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Introduction

About Intrepid

  • On October 30, 2008 Kubuntu 8.10 was released.
  • It is code named Intrepid Ibex and is the successor to Kubuntu 8.04 LTS Hardy Heron (Hardy+1).
  • Intrepid Ibex is NOT an LTS (Long Term Support) release. It will be supported with security updates until April 2010.
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Unofficial Kubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) Starter Guide

Contributors:

Admin • perspectoff • Rhinoceros • Maybeway36 • Harley • Kcg • Wonko • Herbiehancock • Th0rv4ld • G2g591 • Trevorparsons • Keymone • Little Girl • Tiagopoleze • Phlewis • Babarhaq • Jetpeach • Taishi28012 • Lgambett • Mitzip • Lgambett • Timur ba • Technoshaun • Ventrue • Skubert • Tripatos •

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How to find out what version of Kubuntu you're using

In Konsole type: 

lsb_release -a

How to find out the version of your Kernel 

uname -r

Newer Versions of Kubuntu

  • Kubuntu has a six month release cycle, with releases in April and October.
  • The successor to Kubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex will be Kubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope, scheduled for release in April 2009. This will not be an LTS version.
  • The next LTS (Long-term support) version will be Kubuntu 9.10, scheduled for release in October 2009.

Older Versions of Kubuntu

General Notes

  • Kubuntuguide is unofficial and is not associated with Canonical Ltd. 
Text inside the grey dotted box like this should be put into a Konsole Terminal (K -> System -> Konsole).
  • 'sudo' elevates Administrator level rights (i.e. when installing programs or making changes to the system). Example 
sudo bash
  • 'kdesudo' should be used instead of 'sudo' when opening a Graphical Application through the "Run Command" dialog box. Example: 
kdesudo kate /etc/apt/sources.list
  • "man" command can be used to find help manual for a command. E.g. "man sudo" will display the manual page for the "sudo" command. Example: 
man sudo
  • While "apt-get" and "aptitude" are fast ways of installing programs/packages, you can also use the Adept Package Manager, a GUI method for installing programs/packages. Almost all programs/packages available with apt-get install will also be available from the Adept Package Manager. In this guide, when you see 
sudo apt-get install package

you can search for package in Adept and install it that way.

  • "K" or "K menu" means the bottom-left button, akin to the Start button in Microsoft Windows®.
  • If you are using the 64-bit version, replace any "i386" with "amd64"

Installing Kubuntu

Fresh Installation

Download the latest ISO image from Kubuntu 8.10. See this guide for burning the ISO image to a CD.

Use the CD for installation.

Dual-Booting Windows and Ubuntu

Rarely, a user may experience problems dual-booting Kubuntu and Windows. In general, a Windows OS should be installed first, because its bootloader is very particular. A Windows installation usually occupies the entire hard drive, so the partition needs to be shrunk, creating free space for the Kubuntu partition. (You should clean up unnecessary files and defragment the drive before resizing.) The Windows partition can be resized from within Windows Vista using the shrink/resize option in the Administrative Tools --> Disk Management tool. If using Windows XP (or other Windows OS), use GParted partition manager to shrink the Windows partition and thereby leave free space on the hard drive for the Kubuntu partition. If done this way, there is no problem installing Kubuntu as the second operating system and it is done automatically from the Kubuntu LiveCD.

A Windows partition should be at least 20 Gb (recommended 30 Gb), and a Kubuntu partition at least 10 Gb (recommended 20 Gb). Obviously, if you have plenty of disk space, make the partition for whichever will be your favoured operating system larger. For a perspective on other partitioning schemes, see this Psychocats Guide to Partitioning.

Alternatives include:

Upgrading Hardy to Intrepid

If you are using an older version of Kubuntu, you may wish to upgrade to Intrepid. A new installation is recommended to prevent software bloat and avoid some configuration file incompatibilities between the KDE 3.5 desktop used in Hardy and the KDE 4 desktop used in Intrepid. (KDE 4 is an entirely new desktop and differs significantly from KDE 3.5.)

However, it is possible to do a distribution upgrade using Adept by clicking on the "Full Upgrade option."

Alternatively, use this command: 

kdesu "adept_manager --dist-upgrade-devel"

This is for the desktop edition.

Kubuntu Resources

KDE Project

Kubuntu Screenshots and Screencasts

New Applications Resources

  • KDE Apps
  • GetDeb - Features the latest versions of software available from the official repositories as well as software not available in the official repositories. Available in easy-to-install .deb files (see Apt and Package Basics).

