Why?

[TrailerTrash]

Why do more distros use KDE instead of GNOME as default? :-?

[aysiu]

Supposedly, it's more Windows-like, but I don't really see that.

[poofyhairguy]

Why do more distros use KDE instead of GNOME as default? :-?

Because:

A. It was first.

B. Its easier to make it look like Windows (matters to Linspire/Xandros). And its easier to make like OSX too.

C. It has deep German roots, so some of it is wanting the local thing (SUSE, Knoppix plus more made in germany).

D. A lot actually do use Gnome as default, but they are the professional grade distros. Novell Linux Desktop, Redhat, Solaris (not a distro but still).

E: Metacity (yes I know that is not the case, I just can't talk about Gnome without bashing Metacity).

[TrailerTrash]

Because:


C. It has deep German roots, so some of it is wanting the local thing (SUSE, Knoppix plus more made in germany).




Where is GNOMEs roots from?

I agree that KDE favors windows or can be made to look like windows and maybe MAC...But I do find GNOME to be kinda unique.

[Brunellus]

Where is GNOMEs roots from?

I agree that KDE favors windows or can be made to look like windows and maybe MAC...But I do find GNOME to be kinda unique.
if you think GNOME is unique, you should try Enlightenment DR17....

[poofyhairguy]

Where is GNOMEs roots from?

Corporate America: Redhat, Sun, Novell, etc. That is part of the divide.

From wikipedia:



The GNOME project was started in August 1997 by Miguel de Icaza and Federico Mena to provide an alternative to KDE.

KDE is a free software desktop environment that relies on the Qt toolkit — a piece of software written by Trolltech that did not use a free software license. Members of the GNU project became concerned about the use of such a toolkit for building a free software desktop and applications and launched two projects: "Harmony", to create a replacement for the Qt libraries, and the GNOME project to create a new desktop without Qt and built entirely on top of free software.

In September 2000, after GNOME had become usable and was gaining popularity, Trolltech made the GNU/Linux version of the Qt libraries available under both the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL) and the QPL, removing most of the objections that had fuelled years of licensing debates. However, the licensing of Qt is still controversial for some people because the use of the GPL for a library imposes restrictions on the licensing of code linking to it, such as the KDE framework and any applications written for it.



I agree that KDE favors windows or can be made to look like windows and maybe MAC...But I do find GNOME to be kinda unique.

Thats why I love it for new users. Its different enough to force them to think differently. I think the "make KDE looks like Windows" thing is a problem, because no Linux can hold up to all of the Window user standards.

[scourge]

Because:

A. It was first.

B. Its easier to make it look like Windows (matters to Linspire/Xandros). And its easier to make like OSX too.

C. It has deep German roots, so some of it is wanting the local thing (SUSE, Knoppix plus more made in germany).

D. A lot actually do use Gnome as default, but they are the professional grade distros. Novell Linux Desktop, Redhat, Solaris (not a distro but still).

E: Metacity (yes I know that is not the case, I just can't talk about Gnome without bashing Metacity).

I think there's also F: Gnome used to be really crappy compared to KDE. I even hesitated to try Ubuntu because I remembered how awful Gnome was when I used Red Hat 7.

[weekend warrior]

Originally Posted by TrailerTrash
Where is GNOMEs roots from?

Originally Posted by poofyhairguy
Corporate America: Redhat, Sun, Novell, etc. That is part of the divide.
Hmm... seeing as both Gnome creators - Miguel de Icaza and Federico Mena are Mexicans that's a bit unfair poofy. I would suspect that the seeds for Gnome were very likely planted at UNAM - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México where they met and both did their CS studies. They may have been working in the US but... let me put it this way, if two Americans were working abroad on a project that they created, would that fact automatically make it of non-American origin and non-American roots? If the Norwegians from Trolltech had worked in Britain would that make QT British now?

I think Mexico deserves a mention at least.

[tseliot]

I think there's also F: Gnome used to be really crappy compared to KDE. I even hesitated to try Ubuntu because I remembered how awful Gnome was when I used Red Hat 7.
I like both KDE and GNOME because I think they are special but in different ways. Can you explain why GNOME would be "crappy"?

[poofyhairguy]

Hmm... seeing as both Gnome creators - Miguel de Icaza and Federico Mena are Mexicans that's a bit unfair poofy.

