122
jchw
8y

Not sure what Linux Desktop to use? Use this handy guide:

- GNOME: when you want no tray icons, themes that break every minor GTK release, and extensions for basic features (that are buggy.)
- KDE: pretty go-Segmentation Fault
- DWM/Awesome/i3/etc.: when you feel like the time you spent learning Vim wasn't wasteful enough
- XFCE: when you want one update per decade and poor Systemd support.
- LXQt: the biggest positive is that it doesn't use GTK.
- Cinnamon: when you like GNOME 3 but you want a different menu
- Deepin: when you want a desktop with the build quality of an HP laptop.

Aren't sure whether to use Xorg or Wayland?

- Xorg: if you want to absurdly fuck up your touchscreen, pick this one.
- Wayland: if you want to screw up most of your apps, too bad; this won't work with your proprietary drivers. If only it did.

What distro to use?

- Ubuntu: if you want to break your system with PPAs, check out this one.
- Debian: when you want Ubuntu except with more out of date packages
- Redhat: when you want Debian except with more out of date packages
- ElementaryOS: wait, someone actually made a properly designed Linux UI?
- Arch Linux: the only thing that doesn't make me sick anymore.
- Slackware: "that exists still really?"
- Gentoo: when you hate systemd more than waiting 4 days to compile Firefox on every release.

... I love Linux. I do. But it is very taxing to get things comfortable for me anymore. I feel like the Linux Desktop is in a period of flux and it's painful to be a part of right now.

Comments
  • 21
    i3 works perfectly, fucks up nothing, the only thing I agree, is that it needs 3 to 4 hours to configure it properly :/
  • 14
    I spent some time distro hopping, and I felt the same way you do now. Then I decided to install Arch with i3 and I haven't looked back. I have solid installations let me program and do whatever I want, without that nagging feeling of missing out on a cooler DE or distro. Much recommended.
  • 25
    i3 is great, but I'm on Cinnamon at the moment. You can name your battery in Cinnamon! Awesome feature. I named mine Bernard the Battery.
  • 9
    One can never say one Linux distro beats all other. It depends on individual choice, liking and need. And I think that is for the best, than having one so called best distro.
  • 0
    There is also the lumina desktop you could check.. :)
  • 1
    +1 for xmonad, I'm never going back :)
  • 5
    +1 for Elementary and Arch.😁
  • 1
    Desktop: fvwm
  • 0
    Elementary is great, going to start using it on a laptop soon.
  • 1
    Its a pitty there are so many choices, but none is polished enough, although in my experience KDE is getting there (jesus those fkin glowing windows everywhere some time ago...)
  • 8
    As a vim/i3 user I am so triggered right now.
  • 2
    Ubuntu && i3 has been heaven for me
  • 0
    @Jop- built for bsd primarily, yes. But it does compile cross platform without too much hassle :)
  • 0
    I want to try apricity OS (another lazy arch) someday. I also dream of mastering i3 though
  • 7
    Once you use i3 for a week or so, it becomes second nature, and it really makes you at least twice as fast at everything. That, vim, and the vimium plugin for chrome, which gives you vim bindings for the browser so you can do 99% of what you do with the keyboard.
  • 1
    -Backtrack 5 when your a "pro" hacker
  • 2
    I've been using the deepinDE for around a year now. (Probably the longest I have stayed with a single de)

    I love it.

    The current version (at least on the Manjaro repos) has a bit of a modern Mac feel.

    I never liked the out of the box visual experience of Elementary OS. Always ended up twerking it for hours on end. The deepinDE is just what I want out of the box.

    My only complaint is the default file manager and image viewer. It's kinda a half baked experience.
    But the DE is solid and that's all I care about.

    And yes, if you were wondering, I did have a nerdgasm over the blur.
  • 1
    it is too complicated! fufufuufufufuffu xD
  • 0
    Gentoo is great because it's "hackable". It has a nice source code.
  • 0
    @Gatgeagent And some amounts of time to perfect it :)
  • 1
    @brainlessdev Confirm, That is my setup too. Using desktop + Moving app window and browsing web at the speed of vim right now xD (a further more faster, if you like me -> cli freaks)
  • 2
    Elementary OS has the best UI I've ever used on Linux but the distro is still kinda buggy.
  • 1
    KDE is not as buggy as you might think. It got really good lately
  • 1
    It's been years at this point that gnome-shell has memory leak issue, I love gnome 3 but this really sucks, system UI becomes laggy, no matter what machine it's being run on.
  • 0
    @ktor checking in after 6 years of xmonading, happy user still :)
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