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1 • Deaktop environment (by Jules on 2023-11-20 02:01:50 GMT from Australia)
hi, I an mostly xfce on my 4 linux boxes.
On my one slackware box, it is plasma.
As long as I can do my computing work, each desktop environmet has it plus and minus points.
2 • D.E, (by DaveW on 2023-11-20 02:09:23 GMT from United States)
My main computer (daily driver) runs Linux Mint Mate. However, I have a secondary computer running Arco Linux with the Awesome window manager, so I can see if I like it enough to switch. So far, not enough.
3 • WM or DE (by zephyr on 2023-11-20 02:34:27 GMT from United States)
Of all fairness, both have attributes and features that separate them and yet define a perfectly needed and wanted distro characteristic choice for the user. Simplicity and minimalism window manager versus a full featured desktop environment. Wm's are usually very light and consume the least resources, while a DE is usually packed with a compliment of needed applications for several different purposes or needs. Many automated features like the menu, add and remove items.
My choice for a DE is XFCE with Devuan, and my all time favorite daily driver, and general tweaking and music listening, etc, I go with Openbox, although enjoy playing around with tiling window managers. Main reason I enjoy a Wm is for having only what I want and no other needed bloat than I can help.
4 • WM and Slackel Fonts (by Frank on 2023-11-20 03:00:07 GMT from Canada)
My main desktop is Debian+Cinnamon but I also have Openbox+Lxpanel installed and spend most of my time there, just for the fun of it, I've spent many a rainy afternoon creating openbox themes.
As far as fonts in Slackel I noticed you where using lxappearance. At the bottom of the widget tab is a control to chose and adjust system fonts, why it isn't under the fonts tab, I don't know.
5 • DE (by Bluecanary3 on 2023-11-20 03:36:23 GMT from United States)
I use Debian KDE Plasma on two systems. I've used full desktop environments for so long, that using a windows manager feels like taking a step backwards.
6 • full desktop thanks (by Rick on 2023-11-20 03:50:30 GMT from New Zealand)
I use Cinnamon mostly as it fits my needs. I have looked at some WMs, but they remind me too much of Unix's "X" in about 1995 or Windows 3.0. It is 2023, even my most basic machine is loaded with RAM to the gills and the CPU with fast clock cycles. Hey, give the thing something to do (even if it is 2% CPU and 1/16th of RAM).
Openbox was fun to look at and I used it on a minimalist project, so WMs have their place.
7 • KDE Plasma (by cor on 2023-11-20 04:20:25 GMT from United States)
Desktop and Laptops are all running Kubuntu 22.04.
8 • why I use Window Manager (by always-curious-about-FOSS on 2023-11-20 04:27:10 GMT from Germany)
What I particularly appreciate about the window managers is the many setting options that can be made in the editable configuration files. I am currently putting together my personal distrubition. Alpine Linux with JWM as window manager. This is really lightweight ! But this is a longer tinkering project. Especially the menu will be customized to my needs.
What I miss in the many hundreds of distrubitions is something like Sackel on wayland. On my every day driver I am using XFCE.
9 • DE of my choice (by Jyrki on 2023-11-20 04:36:59 GMT from Czechia)
Xfce everywhere
10 • another utility related to limiting CPU usage (by J.D. Laub on 2023-11-20 04:42:46 GMT from United States)
The "nice" command isn't what Pick-a-core-any-core is after, but it's worth a brief mention as related.
11 • A modern look and fell of Open Box (by always-curious-about-FOSS on 2023-11-20 05:17:55 GMT from Germany)
@6 you wrote: "but they remind me too much of Unix's "X" in about 1995 or Windows 3.0. It is 2023".
So what about the look and feel of NomadBSD? is it 1995 or 2023 ?
Yes the mostly deault configs of the WM are lookinging very vintage. But its possible changing them to a mordern look and feel.