Maybe its was an incorrect statement as it was....but a LOT of development for Gnome has come from Redhat, Sun, and Novell.

Novell employs them both now I think:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ximian

And Federico Mena created Gnome while being employed by Redhat:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federico_Mena

Best way to support OSS projects is to hire someone to work on them. American companies paid for Gnome development now and then.

[wvslkr]

Early versions of Gnome were very unstable and slow. It was a total crap shoot if it would even run after you installed it on most distros. If it did run many of the apps crashed constantly. It has improved very much in the last couple of years. All IMHO of course. :)

[weekend warrior]

Agreed poofy, it just felt the way you put it originally had a slight revisionist slant to it; almost like someone from France claiming Picasso as their own beacuse he did after all do most of his work there.

[benplaut]

for the everything-including-kitchen-sink distros, KDE is really their first choice because of the settings-euphoria :roll: (i encourage everyone to call it that :? )

[weekend warrior]

There is also another reason for KDE dominance. It's one of the reasons Gnome isn't in Slackware anymore, and not in Mepis, Kanotix, Yoper or PCLinuxOS and probably a longer list engulfing many of the smaller distros.

Patrick Volkerding said as much when he made the decision to drop Gnome from Slack. Gnome is more difficult to build and prepare. It needs more work and tweaking to make it sensible and presentable. If I remember correctly, Patrick mentioned at one point that it was taking a full third of his time just to prepare Gnome. KDE comes to the distro builders more "ready-to-go".

It could be a tad worrying for Gnome's future. As Gnome is increasingly designed "by committee" in a larger corporate-like environment and in a more "we know what's best for you" attitude while KDE gets special attention from the increasingly innovative "artistes" of the linux distro world in the one man/small group distro settings more open to the needs and wants of users.

[scourge]

I like both KDE and GNOME because I think they are special but in different ways. Can you explain why GNOME would be "crappy"?

I said Gnome used to be crappy. In addition to what wvslkr said, Gnome also looked really ugly and unfinished, and it lacked the functionality KDE had. But this was the past, it's not like that anymore. I'm a happy Gnome user now.

[tseliot]

I said Gnome used to be crappy. In addition to what wvslkr said, Gnome also looked really ugly and unfinished, and it lacked the functionality KDE had. But this was the past, it's not like that anymore. I'm a happy Gnome user now.
Ok, it's just that the only GNOME version I have used is 2.10 (last April) so I didn't understand what were you talking about. :)

[DirtDawg]

Here's my viewpoint:
See, I don't like "gnomes". They're usually lurking around old ladies' gardens looking creepily cheerful and endlessly performing various gardening tasks (sometimes even mooning innocent passerbys!).
I also do not like "feet", which is the logo for Gnome. Feet are, in my opinion, usually ugly, often smelly, and sometimes covered with strange growths and fungi with deceptively tasty names like "corn".
So when you offer me something called a Gnome with a big picture of a stinky foot emblazened all over it, my first instinct is to run away.
Thanks to Ubuntu, I like Gnome now (though I still have not warmed up to "gnomes", "feet", or Gnome's logo).

[poofyhairguy]

Here's my viewpoint:
See, I don't like "gnomes". They're usually lurking around old ladies' gardens looking creepily cheerful and endlessly performing various gardening tasks (sometimes even mooning innocent passerbys!).
I also do not like "feet", which is the logo for Gnome. Feet are, in my opinion, usually ugly, often smelly, and sometimes covered with strange growths and fungi with deceptively tasty names like "corn".
So when you offer me something called a Gnome with a big picture of a stinky foot emblazened all over it, my first instinct is to run away.
Thanks to Ubuntu, I like Gnome now (though I still have not warmed up to "gnomes", "feet", or Gnome's logo).

I never got the

Gnome=Foot

thing.

[bored2k]

I never got the

Gnome=Foot

thing.
Did you get the Linux=Penguin ? Or the McDonalds=Scary.Ass.Clown ? I don't ..

[weekend warrior]

Originally Posted by poofyhairguy

I never got the

Gnome=Foot

thing.
Well GNOME is just an acronym; easy enough, right? Now the foot...

Don't your feet take you where you want to go? Doesn't the menu take you where you want to go?
There you go. ;-)

[bored2k]

Well GNOME is just an acronym; easy enough, right? Now the foot...