Other *buntu guides

Contents



Add Extra Kubuntu Repositories

Additional information is available from the Kubuntu Repository Guide.

Add Repositories using Adept Package Manager

This is the preferred method.

  • K menu -> System -> Adept Manager -> Sources -> Edit Software Sources.
  • Here you can enable the repositories for Kubuntu Software and Third Party Software.
  • For Third Party Software select Add -> enter the repository's address. It will have a format similar to: 
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ intrepid main restricted
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ intrepid main restricted
  • Example: To add the Medibuntu repository, Add: 
deb http://packages.medibuntu.org/ intrepid free non-free
  • Download the repository key to a folder.
  • Example: The Medibuntu key can be downloaded from
http://packages.medibuntu.org/medibuntu-key.gpg
  • Then add the key from:
Adept -> Sources -> Edit Software Sources -> Authentication -> Import Key File...
  • (Alternatively, you can manually add the key from the Konsole command line terminal. See Add Repository keys.)
  • Refresh the package list from the new repository:
Adept -> Adept -> Apply Changes, then Fetch Package list

Manually add repositories

  • Do this at your own risk. Modify the default Kubuntu sources.list only if you understand what you're doing. Mixing repositories can break your system. For more information see the Ubuntu Command-line Repository guide.
  • Create a backup of your current list of sources. 
sudo cp -p /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list_backup

Note: sudo - runs the command with root privileges. cp = copy. -p = prompt to overwrite if a file already exists.

  • Edit the list of sources: 
sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list
or using a graphical editor: 
kdesu kate /etc/apt/sources.list
  • Note: To use your local mirror you can add "xx." before archive.ubuntu.com, where xx = your country code.
Example: deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid main restricted universe multiverse indicates a repository for Great Britain (gb).
  • Here is a sample sources.list. At the end have been added repositories for Medibuntu and Google: 
#deb cdrom:[Kubuntu 8.10 _Intrepid Ibex_ - Release i386 (20081029.1)]/ intrepid main restricted
# See http://help.ubuntu.com/community/UpgradeNotes for how to upgrade to
# newer versions of the distribution.

deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ intrepid main restricted
deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ intrepid main restricted

## Major bug fix updates produced after the final release of the
## distribution.
deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ intrepid-updates main restricted
deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ intrepid-updates main restricted

## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
## team. Also, please note that software in universe WILL NOT receive any
## review or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ intrepid universe
deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ intrepid universe
deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ intrepid-updates universe
deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ intrepid-updates universe

## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu 
## team, and may not be under a free licence. Please satisfy yourself as to 
## your rights to use the software. Also, please note that software in 
## multiverse WILL NOT receive any review or updates from the Ubuntu
## security team.
deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ intrepid multiverse
deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ intrepid multiverse
deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ intrepid-updates multiverse
deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ intrepid-updates multiverse

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from the 'backports'
## repository.
## N.B. software from this repository may not have been tested as
## extensively as that contained in the main release, although it includes
## newer versions of some applications which may provide useful features.
## Also, please note that software in backports WILL NOT receive any review
## or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ intrepid-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ intrepid-backports main restricted universe multiverse

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Canonical's
## 'partner' repository. This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is
## offered by Canonical and the respective vendors as a service to Ubuntu
## users.
deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu intrepid partner
deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu intrepid partner

deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security main restricted
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security main restricted
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security universe
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security universe
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security multiverse
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security multiverse

## Medibuntu - Ubuntu 8.10 "intrepid ibex"
## Please report any bug on https://bugs.launchpad.net/medibuntu/
deb http://packages.medibuntu.org/ intrepid free non-free
deb-src http://packages.medibuntu.org/ intrepid free non-free

# Google software repository
deb http://dl.google.com/linux/deb/ stable non-free
  • Refresh the packages list from the new repositories: 
sudo apt-get update

Add repository keys

  • Download the gpg keys for the repositories and automatically add them to your repository keyring:
  • Example: To obtain and add the Medibuntu repository key: 
wget --quiet http://packages.medibuntu.org/medibuntu-key.gpg -O | sudo apt-key add -
  • Example: To obtain and add the Google repository key: 
wget --quiet https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub -O | sudo apt-key add -

Note: wget - retrieves a file from a network location. --quiet = no output. -O = Output downloaded item to terminal. The | (pipe symbol) is used to capture the output from the previous command (in our case the screen) and use it as an input for the piped command (i.e. apt-key, which adds it to the keyring).