12 • Cinnamon (by Friar Tux on 2023-11-20 05:20:25 GMT from Canada)
It's Cinnamon (Linux Mint/Cinnamon) for me. When I first started in Linux I always used KDE. Then, a couple of years back, KDE just stopped working so I went hunting for another DE. I found Cinnamon and fell in love with it. Everything about it works exactly like I want it to. And the CSS theme files are easily tweaked in a text editor. I also use the "Applets" and "Desklets" quite extensively.
I have experimented with ICEwm off and on, as it seems to be a pretty good second choice, though I will definitely need to get used to their settings menu (a bit confusing for me). And then there is Window Maker. I've played with that, off and on. It kind of cool to play with, but, as yet it's only a toy.
The most unusual DE/WM I've toyed with - and I actually really like - is Eagle Mode. There is no actual file manager like most Linux distros, but, from the desktop screen, you zoom into any file on your computer. Infinite zooming, right down, through your various directories to that text file you're wanting to read, or the picture you want to see. Interesting concept.
13 • Slackel (by mnrv-ovrf-year-c on 2023-11-20 05:57:19 GMT from Puerto Rico)
Thank you for the review about Slackel! This was very much needed, in part to lift up the conception about 30-year-old Slackware. One thing that one has to keep in mind, while using this distro, is that if you choose to use GSlapt/slapt-get, sometimes you will not be allowed to finish an update, because repository information has to be updated. But please be patient, come back in a few hours or so and try again. :)
It's recommended to choose the "full" installation even if you're a power-user. Because the "basic" installation requires manually including "mpg123" which for some reason is a dependency for ALSA. Freshly installed with "basic" installation choice, the distro comes up with no sound. You have been warned.
The MATE "group" is not complete, it seems; I have tried to replace uncomfortable Openbox/LXQt combination with MATE desktop, but it acts funny. While installing it complains about deprecated XML domain names. :/ Right now I must keep around PCManFM if I want desktop icons and wallpaper. Without it I can only execute "nitrogen" at least to get the wallpaper. Rely then on the panel borrowed from Fluxbox.
The distro no longer has problems with the touchpad like around v7.5, on my 12-year-old HP computer. I have gone into it about 30 times at least. I have 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the operating system now. I like the bridge wallpaper. <3 Many thanks to "djemos" and others for bringing us this distribution.
14 • Found my happy place (by Devlin7 on 2023-11-20 06:21:49 GMT from New Zealand)
Not sure how to answer this weeks survey. I run i3 with xfce components. I like i3 tabbed view and tiling but cannot stand wasting ram or time on configuring my own bars. Memory usage is low at around 280Mb at boot, it is stable and fast. The xfce bar does the job nicely.
15 • WM or DE (by nsp0323 on 2023-11-20 06:24:08 GMT from Sweden)
I haven't used a full DE in 6 years and won't go back to one.
When I was using a DE, I always found things I don't like or, want.
16 • window manager (by Klaus Schilling on 2023-11-20 06:35:20 GMT from Germany)
I boycott desktop environments rigorously at any cost and run Ratpoison, which has no similarities with the perverse abominations of a windows or macos UI, such as window decorations, panels, mouse-driven administration, and icons.
17 • DE doesn't mean excluding WMs (by and large on 2023-11-20 07:27:11 GMT from Italy)
I use XFCE as it's what's closest to my ideal of desktop solution, and that's because I have kept a strong feeling for CDE and tried hard to replicate that in my Debian context (I know, now CDE is available in a way, but it's not a piece of cake).
But I used to experiment with many light WMs in the past, especially Fluxbox, WindowMaker, FVWM, AfterStep or Enlightenment (whose E17 "radio" theme was wonderful), and if they weren't so hard to get updates I might as well stick to one of them. Lucky enough modern computers are fast enough not to need a low-load solution at any cost.
Anyway, I do consider keeping a WM as a contingency solution a good idea for any customer. Nothing can avoid breaking down once in a while.
