I have been using a (small) set of distros for about a month now, and all of them follow the usual runlevel 0=halt, 1=single user, 2=no X, 5=multi user, and 6 reboot.
However, with Kubuntu, I have always found it irritating how it starts in runlevel 2 by default, and 3-5 appear do follow suit. How can I change this to follow the usual scheme that I mentioned before?

sudo aptitude install sysv-rc-conf

Then run it from a command line, sudo sysv-rc-conf and use the space bar to unselect what you don't want to run at each level.

Then you need to change default init in /etc/inittab.

Here's a little more detail on the Debian runlevels.

EDIT: It may be possible that Ubuntu is using UpStart instead, so you may need to look at the file /etc/upstart instead of /etc/inittab. And I suppose it's possible that sysv-rc-conf doesn't work with upstart, but I don't know that for sure since I use Debian.

It looks like to change the default runlevel, you want to edit the file /etc/event.d/rc-default and change the def_RL=2 to whatever runlevel you like. It sounds like sysv-rc-conf does work with upstart. Here's the thread I blundered across so that you can read it for yourself.

Just curious. Why is starting up in runlevel 2 vs 5 a problem?

It is different, but I don't think it's illegal, immoral, or fattening .

it is difficult to do administrative tasks by constantly using sudo and entering my password at every turn. I find it easer (and some people might disagree) to have an entire desktop with administrative rights. In runlevel 2 this is not possible. The same goes for 3-5. In runlevel 1, HAL does not function, complicating things further.

If you want to run your system as root, then none of the *buntu distros will work for you. The division of labor between the normal user and the user in sudo is there for a reason. In fact, Linux in general is set up that way (with some distro exceptions) for a purpose to protect as much of your system as possible from rogue attacks.

Now, having said that, there are probably ways to set up your Kubuntu to allow free and open access, but I don't know, nor would I even make an attempt to do that to you/for you.

Thanks for your input, though!!

Last I looked it wasn't too hard to set up a root user on Ubuntu.
On other occasions I have set up sudo to not require a password (for anything), and to not timeout. Still need to type in sudo, but that's all.

Horses for courses.