Kubuntu Package Installation and Updates

Apt and Package Basics

Most new users will use the Adept Package Manager to install packages. These instructions are for installing packages from the command-line terminal (Konsole). Konsole can be started:

K menu -> System -> Konsole
  • Install packages: 
sudo apt-get install packagename
  • Example: 
sudo apt-get install mpd sbackup
  • Remove packages: 
sudo apt-get remove packagename
  • To remove all dependencies: 
sudo apt-get autoremove
  • Example: 
sudo apt-get remove mpd sbackup
  • Search for packages: 
sudo apt-cache search <keywords>
  • Examples: 
sudo apt-cache search Music MP3
sudo apt-cache search "Text Editor"

sudo apt-get update
  • Upgrade packages: 
sudo apt-get upgrade
  • Upgrade the entire distribution (e.g. from Gutsy to Hardy): 
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Installing .deb packages

Debian (.deb) packages are the packages that are used in Ubuntu/Kubuntu. You can install any .deb package in your system. .deb files can generally be installed from your file manager (Konqueror or Dolphin) merely by clicking on them, since file associations with the default installer is already set in Kubuntu. These instructions are for those who wish to install packages from the command-line terminal (Konsole).

  • Install a downloaded Debian (Ubuntu/Kubuntu) package (.deb): 
sudo dpkg -i packagename.deb
  • Remove a Debian (Ubuntu/Kubuntu) package (.deb): 
sudo dpkg -r packagename
  • Reconfigure/Repair an installed Debian (Ubuntu/Kubuntu) package (.deb): 
sudo dpkg-reconfigure packagename
*Example: 
sudo dpkg-reconfigure mpd

Handling (Tar/GZip) and (Tar/Bzip2) archives

(Tar/GZip) archives end in ".tar.gz" and (Tar/Bzip2) archives end in ".tar.bz2". Bzip2 is the newer, more efficient compression method. These files can generally be automatically extracted by merely clicking on them from your file manager (Konqueror or Dolphin), since file associations with the appropriate archival utilities are set by default in Kubuntu. These instructions are for those who wish to use the command line terminal (Konsole).

  • To extract: 
tar xvf packagename.tar.gz

Note: tar is an application which can extract files from an archive, decompressing if necessary.

-x means extract.
-v means verbose (list what it is extracting).
-f specifies the file to use.
  • Decompressing ".gz" files 
gunzip file.gz
  • Decompressing ".bz2" files 
bunzip2 file.bz2
Note: You can also decompress a package first by using the command gunzip (for .gz) or bunzip2 (for .bz2), leaving the .tar file. You would then use tar to extract it.
  • To create a .gz archive: 
tar cvfz packagename.tar.gz folder
  • To create a .bz2 archive: 
tar cvfj packagename.tar.bz2 folder

Installing a package from source

  • Make sure you have all the necessary development tools (i.e. libraries, compilers, headers): 
sudo apt-get install build-essential
sudo apt-get install linux-headers-`uname -r`
Note: "uname -r" lists the current kernel you are using
  • Extract the archive that contains the source files: 
tar xvf sourcefilesarchive.tar.gz
  • Build the package using the package's script (in this case the configure script), compile the package (make), and install the compiled package into your system (make install): 
cd /path/to/extracted/sourcefiles
./configure
make
sudo make install
Note: typing ./ before a filename in the current folder allows the Linux shell to try and execute the file as an application even if it is not in the path (the set of folders which it searches when you type a command name). If you get a "permission denied" error, the file is not marked as being executable. To fix this: 
sudo chmod +x filename
Example: In the above instructions, configure is the shell script to build the package from source. To be sure the configure script is executable: 
sudo chmod +x configure
Create a .deb package from source files

If your build from source is successful, you can make a Debian (Ubuntu/Kubuntu) package (.deb) for future use:

  • Install package tools: 
sudo apt-get install checkinstall
  • Rebuild package using "checkinstall": 
cd /path/to/extracted/package
./configure
make
checkinstall
  • Keep the resulting ".deb" file for future use. It can later be installed using: 
sudo dpkg -i packagename.deb

Note: These are basic instructions that may not always work. Some packages require additional dependencies and optional parameters to be specified in order to build them successfully.

