My Plan to Use Kubuntu
Written on May 18, 2026
When I wrote about Linux distributions and desktop environments, I mentioned that KDE Plasma on CachyOS would probably be my choice for customization. I recently set my laptop up temporarily for dual booting to test it.
I confined my existing distribution, Linux Mint Cinnamon, to a 150 gigabyte partition on my system drive. While trying to install CachyOS on a new partition, I discovered it was going to force the Btrfs file system on me. I didn't like that at all.
Testing Kubuntu
The "K" of "Kubuntu" stands for KDE. That's the way most of the Ubuntu flavors were named when they started spinning off from Ubuntu's default desktop environment. In this manner, it also copied the way most applications designed for KDE started with a "K".
I considered other distributions not based on Debian or Ubuntu, but I wanted to use something that had paid, dedicated teams working on it. The Kubuntu Focus laptops emphasize how much work is being put into it.
When I wrote about setting up my new laptop, I had to edit the files to control the battery thresholds directly. This isn't an issue as long as I remember to do it when installing, but Kubuntu provides that in the advanced power settings within the system settings.
Snap Software
The only issue I've ever had with Ubuntu (which I used before Linux Mint), is the Snap software packing and deployment system. Without getting into the politics, I won't use Snap for anything, and Linux Mint disables it.
I didn't even consider Kubuntu until a developer wrote a script called "Kubuntu get rid of Snap". It disables Snaps and removes any application installed using the Snap system. I tested Kubuntu with and without Snaps to see the difference in performance.
Snaps didn't degrade performance much, but it was still noticeable. I supposed caching would mitigate it some, but I consider disabling and removing the Snap stuff a better idea. Flatpak software can impact performance as well, so I choose native implementations when I can.
The Plan
I plan to migrate everything I use from Linux Mint to Kubuntu over time, starting with this laptop. There are KDE-specific applications that do the same thing as applications with other names. I would use "Kate" instead of "Geany" as my text editor, and that is only one example.
My desktop PC will continue to have Linux Mint Cinnamon on it until I'm comfortable with Kubuntu on this laptop. None of this will happen until after I return to the Philippines sometime next month.
Kubuntu may not even end up being my final choice. I'm going to continue testing KDE Plasma on other distributions. If KDE Linux ever becomes stable, I may end up using that instead.
Image by Kubuntu devs, GPL, via Wikimedia Commons