Is that really a thing? I don’t usually get into discussions about DEs that often, and pretty much never irl. So I haven’t seen any general vibe at all.
Like, my impression of kde vs gnome is that they’re both very geared towards a more general user that’s going to be doing basic things, but with the ability to go more advanced as needed. I kinda assumed they were both going to draw people that are “basic” like the images in the meme for gnome, with cinnamon users also being in that range, where something like xfce would be for folks that want a bit more modularity and “hackiness”.
I’m not being a smartass, I just don’t really know if there’s more to the meme than just a bit of fun or not.
I’ve come to the conclusion that even gnome has too many features for me. It would be fine if they were all perfect, but it’s software, so…
Off the top of my head:
Language doesn’t switch fast enough when I use ibus to type Chinese. The fact that I need to concern myself with my input method because choosing Chinese actually only types in Latin characters by default is lol
Can’t use the file manager to mess with files or folders owned by root. Text editor similarly sucks, I actually sudo gedit because it just works. It is a Gnome issue because vscodium just asks me to put in my password to save the file.
When I alt tab or super key out of a wine game, going back into it will have the alt key pressed down (not sure which key combination, but it’s an issue)
I use KDE plasma because I’m new to Linux but also want something minimal system-wise. I love the programs and the interface. Maybe my opinion would be different if I spent more time with other DE’s or used it as my daily driver, but I’m sold on it now.
GNOME is definitely more user-friendly for someone who is moving over from Windows/Mac. I wouldn’t recommend KDE to someone who is just going to stick to using one-click apps.
The lack of even the most basic customisation of Gnome ia mind-blowing to me. Why do i need to install a gnome shell extension for even the most basic functionality that even MacOs has!?
Needing a GPU might be hyperbole, but no, it’ll still be slow on older hardware. It looks lightweight on neofetch since, at rest, the RAM will appear as low as XFCE’s, but it’s not nearly as snappy.
Actually I tried out KDE Plasma on my grandmother’s budget laptop from about the same time. It was a little too slow with default settings, but once I killed the animations (can be done in Settings app) it ran pretty well. It ran a whole hell of a lot better than the Windows it came with.
I also tested KDE vs XFCE in my old gaming computer, and I actually managed to get slightly less RAM usage in KDE than XFCE, so long as no plugins were used.
Both systems were tested with Debian 12. On the gaming PC, I actually used the XFCE iso, so it was installed first.
So depending on how your distro ships the default KDE Plasma settings or how you set it up, it actually can be a lightweight option compared with XFCE.
It’s all relative. Ubuntu desktop is minimal compared to Windows, and I’ve found KDE to run much better than default Ubuntu. It’s lightweight for how much it offers.
In my experience, it strongly depends. In my team at work, the biggest Linux nerd is on GNOME, basically because he doesn’t care where his TMUX session runs.
And I’m the guy with the most elaborate desktop workflow (tiling and 40+ virtual desktops among other aspects) and I wouldn’t want to use anything but KDE, because nothing else has as many features + customizability to support me in that workflow.
But yeah, both of us started out on such mainstream desktops, then spent multiple years checking out all other desktops and eventually found different paths back to the mainstream.
The philosophies of the two DEs are diametrically opposed. For example KDE will let you customize everything, they’d even let you customize their mothers of they could, while GNOME won’t let you customize anything, at least not without extensions that break every time GNOME updates.
KDE devs are also a lot less opinionated than GNOME devs. If they could, GNOME devs would question the use case of your clothes, conclude they’re useless and then strip you naked. KDE devs will be fine with whatever you’re wearing.
Now as you may have gathered I definitely prefer one over the other, but I do recognize some people may like GNOME for its simplicity, looks, flow and I even heard some like the lack of customization because it prevents them from getting distracted with tinkering. All in all use case depends on what you want to do with it, tho hopefully Cosmic DE beats the shit outta GNOME devs those damn pricks.
Don’t quote me on it, but I think they just scale to match the panel height, so I’d you shrink the panel the icons should shrink as well. I’ve used the xp style taskbar instead for a long time tho, so I’m not certain…
No you're right, it's mostly stereotypes that don't have any real world importance. From my intermediate POV, it comes down to GNOME being a resource hog which the 1337 H4X0Rz don't like. But with most modern systems having more than enough resources to spare, you're not likely to notice unless you're the sort to always have one eye on the system monitor pegged to your desktop. It's an argument for the sake of an argument. I use KDE btw.
It’s a different philosophy. KDE gives you a default setting, and all the options you need to fuck it up customize it.
Gnome gives you the default and an API for extensions to customize it. Install one of the big ones like V-Shell and you’ll have more options than you know what to do with.
Ughhh! Filthy casuals like you using the screen on a multimeter! I bet you don’t even staple the electrodes to your nipples! Probably use clamps instead 🙄
i actually kinda like gnome since gnome 40 release.
it still sucks to use on small displays like laptops tho due to all the padding everywhere
also gnome’s touchpad gestures and multi-desktop management is superior to that of kde.