Aptitude

Aptitude is a terminal-based package manager that can be used instead of apt-get. Aptitude marks packages that are automatically installed and removes them when no packages depend on them. This makes it easy to remove applications completely. To use Aptitude, replace apt-get with aptitude in the command line. Example: 

sudo aptitude install packagename
sudo aptitude remove packagename
sudo aptitude update
sudo aptitude upgrade

For an ncurses-based graphical user interface, type 

sudo aptitude

For more information, see the aptitude documentation.

Adept Package Manager

While "apt-get" and "aptitude" are fast ways of installing programs/packages, you can also use the Adept Package Manager (K -> System -> Adept Manager), a GUI method for installing programs/packages. Almost all programs/packages available with apt-get install will also be available from the Adept Package Manager. This is the preferred method for most desktop users. In this guide, when you see 

sudo apt-get install package

you can simply search for package in Adept and install it that way.

  • K menu -> System -> Adept Package Manager
  • Search for the name of the program/package. You can also search for a word in its description.
  • Check the box next to "Install this package".
  • Click Adept -> Apply Changes.
  • The selected program(s) will be automatically installed, along with its dependencies.

Add/Remove Programs (Adept Installer)

Not all packages available from apt-get, aptitude, and Adept Package Manager are available in Add/Remove Programs (Adept Installer). However, it is the easiest interface for new users of Kubuntu and directs them to preferred packages.

  • K menu -> Add/Remove Programs (Adept Installer)
  • Search for the sort of program you want to add. Example: type MP3 to see a list of mp3 software.
  • Check the box next to the software.
  • Click the "Apply Changes" button.
  • The selected program(s) will be automatically installed.

Manual Updates

  • Manually, from the Konsole terminal (command line interface): 
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
or
  • Use Adept Package Manager:
K -> System -> Adept Manager -> Adept -> Fetch package list
or
K -> System Adept Manager -> Sources -> Fetch current package lists
If there are packages available for updating, you will be prompted whether to install them.

Automated Updates

  • Use Adept Package Manager
  • K menu -> System menu -> Adept Manager -> Sources -> Edit Software Sources -> Updates
  • Make sure "Check for Updates" is checked.
  • Use the selection box to the right of that to determine how often you'd like to check for updates and which types of updates you wish to have installed.

Kubuntu Addon Applications

Eye Candy Applications

Eye Candy Applications refer to the decoration of the graphical user interface. These can be add-on icons, themes, wallpapers, etc. 3D effects are available with the use of Compiz Fusion (installed by default in Kubuntu).

KDE Eye-Candy Resources

Compiz Fusion

Compiz Fusion allows multiple advanced desktop effects, such as a rotating cube desktop. It is integrated into the KDE4 desktop. To install the Compiz effects:

K menu -> System -> Desktop Effects

Options are then accessed (turned on and off) from

K menu -> System Settings -> Desktop -> Desktop Effects -> All Effects -> "Enable desktop effects"

Fusion Icon

Fusion Icon is a tray icon that allows you to easily switch between window managers, window decorators, and gives you quick access to the settings manager. This allows quick toggling of 3-D desktop effects (that may not be compatible with some applications). 

sudo apt-get install fusion-icon
Note: Although not as easily accessible, power users can change the Window Manager from the default KDE KWin (to Compiz, for example):
K menu -> System Settings -> Advanced -> Session Manager -> Window Manager

Emerald

Emerald themes are available from KDE Look. Oxygen, a default theme in Kubuntu, is an Emerald theme, for example. These themes originated from the Beryl project before it merged with Compiz to form Compiz Fusion. The Emerald Theme Manager for Compiz Fusion can be installed: 

sudo apt-get install emerald

deKorator

deKorator is a window decoration engine for KDE. You can easily install lots of themes with this engine. See the installation instructions at KDE Look.

Add desktop Plasmoids

Plasma has replaced Kicker in KDE4/Kubuntu Intrepid Ibex. Plasma comes with plenty of applets/widgets (called plasmoids) that you can use on the desktop.

  • Click on the Plasma icon in the upper right of the desktop.
  • "Add Widgets" and select from one of the already installed widget/plasmoids.
Example: Add the Comic Strip widget/plasmoid. This will display a comic strip from the Internet. Click on the wrench icon to choose the comic strip, such as Dilbert.
  • "Install New Widgets".
  • "Download From Internet" to choose a plasmoid from KDE-look.
or

SuperKaramba Desktop Widgets / Gadgets

SuperKaramba is a tool that allows you to create themes and widgets. 

sudo apt-get install superkaramba-kde4

Change USplash Boot Screen

This is the splash screen you see at bootup, when you are asked for a login and password.

