Q4OS Forum

sotnas

Member

Registered: 2020-05-13

Posts: 4

New User - KDE niggles

Hello, I have used Q4OS (Orion) before and was quite happy with it. I've been a distro hopper for the past 9 years and have tried a number of distros.

As time went by my hopping was more related to the suitability of a certain OS as my working environment, rather than being a hobby.

In 2018 I installed Chakra OS because I wanted to test the concept of semi-rolling release. And it was quite successfull for a time. Then I had little niggles with the KDE Plasma. Plasma 5.12 was the last one that I didn't have a problem. The following versions I had niggles with the wallpaper and theme changing. Basically, one of the cores gets 100% cpu usage from plasmashell. It's not preventing me from using the pc in any way, but someting is not correct.

Now, my wife's got a computer with Windows XP and I want to install a Linux Distro. I searched and decided that I want to install something I don't have to worry about for the next few years (a friend of mine, who uses Ubuntu for professional purposes told me that he kept the distro that worked for him rather than experimenting which ono would be the best for him - he still has Ubuntu 16.04). So I searched for LTS versions, after thinking about what he told me because it makes sense. And Q4OS 3.11 meets the requirement of 5 years support. Since I used Q4OS before and liked it, I decided to make some tests with the Plasma version.

And I have the same niggles in my laptop test machine I had with Chakra. I installed kubuntu 18.04 (both 32 and 64 bit) which has Plasma 5.12 and it really works flawlessly. However it has only 3 years of support which means it will end next year. So, Q4OS still is my first choice.

I could really install the TDE version (which is the most likely to happen), however I'd like to know wether the cpu usage, when I want to configure the desktop, is a limitation of my hardware or if it is something workable.

The test machine is a Core2Duo T5500 laptop with Intel i945gm.

Severus

Member

Registered: 2020-05-27

Posts: 27

Re: New User - KDE niggles

If you must have a Debian base your choices are quite simple, Q4OS trinity, MX linux, AntiX-linux and an Official version of Ubuntu such as Xubuntu, as well as Linux Lite.  Everything else is garbage, trust me.  And between AntiX and Q4OS trinity, for me it's no Q4OS trinity wins hands down, however AntiX is technically lighter in ressources and has a nice screen brightness module, better than trinity, but I find the system a nuisance to use and the stability inferior to Q4OS.  I have tried all Debian distros, and was in the process of creating my own distro until Q4OS, and I said God Damn, this guy or team has me beat; I cannot compete with such a monstrosity of excellence.  So it was more practical and intelligent to use Q4OS, and make it my own.  To me the mix of trinity and kde apps (base) is a beautiful thing.  Gnome is bloated garbage. XFCE4 is very good also, and the best implementation of it is probably Linux Lite. 

For general usabiliity:
1. Linux Lite
2. Q4OS
3. MX
4. Xubuntu
5. AntiX

Overall, I rank:
1. Q4OS
2. Linux Lite
3. AntiX
4. MX
5. Xubuntu

Hope that helps, that is literally the best Intel you can get for Debian based distros.

bin

Member

From: U.K.

Registered: 2016-01-28

Posts: 1,298

Re: New User - KDE niggles

And I have the same niggles in my laptop test machine I had with Chakra. I installed kubuntu 18.04 (both 32 and 64 bit) which has Plasma 5.12 and it really works flawlessly. However it has only 3 years of support which means it will end next year. So, Q4OS still is my first choice.

I could really install the TDE version (which is the most likely to happen), however I'd like to know wether the cpu usage, when I want to configure the desktop, is a limitation of my hardware or if it is something workable.

The test machine is a Core2Duo T5500 laptop with Intel i945gm.

Ubuntu 18.04 will get LTS Maintenance updates 'til April 2023 https://ubuntu.com/about/release-cycle
Debian Buster will get LTS support until 2024 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debian_ve … 0_(Buster)

The bigger issue is updates to applications. Normally Firefox and Tbird updates will get through, but once a new OS version is released then updates to many software packages start to fall off. So, new features, bug fixers etc will make it back for a while but generally I have found that Ubuntu specific packages (esp PPAs) tend to see updates for about a year after the next release. Debian backports are in a similar position - again that's broad brush.

I have not seen any issues with TDE CPU usage when configuring the desktop on a variety of older hardware including Core2 Duos. I would certainly look at TDE - it should be very happy on your kit - 4gb RAM and an SSD and it will fly!

sotnas

Member

Registered: 2020-05-13

Posts: 4

Re: New User - KDE niggles

Thank you bin and Severus for your replies.

I would love to have KDE but it seems that it won't be possible for this old desktop.

I haven't installed Q4OS on my wife's desktop yet but I'll do it soon.

The choice really came down to Q4OS and Peppermint 10.

I had pure debian before and i liked it until the day it broke after some update. Some time later it woke up but I still don't know what I did for such a fortunate event. I even had Linux Mint Debian Edition but it also broke. That's when I moved to Q4OS Orion and things happened to be fortunate.

One other thing is that while I have the distros at home I'm trying to find a stable base I can use in my company. For the time being the only thing preventing me from migrate from windows to linux, business wise, is my invoice and accounting software. My provider still doesn't have a version for Linux and it is quite expensive to move away from what I have now. I would also have to convince my partners who are all used to the Microsoft productivity softwares (excel, word and powerpoint).