Choose between Kubuntu and KDE Neon based on your preferences.
Choose between Kubuntu and KDE Neon based on your preferences.
I'm planning to switch OS in about an hour or two and need a quick choice. I'm familiar with Linux—I've used Ubuntu, Antergos, Zorin, but Arch is out due to bootloader issues. I just want something with solid features and customization options. i5 3230M with 4GB RAM and Intel HD Graphics should handle coding, web browsing, and maybe some wine without too many problems.
I’m updating my operating system myself. I was used to Unity but canonical announced they’d discontinue it, so I switched to Gnome only to discover it wasn’t ideal and neither was KDE. Now I’m installing Ubuntu Server and returning to my preferred lightweight desktop without a desktop manager. My custom network setup meant a desktop manager wouldn’t fit, and Ubuntu Server offers a Debian-like experience with a newer kernel. TL;DR If you need full control, go with Debian Net Install. If you have a new GPU requiring a newer kernel, try Ubuntu Server—run Firefox inside LXC without any VM overhead. I just tested Firefox in LXC and it works perfectly.
If you've got the time I recommend you get the latest Ubuntu Net Installer, during installation it will as what packages you want and you can choose Gnome, KDE & XFCE to all be installed if you like. Then at login you can swap between which Desktop you want use. Its a much better solution if you just want to test and are not sure which one you want to stick with but be warned, installation can take a REALLY long time (depending on your network speed).
Are you building with KDE or Qt frameworks, or are you looking for a standalone desktop experience? If you're creating KDE applications, Neon might look interesting, but the newest libraries could be better sandboxed. I haven't used it before, so I'm unsure about version management and rollbacks. For more stable updates, consider using Kubuntu.
Based on what I've seen, the non-developer version of Neon runs more smoothly than Kubuntu. The updates are fresher, and there are fewer pre-installed apps. I’d pick Neon for these reasons.
I recently installed Kubuntu 17.04 and believe it's a solid release. Kubuntu has faced some challenges before, but I expect improvements as KDE continues to advance rapidly. You won't find new KDE applications as quickly with Kubuntu, even with the backports PPA, but you'll see newer non-KDE software sooner because KDE Neon relies on LTS Ubuntu. The latest LTS version is 16.04, and the next will be 18.04, arriving in April 2018.
Another vote for Kubuntu on that choice. If you don’t like it, OpenSUSE offers a solid KDE desktop option. Regarding bootloader problems, it looks like a straightforward setup, so if you’re open to Arch again, give it another shot: (as root) pacman -S grub grub-install /dev/sdX grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg This command hasn’t been used in a long time, but over the years it’s always worked for me.
I recall the grub would completely miss the EFI partition, no matter what I attempted. I tried many approaches, even switching to systemd which proved difficult. I wasn’t looking for Arch; I just needed a quick OS that Kubuntu provides. I’m really enjoying it now, and my only complaint about Ubuntu was the Unity interface—Kubuntu handles that better.