  • K Menu -> System Settings -> Appearance -> Splash Screen -> Get New Themes...
or
  • Download splash screens at KDE Look
  • K Menu-> System Settings -> Appearance -> Splash Screen -> Install Theme File
  • Browse to your splash screen tar archive file and select it from your download location.

Google Desktop

Google Desktop for Linux is a proprietary suite of widgets and applications to give Google control over your computer and thereby allow you to use Google services. A .deb package can be downloaded and installed from Google Linux Downloads. For installation instructions, see Google Desktop for Linux Instructions.

Yakuake command-line terminal

Yakuake is a stylish command line terminal that can be used instead of Konsole. 

sudo apt-get install yakuake

Enable it by going to K -> System -> Yakuake

Use it by pressing F12.

Virtualization

Virtualization allows a second operating system (OS), such as Windows or OS X, to be run from within Kubuntu. This requires extra RAM (because both Kubuntu and the virtualized second OS require separate amounts of RAM) and a license for the second OS. If you wish to run a virtualized instance of Windows XP, for instance, you must have a license for Windows XP.

VirtualBox

VirtualBox is a fast and complete virtualization solution owned and maintained by Sun Microsystems. There is a free and fully open-source edition available under the GNU GPL license.

  • Install the open-source edition: 
sudo apt-get install virtualbox-ose virtualbox-ose-source
  • Start VirtualBox:
K -> System -> VirtualBox OSE PC virtualization solution

For usage instructions, see the End-user documentation.

Xen

Xen is an efficient open-source virtualization ("hypervisor") platform which includes a recent merge with QEMU. It is free open source under a GPL license. Installation for the desktop must be from source (see the website for details). A commercial version is offered by Citrix.

A Xen virtual machine host can also be installed automatically with certain 64-bit CPUs, using the 64-bit Ubuntu Server LiveCD. (A Kubuntu/KDE desktop can then later be added to create a "Kubuntu server").

VMWare

VMWare is a commercial virtualization platform that currently offers a free license (renewable yearly) for use with its server software. Installation instructions are on the website.

Crossover for Linux

Codeweavers' Crossover Office for Linux is a subscription-based commercial package that allows many Windows programs to be run on Kubuntu without the need for a Microsoft OS license or a complete virtualization system. See the website for more info. Codeweavers releases older versions of this product as the free package Wine.

Wine

Wine is a free open-source package that essentially consists of an older and more limited implementation of CrossOver for Linux. It is provided by Codeweavers. Like CrossOver for Linux, no Microsoft license or virtualization platform is required to run Windows programs. 

sudo apt-get install wine

Also consider installing Microsoft's TrueType fonts: 

sudo apt-get install msttcorefonts

Internet Explorer 6

Internet Explorer 6 can function under Wine, albeit imperfectly. For most purposes, Firefox can be used (with the User Agent Switcher plugin) to mimic Internet Explorer, but for those instances when it can't, IE6 may be useful. A beta implementation of Internet Explorer 7 is also available from this package. For more info, see IEs 4 Linux.

  • Make sure you have wine and cabextract packages: 
sudo apt-get install wine cabextract
  • Download IEs 4 Linux and install: 
wget http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/downloads/ies4linux-latest.tar.gz
tar zxvf ies4linux-latest.tar.gz
cd ies4linux-*
./ies4linux --no-gui

Transgaming Cedega

Cedega is a commercial application (similar to CrossOver Office and Wine), for installing and running some Windows applications, specifically games, without the need for virtualization or a Microsoft license. It provides 3D support, software acceleration support, and a high level of DirectX support. Installation instructions are found on the website.

Mono

Mono is a free open source project sponsored by Novell to allow .NET programs to function in Linux (Kubuntu) and Mac OS X. The Intrepid version is 1.9. Mono 2 is also available here. 

sudo apt-get install mono mono-runtime

Moonlight

Moonlight is part of the Novell Mono project that is an open source implementation of Silverlight (the Microsoft multimedia presentation platform). It is based on FFMpeg. It is made to work best with the Firefox web browser. A beta release is available here.

Edutainment Applications

There are many, many superb applications that can be installed with a single click.

K menu -> Add/Remove Software (Adept Installer) -> Edutainment.