18 • Window Manager versus Desktop Environment (by eb on 2023-11-20 08:21:53 GMT from France)
Formely -when I was a newbie- I appreciated KDE for it was powerful, comfortable, and Windows-like ; but it was heavy, bloated and slow. Thanks to Slackware, I discovered Fluxbox, afterwards Openbox and Ratpoison, that allow me to run Linux on old machines that remain really fast and nice.
According to me, the goal of Linux is not Desktop Environment !
19 • WM or DE? (by Dr.J on 2023-11-20 08:36:05 GMT from Germany)
If I use something, there must be a good reason for it. And to date, I have found absolutely no reasons for the popular DE.
Openbox gives me everything I need. It's simple (only three configuration files) and above all - reliable. There are no superfluous programs, functions, widgets, dependencies, etc. I don't have to install 26 other programs to get anything running, like with KDE. I am also not tempted to spend days dealing with the visual designs and the 100 possibilities with which I can move windows to a corner of the desktop or wherever I want.
Instead: a black screen, Conky and a right-click menu. That's all I need.
Of course, it is debatable whether the openbox syntax of the menu file still has a place in the 21st century. In my opinion, yes it has. Because these configuration files are still the basis of our computer systems. GUIs are just a kind of facade. Sometimes useful, sometimes superfluous.
20 • Miscellaneous News (by Borgio3 on 2023-11-20 09:35:50 GMT from Italy)
Canonical introducing MicroCloud... It is clear that Microsoft is the new owner of Linux and its users' data. Vomiting.
21 • Question of the week (by César E. M. R. on 2023-11-20 10:58:56 GMT from Chile)
Hellow!
I use Debian 11 with Mate in my desktop and laptop, HP both.
Saludos desde Santiago de Chile.
22 • KDE (by CopyLeft on 2023-11-20 11:41:33 GMT from Croatia)
there is no choice in linux/unix DE.
There is KDE, and that's it. Everything else, not worth of mention
23 • DE (by kc1di on 2023-11-20 12:16:12 GMT from United States)
I prefer KDE then Cinnamon then XFCE4
Don't mess with WM's though have in the past Still can not like Gnome no matter how hard I try. But the one thing that I like most is in Linux, we have choices. Currently run PClinuxOS KDE/plasma.
24 • Desktop (by James on 2023-11-20 12:34:24 GMT from United States)
I run the Mate desktop which is based off the old Gnome2, the most traditional desktop.
I am a also a total GUI guy, and eschew the terminal as much as I can. If I can't, I have some simple command cheat sheets to copy and paste. I am old and never learned to type beyond hunt and peck. Linux works great for me though. The only command I find indispensable is "sudo dpkg --configure -a" to fix broken packages if an upgrade gets interrupted for some reason.
25 • Window Manager (by Tim on 2023-11-20 13:05:38 GMT from United States)
I run a Window Manager with Arch Linux. For years, I used Openbox, but around 2020 I switched to Awesome.
I managed UNIX systems at work since the very early days, so I am very comfortable with commands and command line applications. I don't even have a file manager installed.
26 • WM or DE? (by crayola-eater on 2023-11-20 13:12:18 GMT from United States)
Totally agree @19
I like to, and hardware-wise need to, keep it simple...
My main concessions to the bling world are a tint2 bar to keep me on course, a jgmenu system to map it out, and a feh background image to keep me inspired.
Yep, decadent me.
27 • Full desktop environments, no doubts (by Random on 2023-11-20 13:27:07 GMT from Italy)
I use KDE (which is not as heavy as many people say). For older computers you can use LXDE/LXQt.
28 • Poll (by ned on 2023-11-20 13:29:22 GMT from Austria)
After 20+ years of Linux Devuan+XFCE has turned out to be the most easy and reliable for me.
The concept of tiling WM's looks appealing, and so now I'm also experimenting a bit with i3, but as yet can't say if it's an improvement for me or not.
