Switching from ubuntu to kubuntu. What applications to use?

Question

I am a longtime user of Ubuntu. However, I am disillusioned by the way the ubuntu is going and would like to move to KDE.

Can you suggest some good KDE applications for basic tasks like chatting, e-mail, browsing, IRC, ftp, etc.? I don't want to use Gtk apps.

I am quite new to KDE.

Answer 1

You should be aware that it is possible to run Gtk apps in KDE (I assume you know this) but they may look out of place on the KDE desktop and may take longer to load. The same can be said for running KDE apps in GNOME.

A good staring point is to search for KDE in Ubuntu Software Centre. You will be given a long list of applications based upon the Qt and KDE libraries that fit in well to a KDE environment.

For the specific software you asked for:

• Instant Messaging - Kopete
• Email - Kmail
• Web Browsing - Rekonq
• IRC - Konversation
• FTP - KFTPGrabber

Also, http://www.kde.org/applications/ is your friend for finding KDE specific apps.

Answer 2

• Konversation for IRC
• For IM, I'd actually still recommend Pidgin, but if you really don't want to use GTK apps, there is Kopete.
• For email, I would recommend Thunderbird.
• For browsing I would recommend Chrome or Firefox. Neither of these are Qt applications, but Konqueror, the KDE browser isn't very good.

Answer 3

I've been on kubuntu for a little over two years. I use;

1. synaptic (gnome) to find and install apps, works better than the options specific to kde
2. thunderbird (mozilla) for email
3. Firefox (mozilla) for browsing
4. ftp, sftp, fish, etc is all handled by the default kde file manager dolphin

I also have installed;

1. kdm-gdmcompat - Provides basic gdm functionality to systems running kdm
2. lsb (linux standard base)

I found kopete to be more stable than pidgin when chatting in facebook. I also have skype installed.

Answer 4

1. KolourPaint & Gwenview = for simple picture editing and viewing
2. qBittorrent = very good and versatile torrent client
3. Clementine = this is my new jukebox of choice; very good client to maintain a very large music library and a very good support for id*-tags and cover art
4. AcetoneISO = not sure if this is strictly a QT application; have used this for years and it is a very versatile ISO mounting client.