Below are a few examples that can be installed from this menu:

  • Stellarium -- an astounding planetarium for the desktop
  • K3DSurf -- a program for modeling 3,4,5, and 6 dimensional models.
  • Bibletime-- a Bible study tool for KDE.
  • Zekr -- an Islamic Quran study tool (available in Utilities instead of Edutainment)
  • Oregano -- a program for electrical engineering schematics
  • RlPlot -- a high quality graph generator
  • Mnemosyne -- a flash-card tool
  • Gramps -- map your family-tree and co-operate with genealogy projects.

Google Earth

Google Earth gives you an annotated eagle's eye view of our planet. This is a free proprietary package. 

sudo apt-get install googleearth-package

Note: You must accept the license to use this package.

Proprietary Applications

Proprietary software helps you maximize your Internet experience, but is not open source. The software available include Multimedia Codecs, Java Runtime Environment, as well as plug-ins for Firefox and Konqueror.

Restricted Extras

The Kubuntu Restricted Extras will install Adobe Flash Player, Java Runtime Environment (JRE) (sun-java-jre) with Firefox and Konqueror plug-ins (icedtea), a set of Microsoft Fonts (msttcorefonts), multimedia codecs (w32codecs or w64codecs), mp3-compatible encoding (lame), FFMpeg, extra multimedia codecs for K3b, the package for DVD decoding (libdvdread3, but see below for info on libdvdcss2), and the unrar archiver. This is a single command approach. 

sudo apt-get install kubuntu-restricted-extras

You could also use Ubuntu Restricted Extras, but it installs plugins for the Gstreamer platform (the default in Gnome) and does not install the K3b codecs, so it is not recommended. 

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras

Games Applications

There are some phenomenal games for Kubuntu Linux.

There are hundreds of free, open-source games available in Kubuntu. Most (including the KDE Games collection and the Gnome Games collection) can be accessed:

K menu -> Add/Remove Software (Adept Installer) -> Games

Examples are:

Vdrift

Vdrift is a free open source 3-D racing game, similar to Need for Speed, with realistic physics, multiple drift tracks, and multiplayer games. Support for joysticks, mice and keyboard is included. A binary package for Linux is available from the website.

Action

Incredible action games (including those from the Top 25) are available in Kubuntu. Many can be installed using:

K menu --> System -> Add/Remove Software (Adept Installer) -> Games

Examples are:

  • Alien Arena -- a multi-player first person shooter action game with free servers. The repositories have version 7.0-1. For the current version 7.2 see the website.
  • OpenArena -- an open-source multi-player first person shooter action game, with free servers. The repositories have version 7.7. For the current 8.1 version see the website.
  • Tremulous -- a Halo-like multiplayer first person shooter action game. The repositories have the current version.

Nexuiz

  • Nexuiz is an open-source multi-player first person shooter game with free servers and tournaments.

The current version 2.4.2 is in the repositories. 

sudo apt-get install nexuiz nexuiz-music

You must have desktop effects turned off (K menu -> System -> System Settings -> Desktop). There are a few other problems. See the Nexuiz forums. Some recommend running from a shell: 

sudo ./nexuiz-linux-glx.sh

or 

sudo ./nexuiz-linux-sdl.sh
  • A 35 map community pack is available here. To install, extract the map pack to /home/username/.nexuiz/data (or ~/.nexuiz/data ).

UrbanTerror

UrbanTerror is a multiplayer first person shooter action game. It uses the open-source quake 3 engine and features many real weapons and free-to-use servers for multi-player functionality. See the Installation instructions at the website.

  • Alternative installation with a script:
  • After downloading the script open Terminal into your download directory then make the script executable with the following command: 
sudo chmod +x urt40-linux-installer.sh
  • Now double click on the script to execute and follow the directions
  • The install will take a while, as the script executes a download of the necessary files which are about 541MB
  • After the install you will have a nice UrbanTerror icon on your desktop (unless you installed as root)

Spring

The Spring Project is a scripting engine platform to develop and play free multiplayer games such as Star Wars Imperial Winter and Complete Annihilation. See these installation instructions for adding the repository, then installing as a package.

PlaneShift

PlaneShift is a promising free full-immersion online fantasy game (MMPORG). Client downloads and patches are available here.

  • Make the downloaded binary installation file executable: 
cd /directory_where_downloaded
chmod +x PlaneShift-v.0.42-x64.bin
  • Run the executable binary as root (this must be done from the command line terminal Konsole): 
sudo ./PlaneShift-v.0.42-x64.bin
  • Follow the