29 • Poll (by Some Random User on 2023-11-20 13:33:02 GMT from United States)
While you have Window manager vs full desktop environment, you are missing the option of command line only as certain users will not use any GUI.
30 • Window manager or full desktop environment? (by Geo. on 2023-11-20 14:02:56 GMT from Canada)
🌳 Mostly Mint with a DE, but I have one (soon to be two) machines with Bodhi running Moksha (Enlightenment) which is a compositing window manager, but it surely does behave like a full DE. My hat's off to the Bodhi team, they revived two old computers that would have otherwise been scrapped. Thank you Bodhi.
31 • DE (by John Wayne on 2023-11-20 14:37:38 GMT from Spain)
Xfce always and everywhere: "Feo, Fuerte y Formal."
32 • Desktop environment (by David on 2023-11-20 15:48:09 GMT from United Kingdom)
I need to be able to use multiple keyboard drivers and I could never get that to implement well (if at all) with a window manager, so I use Xfce. That runs equally well on my modern desktop computer and my 20-year-old Pentium M laptop.
33 • Gnome is my desktop environment. (by gdtp on 2023-11-20 15:57:26 GMT from Norway)
I like Gnome DE, along with Dash-To-Panel extension, which is similar to macOS. I wish MX linux and LMDE also have Gnome DE.
Note: xcalib for color inversion is not supported on Wayland Gnome.
34 • Slackel - Graphical package manager (by Rayburn on 2023-11-20 18:07:09 GMT from United Kingdom)
Thank you Jesse for the review of Slackel this week, very fair as always. Just one point I would make regarding my Slackel installation, I have the Gslapt package manager listed in the menu under 'System', and so far I have found it to work very well.
I use Fluxbox or Openbox on all my systems, and find them to be both configurable and light. No need for a DE as others have said.
35 • xWindow Manager (by Dan on 2023-11-20 19:00:55 GMT from United States)
As a long time 4MLinux user, JWM has been my Window Manager of choice.
36 • DE features vs WM simplicity (by Novid on 2023-11-20 20:04:13 GMT from Iran)
I think it all depends on hardware capabilities which you're running the distribution. For me, it was the choice of full-featured solutions such as GNOME and KDE and in the case of limited hardware capabilities, I focus on Xfce and LXQt. Although there are situations in which lightweight window managers run better than others.
Unless you're running a server, embedded device or cloud instance, the choice of GUIs is what you're more comfortable with.
37 • Window manager (by WolfA on 2023-11-20 20:37:20 GMT from United States)
I've been running Arch with xmonad for several years now. It's light and doesn't get in my way.
38 • Plasma (by BirAdam on 2023-11-20 20:43:43 GMT from United States)
A while ago, I was having some issues with the Steam flatpak performance on my Slackware 15 box. At first, I thought it was something with the older kernel series, so I compiled the 6.5 kernel and tried that. No change. Then I thought, maybe there is some weird issue with sessioning and XDG and all that. Tried Plasma instead of MWM. No change. Then I thought, maybe it's just X11. So, I fired up the "Full Wayland" session of Plasma, and everything magically "just works." At this point, I suppose I will be using Wayland and Plasma unless/until the KDE folks mess it up.
39 • The quality of the DE (Desktop Environment) seems to vary with the distro (by Andre Gompel on 2023-11-20 21:14:16 GMT from Poland)
I use mostly Fedora (now 39) a stable reliable distro.
On Fedora, the "standard" is GNOME 3.... which I really dislike !
Gnome 2 was simple functional, and so is MATE (DE) on Fedora, fortunately there is a spin with MATE (for ever !).
On Fedora (38, 39) MATE just works, and so does the latest XFCE, so I use MATE.
I admit being impressed by KDE Plasma, but on Fedora, there are still many annoying glitches.
KDE seems to be never finished, maybe upcoming 6.0 will change this perception ?
