Skip to main content

Linux-DeskopEnv: Ubuntu Kylin User Interface(UKUI) desktop Environment

UKUI desktop image from Distrocrunch

 UKUI (Ubuntu Kylin User Interface) is a lightweight desktop environment initially developed to work on Ubuntu Kylin. UKUI is a fork of the Mate Desktop Environment. Its visual appearance is similar to Windows 7, making it easier for new users of GNU/Linux.

— Wikipedia

Recently I stumbled upon Ubuntu Kylin User Interface (UKUI) desktop environment, developed for Ubuntu Kylin, the official Chinese version of the Ubuntu computer operating system. 

    As I was curious about what it looked like, I tried to install Ubuntu Kylin on VirtualBox. It looks modern and beautiful. But with Ubuntu distribution, it is a little bloated for me and its default language is Simplified Chinese. It runs a little slow in my VirtualBox setup so I did not use it often.

    Recently when trying to install Sparky Linux distribution(which has options to install multiple desktop environments), I noticed that it has an option to install UKUI. After installing Sparky Linux with minimal GUI, I proceed to install UKUI with its instructions from Sparky Linux website. After finishing the installation, just logout and select UKUI desktop option, and login again with my credential. However, after a reboot or power-up, even though it autologin to UKUI desktop, it will get logout and asked me to login again. There seems to have some configuration that I need to change or disable but I have not to find it yet. It consumes 831MB of RAM which is hard on laptops with limited RAM. 

NOTE: Do not enable autologin on UKUI Control Center to prevent this issue for Sparky Linux.

    Later, I found that Q4OS has a minimal installer with trinity desktop and has options to install different desktop environments as well. UKUI desktop was not listed but is found when you search using Synaptic Package Manager. I followed the instructions of installing the packages required for UKUI desktop. After I logout and select UKUI desktop and login using my credential again. There is a message for the missing QT5 themes package missing and after installing the required package, the UKUI desktop works well. Just feel that there is something missing but at least the UKUI desktop works. Also to note is that it only uses 450 MB of RAM, which makes it worthwhile to consider for a laptop with less than 1GB RAM.

    I just tried to install UKUI onto AntiX Linux and was surprised that the like Q4OS, I have to select individual UKUI desktop packages but it is not too bad. After the UKUI installation, I logout and relogin again but using UKUI desktop instead. There is a pop-up window regarding window manager not being supported but this window can be disabled from further popping out. What surprised me was that the htop command shows that it only uses 313MB of RAM. This is surprisingly low and is worth the effort to install UKUI if you are interested. However, there are many default apps that come with AntiX so you may want to remove some duplicate ones. I noticed that the loading of applications like UKUI control center is rather slow in my virtual machine. I think this desktop is not suitable for AntiX. 

NOTE: All test environments are done on my laptop running VirtualBox for instances of Sparky Linux, Q4OS, and AntiX Linux. VM settings are as follows:

  • CPU: Single Core
  • RAM: 2048 MB
  • HDD: SATA 30 GB 

    This is not my first time looking for a particular Linux desktop environment but was one of the lightweight and unique due to from China developers. I may look into other lightweight Linux desktop environments as there are quite a few, including Mate desktop environment, which UKUI is based on. 

NOTE: I have been trying UKUI and noticed that it is not so stable on Sparky Linux, especially ukui-setting app as it seems to keep crashing on account settings. Maybe using Ubuntu Kylin might not have this problem as it is native. 

The interface might be "too big" as some applications will be bigger than the screen. It makes it more difficult to use for these applications.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MX Linux Fluxbox Review - For Low-End Laptops

  MX Linux logo from https://linuxiac.com/mx-linux/      Recently I have successfully installed MX Linux Fluxbox on my Acer Aspire One 725 (AO725) netbook. I initially wanted to install Bodhi Linux onto my AO725 netbook, but failed. Finally I tried MX Linux Fluxbox, after trying Anti-X linux and some other ultra-lightweight Linux. MX Linux Fluxbox is suppose to be a lightweight Linux for low-powered laptops such as netbooks or very old laptops. Upon bootup, it only takes 337MB of RAM (438MB for Thinkpad X200) before you load any apps. With 4GB RAM, it is still a lot of RAM for for most apps, like the browser but the CPU utilization is close to 100% after running a Chromium broswer and DeadBeef music player. Things likely be slow... after this point from my observation but I have not tried to do anything more than those common things that I usually need to do.      Since I managed to install MX Linux Fluxbox, I initially did not bother to use the A...
Post a Comment
Read more

Linux-DesktopEnv: RAM Usage Comparison For Sparky Linux LxQT and Xfce and Q40S MATE Desktop Environment

  Today I did a test on RAM usage for the following desktop environments (DE) using VirtualBox to determine their RAM usage: MATE DE with Q4OS 4.7 Sparky Linux 6.2 LXQt Sparky Linux 6.2 Xfce      The main reason is for me to decide which desktop environment I want to use for my Lenovo Thinkpad X200. I have tried other desktop environments: Enlightenment with SparkyLinux MininumGUI  Trinity with Q4OS Bodhi Linux with a customized Enlightenment DE      The main issue with Enlightenment with SparkyLinux is that it does not work well with autologin. Sometimes it gets kicked out and you have to login again. I suspect is the windows manager issue but I cannot find the solution for this. Trinity has an issue with using jpg wallpaper so it is a turn-off as I don't want default wallpapers. The customized Enlightenment desktop in Bodhi Linux has limited themes but is still acceptable but I want to look for the best for my Thinkpad X200.     ...
Post a Comment
Read more

How To Connect To Singapore Free Public WiFi - Wireless@SG For Non-SIM Operating System

Image from: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details/Wireless_SGx?id=sg.gov.imda.wsgapp2_android&hl=en-SG      All the while Singapore's free public WiFi - Wireless@SG only supports Android and IOS devices with SIM cards, Windows and Mac operating system. Any other operating system such as Chromebook, Linux or devices without SIM are faced with an issue of unable to connect to this public WiFi network. However, recently I noticed that I am unable to download the Wireless@SGx app for my new phone and started looking at Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) website for Wireless@SG. The link is below: IMDA website for Wireless@SG     There are now more options to connect to Wireless@SG now. To allow more platforms/operating system, especially Chromebook and Linux to connect to Wireless@SG, choose the " Android non-SIM Setup ".  Choose the URL or QR code to get to the registering page. Android non-SIM Setup Once at the website. Choose the "Devi...
Post a Comment
Read more