Don't your feet take you where you want to go? Doesn't the menu take you where you want to go?
There you go. ;-)
<half joke>Why not a Vehicle as a logo then? Like Tux lowriding on a '76 Cadillac Deville with 23'' rims.

http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/5637/g8sx.jpg

[poofyhairguy]

Did you get the Linux=Penguin

Yes, actually. A motto for Linux had to be made for Linux 2.0 to seem "professional", and Linus really likes Penguins.

In fact, a prof at my university made the logo:

http://www.isc.tamu.edu/~lewing/linux/

[bored2k]

Yes, actually. A motto for Linux had to be made for Linux 2.0 to seem "professional", and Linus really likes Penguins.

In fact, a prof at my university made the logo:

http://www.isc.tamu.edu/~lewing/linux/
Don't try to act smart mister -.- .

Ok so.. why not a goat ? They're professional and chic. They won't eat grass if you spit on it you know ? -.-

[darkoptix]

GNU has a goat already.

[drizek]

i was reading teh suse devel blogs and one of the packagers was talking about how clmplicated gnome packaging was(compraed to kde).

But i think the bigger reason is that KDE just has more features. There are so many misconceptions about linux that most new users are surprised that it even has a GUI at all. so comparing gnome to kde from a usability/looks POV is kinda pointess when it comes to noobs. they just want to be able to do everything they could do in windows, and kde is better at doing that.

but the BIGGEST reason why kde is the default on most distros is because kde is more popular. so distro makers, especially the big ones, cater to the majority.

As for the "patriotism" part of it, i do know that KDE is largely developed in europe(not just germany), and im not really sure about gnome. but linux as a whole is more popular in europe than it is on this side of the atlantic.

[poofyhairguy]

Ok so.. why not a goat ? They're professional and chic. They won't eat grass if you spit on it you know ? -.-

http://www.linux.org/info/penguin.html



Some people have told me they don't think a fat penguin really embodies the grace of Linux, which just tells me they have never seen a angry penguin charging at them in excess of 100mph. They'd be a lot more careful about what they say if they had.
-- Linus Torvalds

[aysiu]

If you want more info, you can read this:

http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/KDE_v_Gnome_history

This book

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0674012925/qid=1126230926/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-6833648-9729520?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

also has a very detailed history of KDE and Gnome. I checked it out of the library. It's quite good.

[xequence]

I never got the

Gnome=Foot

thing.


Maybe its a garden gnome's foot? They just stand there all day, they have to leave a footprint. Or two.

[Qrk]

What about a Microsoft Window, an Apple Apple, a KDE gear or the Java coffee cup? I think programers like those little random things. I don't think the foot is all that different from other organizations logos in the fact that it has nothing to do with anything, whatsoever.

[benplaut]

What about a Microsoft Window, an Apple Apple, a KDE gear or the Java coffee cup? I think programers like those little random things. I don't think the foot is all that different from other organizations logos in the fact that it has nothing to do with anything, whatsoever.

what about the Apple Apple? :roll:

[jnoreiko]

GNU has a goat already.

Um... GNU has a gnu.

[weekend warrior]

Doth did muse Qrk
an Apple Apple

Doth did reply benplaut
what about the Apple Apple? :roll:

Lol :mrgreen: - I can't stop laughing....

[benplaut]

Lol :mrgreen: - I can't stop laughing....

/me bows :)

[weekend warrior]

Don't want to pop your balloon ben, but Qrk deserves a lot of the credit ;-) An apple to represent a company callled.... Apple? A four pane window to represent an OS called.... Windows? A coffee cuppa java joe to represent a tech called.... Java? Who'd a thunk such awfully random things? lol :)

[Arktis]

I never got the

Gnome=Foot

thing.

I've always imagined gnomes as having really big feet compared to their small bodies. So the foot thing has always made sense to me. But those little lawn/garden statues don't seem to have large feet. I wonder where I must have gotten the idea from. Probably form some children's books when I was just a wee lass.

Edit: AH-HA! From the Wikipedia:
barbegazi are gnome-like creatures with big feet in the traditions of France and Switzerland.

Anyways, it seems that gnomes are creatures of the earth, hence the feet. Or something.