I have used it (not a lot) with (latest) Manjaro, not bad, not enough to have an enlighten opinion.
---
This is to emphasis that there seems to be a nexus between Distro-Apps (therefore Distro-Desktop)
So please try to specify (some do) both Bistro-DE (with DE version level) as you post about this.
---
LxQt seemed promising, but may just lack support, and even worst that KDE it may never come to maturity: it has been a while !
----
I remember the good old time, of CDE I used daily on both Sun Workstations, and (wonderful!) Silicon Graphic workstation. It was simple to use, and it just worked.
---
I also dig Mark Twain, but other's aphorisms too.
That's all.
40 • DE/WM (by Otis on 2023-11-20 21:49:27 GMT from United States)
MX Linux with XFCE is swift, clean, customizable perfection. 'Nuff said. ;o)
41 • Poll question (by Jacob Alexander Tice on 2023-11-20 22:01:48 GMT from United States)
Right now I'm on Arch with GNOME.
42 • DEs (by Wally on 2023-11-21 02:17:28 GMT from Australia)
Ubuntu GNOME and KDE neon, configured to suit me.
43 • DEs (by Brett on 2023-11-21 03:06:30 GMT from United States)
Fedora - KDE Plasma. As someone who cut his computing teeth on CLIs, I've always had a vague dislike of GUIs. But earlier this year I started using Plasma and I can't say enough good things about it. I still spend a good part of my day in the terminal, though ;)
44 • Restricting CPU usage (by Alexandru on 2023-11-21 07:27:30 GMT from Romania)
Thank you Jesse for sharing the information about limiting a process to certain CPU or limiting CPU resources. The commands 'taskset' and 'cpulimit' are new for me, and they are useful. I would think of 'nice' and 'renice' commands, but they serve slightly different purpose.
45 • XFCE (by Matt on 2023-11-21 08:25:42 GMT from United States)
XFCE for everything. No reason to change.
46 • i3wm (by jazzfelix on 2023-11-21 09:08:02 GMT from Germany)
i3wm with dmenu and i3status - on all my machines.
I started using i3 on my laptop only because I don't like laptop mice. The keybindings of i3 make you nearly never use your mouse. Also i3 does not take up a lot of space (no window borders, full screen possible for every window). Perfect for laptop usage. I am now so used to the fast way of launching apps via dmenu and the shortcuts for handling windows and virtual desktops that I use i3 even on my desktop with a big screen. At my work there is unfortunately no way getting around MS Windows. I tried i3 replacements there, but did not find any satisfying yet. Honestly I have no idea why I could possibly need a DE. They would just slow down my workflow. Although Gnome has very good keybindings which make it easy to handle but in the end it is much slower and less responsive. Also for me there is no feature Gnome offers that I would miss in i3/dmenu/i3status.
47 • Debian+XFCE (by Dino on 2023-11-21 10:22:27 GMT from Denmark)
I used to use Cinnamon for a long time, and it was great. Now, I am using Debian and XFCE on my main computer, and Devuan + XFCE on my laptop. Such a powerful combination of Debian and XFCE. Almost unbreakable.
48 • Desktop Enviro poll (by Mike Grossberg on 2023-11-21 13:31:35 GMT from United States)
The only reason I put up with DE bloat (currently tolerating Plasma) is that I want removable drives to be EASY to find and a REASONABLE (mixer, brightness, network on/off, bluetooth on/off) set of system tray icons.
Really, hardware detection and control should not depend on the choice of desktop enviro, but be handled at a lower level by the kernel and present some standardized API. Instead there is this userland hodge-podge of junk and init systems: hald, dbus, openrc, systemd, etc., and a bunch of high-maintenance GUI frontends for each DE.
Linux was better when there were just window managers; before KDE and Gnome started escalating GUI silliness (and duplicated effort) to a friggin' jihad-like frenzy.
