like:

Now the base system is ready to be used.