The Perfect Desktop - Kubuntu 11.10

Version 1.0

Author: Falko Timme , Christian Schmalfeld <c [dot] schmalfeld [at] projektfarm [dot] de>

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This tutorial shows how you can set up a Kubuntu 11.10 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 11.10 is derived from Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot) and uses the KDE desktop instead of the GNOME desktop. 

I want to say first that this is not the only way of setting up such a system.  There are many ways of achieving this goal but this is the way I take.  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:

The GIMP - free software replacement for Adobe Photoshop

Shotwell Photo Manager - full-featured personal photo management application

Google Picasa - application for organizing and editing digital photos

Internet:

Firefox

Opera

Chromium - Google's open-source browser

Flash Player 10

FileZilla - multithreaded FTP client

Thunderbird - email and news client

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

aMule - P2P file sharing application

KTorrent - Bittorrent client

Vuze - Java Bittorrent client

Kopete - multi-platform instant messaging client

Skype

Google Earth

Quassel IRC - IRC client

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

Office:

LibreOffice Writer - replacement for Microsoft Word

LibreOffice Calc - replacement for Microsoft Excel

Adobe Reader

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

Scribus - open source desktop publishing (DTP) application

Sound & Video:

Amarok - audio player

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

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

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

XMMS - audio player similar to Winamp

dvd::rip - full featured DVD copy program

Kino - free digital video editor

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

VLC Media Player - media player (video/audio)

RealPlayer - media player (available for i386 systems only)

(available for i386 systems only) Totem - media player (video/audio)

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

Brasero - CD/DVD burning program

K3B - CD/DVD burning 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

gDebi - package installer taking care of dependencies

Lots of our desired applications are available in the Ubuntu repositories, and some of these applications have been contributed by the Ubuntu community. 

As you might have noticed, a few applications are redundant, for example there are two CD/DVD burning applications in my list (Brasero, K3B).  If you know which one you like best, you obviously don't need to install the other applications, however if you like choice, then of course you can install both.  The same goes for music players like Amarok, Banshee, Rhythmbox, XMMS or browsers (Firefox, Opera, Chromium). 

I will use the username howtoforge 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 11.10 Desktop iso image from http://www.kubuntu.org/getkubuntu, burn it onto a CD, and boot your computer from it.  Select your language and click on the Install Kubuntu button to start the installation:

On the next screen you see a few requirements for the Kubuntu 11.10 installation (the system should have at least 4.1GB available drive space, should be plugged into a power source (to make sure that the system doesn't shut down during installation because of an empty battery), and should be connected to the Internet).  Please check the Download updates while installing and Install this third-party software (this will install the software necessary to process Flash, MP3, and other media files) checkboxes and click on Continue:

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:

Then choose your time zone:

Change the keyboard layout, if necessary:

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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:

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

At the end of the shutdown process, you are asked to remove the Kubuntu installation CD from the CD drive.  Please do this now and press ENTER:

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

This is how your new desktop looks:

Now the base system is ready to be used.