If it weren't a pain to set up reliable net and USB behavior, I would probably just use FVWM and WindowMaker all the time.
49 • KDE (by Derek on 2023-11-21 16:22:20 GMT from United Kingdom)
Running KDE on Debian 12 and Kubuntu 22.04 LTS. Fedora 39 soon.
50 • Desktop type (by Jan on 2023-11-21 16:57:23 GMT from The Netherlands)
In last weks I have tried a large amount of distros in live situation on old hardware (but 8 GB + SSD).
I concluded that on old hardware the common idea that fast ->slow = XFCE->Mate->Cinnamon->Gnome is not that so valid (I did not test LXDE and LQDE).
I used the ability of real smooth scrolling in Firefox as a judgement.
For example: Fedora Workstation (latest Gnome) behaves more smooth than any spin (so what are the spins for, apart from that Fedora Workstation has an uncomfortable user interface?).
MX-XFCE does not run smooth at all.
However Mint Mate runs slightly smoother than Mint Cinnamon, that fits the old idea.
51 • DE OR WM (by Hank on 2023-11-21 17:47:03 GMT from Germany)
ICEWM on all my machines, old and new, liteweight for older hardware,
lightning fast on new machines.
52 • can be changed (by Rick on 2023-11-21 20:20:49 GMT from New Zealand)
@11 yes, :) the 1995 can be changed to look more 2023. Why is it then not supplied like this out of the box? Cinnamon, on Manjaro and especially in its home-base Mint, is 100% out of the box ready to impress. I'm not a basement Linux tinkerer, I install and then expect the machine to be productive for actual work.
Its like why Manjaro? Because its (mostly) stablised Arch without the tinkering to get it even set up. Fine for a coding hobbyist to tinker for 2 weeks under the hood and proudly unveil their Slackware or Arch purist computer, but some of us use these electronic toasters for work. /end-rant-more :)
[insert image of potato or cat here]
53 • @52 (by mandog on 2023-11-21 21:28:43 GMT from Peru)
Its like why Manjaro? Because its (mostly) stablised Arch without the tinkering to get it even set up. Fine for a coding hobbyist to tinker for 2 weeks under the hood and proudly unveil their Slackware or Arch purist computer, but some of us use these electronic toasters for work. /end-rant-more :)
If it takes you 2 weeks to setup Arch linux v Manjaro you need to give up on life.
54 • xfce (by Dan on 2023-11-22 00:40:16 GMT from United States)
I use xfce for any new install. I loved CrunchBang with OpenBox back in the day, but xfce just works.
55 • WM vs DE (by John on 2023-11-22 01:29:26 GMT from United States)
I really do not like Desktop Environments, but recently tried XFCE and that seems to be one I could use if Linux obsoletes X.
I am mostly in fvwm on Slackware, that suites all my needs.
56 • Desktop type (by Ennio on 2023-11-22 09:40:46 GMT from The Netherlands)
Since the latest release a month ago I'm on WindowMaker. Well, no compositing but could be an excuse to feel younger...
57 • Slackel on Qemu (by Ben on 2023-11-22 13:19:00 GMT from Brazil)
Enter on text mode ,login and digit 'sudo lightdm' , simply works well..
58 • Slackel (by Blinded on 2023-11-22 13:38:03 GMT from United States)
Easily the ugliest implementation of OpenBox I ever saw. Like if some retired 75-year-old engineers got nostalgic or couldn't recognize the calendar numbers anymore. We live in 2023, not in 1973. WM, OK, but not if it looks like "MX-design".
Regardless of its appearance, the basic configuration is also completely wrong. Why is the Conky shown on the FBPanel ('taskbar')?
Why does the start menu cover the starters on the FBPanel?
LightDM or GDM?
FBPanel start menu shows LightDM; OpenBox shows GDM.
