Desktop Environments

[tailsfan]

Which Desktop Environments do you like the best:

I Like:

KDE
XFCE
JWM (simple, but nice)

[qamelian]

I'd have to say:

KDE
Gnome
Windowmaker
AfterStep
Enlightenment

I really want to like XFCE but every time I try it I find one or two things that are just frustrating or annoying enough to drive me back to one of my faves.

[kerry_s]

Fluxbox & Xfce4 are the only ones i use & come back to after trying others. I'm currently testing a fluxbox setup i'm going to install for a friend sometime this weekend, he want's a DSL like set up with out the DSL limits. Pic->

[AgenT]

As an aside, JWM is not a Desktop Environment but a Window Manager. The same for Fluxbox, WindowMaker, Afterstep, etc.

Here is a very over-simplified difference in how the two work: The WM controls your mouse, windows, keyboard and how the windows behave and look. The DE controls how things look overall and how programs interact with each other.

For example, GNOME is a DE. GNOME uses Metacity for its WM. Without Metacity, GNOME would not function at all. Without GNOME, Metacity would function without problems but with very limited functions because Metacity is a very basic WM (on purpose). It is was not made to be run by itself. FVWM is a WM that is not so basic and includes eye-catching "themes" and very extensive configurability. The downside to something as complex as FVWM is that one needs to learn to configure it which takes a lot of time.

Also, using a WM only is much faster than a DE. Think of it this way, a DE is a WM plus a DE on top of it. This also means that it is possible to replace one WM with another under a DE. For example, it is possible to use FVWM or Fluxbox with GNOME.

Some random FVWM images:
http://fvwm-crystal.org/user-screenshots/nemo.jpg
http://fvwm-crystal.org/screenshots/music.jpg
http://fvwm-crystal.org/screenshots/quakeconsole.jpg
http://fvwm-crystal.org/screenshots/wallpapers.jpg
http://home.citycable.ch/monde-meilleur/linux/screenshoot-grand.png

There are a LOT of other Window Managers.

[AgenT]

Fluxbox & Xfce4 are the only ones i use & come back to after trying others. I'm currently testing a fluxbox setup i'm going to install for a friend sometime this weekend, he want's a DSL like set up with out the DSL limits. Pic->DSL has an install option. No need to try and "replicate" it.

[qamelian]

If you want to be strict about then, yes, AfterStep, Windowmaker, etc, are just window managers. However, I have never had a problem using either of them as a full-fledged DE. Both have all the functionality that I require of a desktop environment therefore, for all intents and purposes, I consider them to be desktop environments. Heck, both AS and WM are more functional than some other full DEs I've used!

[AgenT]

If you want to be strict about then, yes, AfterStep, Windowmaker, etc, are just window managers. However, I have never had a problem using either of them as a full-fledged DE. Both have all the functionality that I require of a desktop environment therefore, for all intents and purposes, I consider them to be desktop environments. Heck, both AS and WM are more functional than some other full DEs I've used!You are correct. My post was actually not intended as a response to your post, but to the thread author. The intentions being not to correct terminology but to show that there is a difference so it makes sense that one does not have to have a DE installed to use a WM. And, just as you mentioned, that a WM (like FVWM) can be just as powerful, if not more so, than a DE (+ stock WM).

[kerry_s]

DSL has an install option. No need to try and "replicate" it.

I know i've used DSL for years, but it is very limited when it comes to getting updated apps with out problems. I'm using edgy for his build so he'll get pretty close to the latest apps available. I had him on dapper gnome when he first started using linux, but his machines not the greatest & he wants something different. I gave him a copy of DSL to try, but he complained the apps were old and when he tried to update, it would break the system. Other than that he liked it. So i figured it's time i teach him how to do his own custom install. I'm just using DSL as the model, i'm testing it first though, i hate when your trying to show someone something and there's a glitch. I feel better when i already know the answer to the problem. ;) (example: in edgy gtkedit is broken, it dosen't save the settings, i know i can use leafpad(500kb), but he want's small gtkedit(123kb) and i already figured out the fix because i'm testing it). I know, but he's a friend and he already knows pretty much what he wants. I just got to make it all work. :-k Did i mention he gave me a list.LOL, originally he was going with jwm but changed his mine.