Luckily Xfce exists which gives you back all of the configurability of old Gnome.
Move those panels around, add as many as you like!
Me, I’ve just looked at screenshots of old gnome and can’t remember why I ever thought 2 panels visible at all times were a good idea.
I love current gnome, cause with a single extension I can hide literally all of it until I need to bring it up with the super-button. And then I have my favorite apps, open windows, workspaces, systray, clock and a search field all visible at once.
I once installed Kubuntu on my laptop and when I booted it, it was very overwhelming to see so many options, I realized it would take me two or more days, and it feels extreme, and you also need the terminal a lot. That’s why I love Ubuntu GNOME, but it’s ok if you like KDE Plasma.
I installed a Fedora KDE Plasma spin and it enabled features on my laptop i didn’t know existed. It was nice. Windows 11 sucks. I’m happy to get rid of it.
Kinda depends: for me pretty much all de-s are complicated. I mean what happens when you want a de to do X? I used to go to settings/whatever, then google the problem in like 10 different ways when I inevitably don’t find it. And with wm-s you just search the wiki
Oh, I wouldn’t get on my high horse about that, Gnome apps used to be G- or Gnome-something for a long, long time.
Now they’re just some stock generic name that assumes “why would anyone ever use any other program for music except Music, or videos except Videos?”. Pretty much like Apple.
We wouldn’t have Safari (Webkit) or Chrome (Blink) today if it weren’t for Konqueror and KHTML! Webkit is a fork of KHTML, and Blink is a fork of Webkit.
Eh, my main reason for going KDE is every time I try Gnome, it feels like “what do I do now” and “where is the program I opened”
I know that would get better with time spent using it, but then again, KDE feels like I can make it do what I want a lot easier
And none of the other DEs look as nice and polished, which, I know, that’s not the important part … But dammit, I’m gonna be spending a lot of time staring at it, I’d like it to look good to me at least
The last time I was meaningfully using Linux was around the time of Ubuntu 8.04 - my experience was the opposite of this.
When I have the time, I’ll be dipping back in on Zorin (which I think defaults to modded KDE) - I’ve spun up VM, and it seems like it’s worth a shot… I just need to confirm it’ll play the small handful of games I play, find a slicer app, and pull the trigger. Damn near everything else is Web-based or self-hosted.
There’s a lot to be said for familiarity and its impact on productivity… Which is why I hate when UI layouts change for no apparent reason other than to be different.
Is the gnome we are talking about that one that for reaching the taskbar you have to move the mouse to the top of the screen and then immediately to the bottom every time?
I genuinely don’t know the last time I used the activities button, or the taskbar. To open activity view, I press super. To open programs, I search. To switch programs, I click on them in activity view
Yes, the one with great score when it comes to Fitt’s law which plays a huge role in UI design. When you put it that way it seems stupid to go from one edge to the other to reach an option. In reality it’s an easiest target to hit since it’s huge and requires no precision, edge to edge scroll.
For me as well, as I keep very low sensitivity. Am not even sure they imagined it being used like that most of the times. Am suspecting idea is to use Super key to open window preview and options are access from there. In that case it’s on average half of screen away.
But idea is there. Pretty much all OS designers implement this law in some way. Mac does it with their task bar and application menu. KDE, Windows and similar do it with theirs. However I understand your complaint that you’d have to scroll to the top then bottom, but doing so is easy.
If you aren’t using the super key to access that menu you are using gnome wrong imo. Three finger swipe on track pad is also a great way to access the same menu.
KDE is fuckin fantastic, but it aims to replicate the windows ui and workflow. If that’s what you want then I highly recommend it over gnome. But personally I don’t think that desktop UX should be stuck in the early 2000s Redmond style. Once I changed my habits to use my windows button on the keyboard instead of moving my mouse all over hell to access the menu it’s all I ever use. Mouse is just a fallback when the other hand is busy. I try every new KDE version because I kind of hate how the gnome devs act sometimes, but I can’t get used to that workflow anymore.
Agree to disagree I guess. I’ve tried changing the workflow in KDE to even resemble gnome and it just feels like you have to have a start menu with a taskbar. Sure, you could put that taskbar anywhere but it still operates the same as a windows 98 taskbar.
Maybe I’m just not used to the KDE way of doing things but next year will be my 20th anniversary of using Linux. I’ve tried every desktop environment and window manager. All of them.
I respect the KDE project but KDE makes me feel like I’m using a windows gui on top of Linux.
I use xfce nice clean simple and not overly complicated everytime I try a new desktop manager I find myself going back to xfce as they say keep it simple and cozy
How is XFCE nowadays? I am on KDE for the past ~3 years and been long-term XFCE user.
IMO biggest KDE advantage over XFCE is that everything literally works out of the box - audio, bluetooth, shortcuts (i hate setting up script yo turn on/off mousepad.
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