My Perfect Desktop: Kubuntu KDE 4

The Kubuntu KDE 4 desktop has become my perfect desktop. It has all the functionality I could ask for, and I have added applications to supplement that effect.

1. KBlogger – Yup. It has to be the easiest application I have ever set up. I just entered my blog http address, my username and password, and hit “Autoconfigure”. BAM! I was in. I had all my information and was able to start blogging. There are more features than I can shake a stick at, and it even shows me what the post will actually look like by showing a web-view of my blog with the post preview. It is currently in an “alpha 2″ stage, so development is still on. Things seem to be very stable, however.

2. ThinkFree Office – I have used this free (as in no cost) office suite in the past, and it has always preformed well. It looks and acts like Microsoft Office in a way, and has an online service that integrates as well, all for free.

3. Stellarium – In my opinion, Stellarium is one of the better applications available for Linux. It shows the night sky as you would see it with the naked eye. It also shows the location of thousands of space objects in real time. Very, very cool if you like astronomy like me.

4. Konqueror – I know that Konq. is included by default as the web browser and optional file browser for KDE 4, but I was able to get flash working – something that is not easy to do. What I did (for those interested) is type “sudo apt-get build-dep flashplugin-nonfree, and then I installed the flash plugin “sudo apt-get install flashplugin” and then reboot. After that, it worked! So, now Konqueror is working as my default web browser. KBlogger comes in handy here because it works with the KDE applications, giving me more options that working with the plain-text editor for wordpress that I would be forced to use in Konqueror.

There are several more that I will write about soon, just as soon as I learn more about the system.

Update: Here’s a screenshot…