KDE is way too buggy.



The argument:

If you are like me, when it comes to computers you want them to just - work. For the past 7 years of my using Linux, I've always tended towards Gnome, because unlike KDE it was simplistic and always seemed to 'just work'. Sure - I had my share of difficulties with Linux, stuff thats kept me up til the early hours of the morning, but recently with Gnome3 I just couldn't take any more.

The Problem with Gnome:

My computer usage is twofold, reading and watching. If I'm not on the forums, I'm watching some documentary put out on Youtube - or some rather naughtily downloaded TV show from America. But with Gnome3 everything I watched seemed to stutter. At first I thought it was VLC, and I made excuse after excuse because I loved Gnome 3, it may be the most beautiful OS I've ever had. But I couldn't cope any longer and downloaded Neptune 3.1- A KDE distro.

The Problem with KDE:

From install - I got a segfault. By the time I lost my rag, I had no sound, and I couldn't even delete trash-1000 from my USB drive (I had to copy and paste everything onto my desktop). I have far too many programs, some of which are next to useless. Upon install I had no apt sources list. The only thing that was better than Gnome and not drastically worse - My videos didn't stutter anymore.

Put simply, I don't know how anybody uses KDE, it is the most awful desktop environment I have ever used. Maybe its Neptune's fault? But I doubt it. I am now hoping that Solydx  Debian XFCE will solve my issues (issues I spent 2 days on, and am no linux newbie) But either way, I will heave a sigh of relief when this awful, awful thing is off my computer.

The Conclusion:

I have used Linux for a long time, I started by trying an out-of-date DVD with Fedora 4 on it, I was quite out of my depth, and when I tried to update it threw a long list of errors at me. I quickly realised the issue, and installed something else (can't remember now). My computer only had 128mb of ram, and so I couldn't install ubuntu. I often used puppy, simplymepis 6.5 (which is the best iteration of KDE I've ever used). Eventually i upgraded my laptop, and put Linux Mint 7 on it (which was probably the best iteration of Gnome I've ever used). Of course I've used far more distros than listed here, but I just wanted to give you some idea of me not being an idiot.

I for one will spend many years avoiding KDE until it matures. As perhaps the oldest Desktop Environment in use today, I'm disappointed at its consistent crashing, its half-cocked widgets and its ugly themes. Someone somewhere must break it down to its basic components, and sort it out.

Comments

Unknown said…
The only thing that's good abut KDE is that it doesn't use that god awful GTK file dialog
Knurd said…
2017 and I still have a lot of problems with it. The most bizarre issue seems to be an nVidia / OpenGL compatibility issue. It works fine but at random on average once or twice a day I have to run kwin_x11 --replace to remove bizarre artefacts and/or unfreeze random windows.

Yes the Plasma widgets are a mess, and very buggy. Half of them don't even install, most of the others have bugs and/or usability issues. I asked on the KDE forums where I could find the source for one of my favourite widgets so that I could fix the bugs myself (because I could not find it anywhere on the web), but no one replied.

I think it's safe to say KDE is a dead-end. I'm not looking forward to switching to another desktop experience and re-learning everything from scratch.

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