The distro icon is also a 'masterpiece' on its own. It is not centered, it has no proper padding, and it has a black background. If you cut the black part out, you end up with white instead of a transparent background. It seems like that icon started its life as a JPG.
https://ibb.co/8YNjcT0
If someone gave it just a little bit of love, it would quickly look much better. Quick fix for the icon, add some padding on FBPanel, set some nicer wallpaper, and get rid of that ugly conky, and it already looks much more acceptable.
59 • MATE Desktop (by pepa65 on 2023-11-22 14:21:50 GMT from Thailand)
Ever since Gnome2/3 became unusable, it's been MATE for me, it's the only one that can do all I want. Formerly Ubuntu MATE, now Linux Mint.
60 • @50 desktop type (by Kazlu on 2023-11-22 17:38:03 GMT from France)
"I concluded that on old hardware the common idea that fast ->slow = XFCE->Mate->Cinnamon->Gnome is not that so valid. I used the ability of real smooth scrolling in Firefox as a judgement."
Well that's why! Firefox is not part of any DE and as such not a good benchmark for performance of the DE. At most, it can say how much LEFT power is available to the computer when the DE is taken are of. Generally speaking, Firefox running a website will be sluggish compared to any DE manipulation on old hardware.
A more accurate benchmark would be, for example, to open the default file manager and scroll through it. Or set up a list of tasks like browsing the file system with the file manager, copy/past a file, and then open the web browser.
And like you noticed, when benchmarking Firefox, the OS has more of an impact than the DE you're using.
61 • DE (by Kazlu on 2023-11-22 17:46:01 GMT from France)
Good to see a large variety in user's choice when it comes to the inferface we use for our computers!
I have settled on Xfce and MX Linux (currently trial running Spiral, I mean Debian). Be it on my capable desktop or my aging eeePC, Xfce does the job very well. MX Linux fills the wholes of plain Xfce in functionnality. I need something snappy, KDE and GNOME are too sluggish for me. On the eeePC, anything is sluggish, but Xfce is good enough, I would not gain much my going with something lighter so why bother? I need something simple, what I have works and I don't see any reason to go through a learning curve for a new interface to tweak it just like I want it.
I could easily use MATE, maybe LXQt with a little digging, mayyyyybe Cinnamon, and find my peace as well. But so far, no need to change.
62 • Desktop type @60 Kazlu (by Jan on 2023-11-22 20:34:09 GMT from The Netherlands)
Thanks for your explanation.
However for me using an internet browser, with a pleasant reading behaviour on an opened site, is THE application where it is all about. And not if linux with its DE is fast or slow.
And as mentioned by my original message, its clear that on this there is a difference between the several linuxes and DE's.
63 • No DE, no File Manager ! (by eb on 2023-11-23 07:57:44 GMT from France)
@25 : Hi Tim, you wrote : "I don't even have a file manager installed."
I am very impressed, and I think you hold the truth.
Please what is your terminal emulator ?
Mine is Xterm, and I love Midnight Commander.
Kind regards.
64 • @63 (by Simon on 2023-11-23 09:33:03 GMT from New Zealand)
I'm assuming you can't touch-type. Otherwise there are hardly any situations in which a file manager is easier than a terminal. Why on earth would you e.g. click on a column to sort by extension, and then click on one file, scroll down and shift-click on another, right click the selection and click delete... when you can type rm *mp3 in less than a second? Nearly everything that can be done with a file manager is a lot quicker and easier in BASH.
There are a few exceptions, like handling media where a GUI file manager's thumbnails can make much it easier to identify particular files than reading through lists of filenames. Most of the time though, a file manager is just a layer of unnecessary mouse movement and clicking that slows everything down.
I imagine it's different if you can't touch-type though: I can see how dragging an icon from one window to another would be faster if typing something as simple as mv filename dirname takes you several seconds.
65 • Blinden @58 (by Ennio on 2023-11-23 15:09:08 GMT from The Netherlands)
Dedoimedo on Slackel?
