Ubuntu netbook remix - very newbie

[marsha12151]

New kid here - just technical enough to be very dangerous. Very limited background in linux but what I see I like and am trying to learn more. So be patient.

I have the Aspire One Z5G ( the one with only an 8GB SSD). At the moment I have downloaded the Ubuntu Netbook Remix (UNR). Could not make the USB download work so went with the beta iso and that went very smoothly. Have sound, have my wireless working, can play games, search the web - All in all an impressive install with almost all the defaults chosen.

Now for a couple of questions:

1. Is this KDE or Gnome? What is the difference?
2. If I download games for KDE and this is Gnome, should they work? (I downloaded the K version of several games and my favorite KDiamond keeps shutting down)
3. I have icons for Add/Remove applications and Synaptic Package manager - which is used for what?

Thanks so much for any help. Also if there is somewhere else I should be posting this, let me know. For example, is there a forum just for UNR?

[L4Linux]

Ubuntu UNR uses Gnome, with an application launcher on top. (The UNR GUI that you see)
If you install KDE apps, they should work. KDE dependencies will be downloaded and installed for you.
You could say that Add/Remove is a simplified version of Synaptic. Synaptic is for everyone who is at least a little comfortable with Ubuntu. You 'll get used to it very soon.

[reed9]

1. UNR uses GNOME with a few special apps to change the look and behavior of the desktop.

The history and differences between GNOME and KDE could probably fill a book. In very brief, basics of the GUI on linux use the X Windows system. This provides the basic framework for drawing and interacting with windows, including device drivers for peripherals like the mouse and keyboard. But it doesn't say anything about what sort of user interface is used, it doesn't say anything about where to place the windows, and so on. That job is left to other programs, ie, window managers, of which there are many. Window managers determine the look, feel, placement, and interaction with windows, often including keybindings, but nothing more. Any other functionality is separate from the window manager. GNOME and KDE are desktop environments, they have window managers (metacity and kwin respectively), but also each have their own API and common libraries. This allows for better integration, it looks and feels more like a whole, not separate parts, programs can see and interact with each other, and so on.

KDE and Gnome Comparison

2. Yes, you can run KDE apps in GNOME and vice versa. You will pull in a lot of KDE along with it, so you may find that your 10 MB app will actually require you to install 300 MB worth of other stuff to run.

Run kdiamond from the command line. When it crashes, you should hopefully see some sort of error message that can help troubleshoot.

3. Add/Remove programs is a more "user friendly" interface for downloading and installing software. I believe it doesn't show you any software without a GUI, for example. You have access to the everything in the repos with Synaptic, and I think it has some other more advanced features.

[marsha12151]

Thanks for the help. I tried the command line and it worked!

The Gnome / KDE is straightened out. Think I will leave it alone until I know more!