66 • WM vs Full DE poll (by Thomas on 2023-11-23 15:18:33 GMT from France)
Isn't it a bit biased ?
I have several machines. Most of them using DE. However there are some that don't. Either CLI or WM depending on the purpose of the machine and its hardware capabilities.
67 • DWM (by Andy Prough on 2023-11-24 03:25:58 GMT from United States)
The DWM window manager is my preferred graphical environment, due to its ultra lightweight memory and CPU usage and its intuitive dynamic tiling and vim-like keyboard shortcuts.
68 • herbstluftwm (by anticapitalista on 2023-11-24 13:58:20 GMT from Greece)
herbstluftwm is my preferred tiling window manager.
It is not the lightest tiler, but works better for me than dwm.
69 • GNOME (by why-oh-why on 2023-11-24 19:33:28 GMT from The Netherlands)
Pure GNOME 45, no extensions.
70 • Gnome DE (by Pistolero on 2023-11-24 19:44:24 GMT from United States)
I prefer Gnome and Wayland.
https://ibb.co/MPTrnq1
Number of Comments: 70
Display mode: DWW Only • Comments Only • Both DWW and Comments
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| • Issue 1156 (2026-01-19): Chimera Linux's new installer, using the DistroWatch Torrent Corner, new package tools for Arch, Haiku improves EFI support, Redcore streamlines branches, Synex introduces install-time ZFS options |
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| • Issue 1117 (2025-04-14): Shebang 25.0, EndeavourOS 2025.03.19, running applications from other distros on the desktop, Debian gets APT upgrade, Mint introduces OEM options for LMDE, postmarketOS packages GNOME 48 and COSMIC, Redox testing USB support |
| • Issue 1116 (2025-04-07): The Sense HAT, Android and mobile operating systems, FreeBSD improves on laptops, openSUSE publishes many new updates, Fedora appoints new Project Leader, UBports testing VoLTE |
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| • Issue 1112 (2025-03-10): Solus 4.7, distros which work with Secure Boot, UBports publishes bug fix, postmarketOS considers a new name, Debian running on Android |
| • Issue 1111 (2025-03-03): Orbitiny 0.01, the effect of Ubuntu Core Desktop, Gentoo offers disk images, elementary OS invites feature ideas, FreeBSD starts PinePhone Pro port, Mint warns of upcoming Firefox issue |
| • Issue 1110 (2025-02-24): iodeOS 6.0, learning to program, Arch retiring old repositories, openSUSE makes progress on reproducible builds, Fedora is getting more serious about open hardware, Tails changes its install instructions to offer better privacy, Murena's de-Googled tablet goes on sale |
| • Issue 1109 (2025-02-17): Rhino Linux 2025.1, MX Linux 23.5 with Xfce 4.20, replacing X.Org tools with Wayland tools, GhostBSD moving its base to FreeBSD -RELEASE, Redox stabilizes its ABI, UBports testing 24.04, Asahi changing its leadership, OBS in dispute with Fedora |
| • Issue 1108 (2025-02-10): Serpent OS 0.24.6, Aurora, sharing swap between distros, Peppermint tries Void base, GTK removinglegacy technologies, Red Hat plans more AI tools for Fedora, TrueNAS merges its editions |
| • Issue 1107 (2025-02-03): siduction 2024.1.0, timing tasks, Lomiri ported to postmarketOS, Alpine joins Open Collective, a new desktop for Linux called Orbitiny |
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| • Issue 1105 (2025-01-20): CentOS 10 Stream, old Flatpak bundles in software centres, Haiku ports Iceweasel, Oracle shows off debugging tools, rsync vulnerability patched |
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Inquisitor
Inquisitor was an open-source hardware diagnostics, stress testing, certification and monitoring system, suitable for both enterprise and home use. Based on Debian/GNU Linux, it was customizable, modular and available in both serverless live CD/DVD format and server-controlled network boot production system.
Status: Discontinued
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