Member Avatar for jleach45

I recently noticed in my packages I did not install KDE or Gnome. Does it matter? Which is best. Is there any optimization for Linux like in Windows? Thanks:lol:

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Short, practical answer: not having KDE or GNOME installed isn’t a problem — many Linux installs intentionally ship with no full desktop. Which is “best” depends on what you want from a GUI (deep configurability vs a focused workflow). Trying both is a sensible approach (as suggested), but do it in a way that won’t overwrite your main user settings: boot a live image or create a throwaway user for tests. (wiki.archlinux.org)

What to expect today: KDE is shipped as “KDE Plasma” — a modular, highly configurable Qt-based workspace with lots of integrated tools; GNOME is delivered around GNOME Shell and a design-driven, integrated workflow (Mutter/Wayland). They represent different UX philosophies rather than a strict “faster vs better” choice, so prefer the one that matches how you work (this echoes points made by and ). (kde.org)

How to try or install safely (examples for common distros). Use the minimal meta-packages and avoid recommended extras if you want a smaller footprint:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install --no-install-recommends kde-plasma-desktop
sudo apt install --no-install-recommends gnome-shell gnome-session

On Fedora:

sudo dnf groupinstall "KDE Plasma Workspaces"

Using --no-install-recommends and the distro’s minimal KDE/GNOME task packages keeps installs smaller and easier to remove later. When testing multiple DEs, use a separate test user so desktop settings/themes don’t collide. (wiki.debian.org)

Simple optimizations and troubleshooting tips: choose a lighter DE (Xfce) for old hardware; measure with top/htop; stop unneeded services with systemctl disable --now <unit>; and for debugging you can start a session from a TTY via ~/.xinitrc (for Plasma use exec startplasma-x11, for GNOME exec gnome-session). Example ~/.xinitrc snippet:

# ~/.xinitrc
# exec startplasma-x11
# or
# exec gnome-session

These manual-start techniques and the trade-offs between DEs are documented in distro and wiki guides. (xfce.org)

Recommended Answers

All 19 Replies

Member Avatar for floris

Hi there,

KDE and Gnome are nice GUI desktops which help you browse your OS like Windows does.

Gnome looks nice, but KDE 3.x is looking really nice. I have always used KDE, it feels and operates more professional to me. So I prefer that.

Good luck!


My vote goes to KDE

Member Avatar for jleach45

Thanks for your input...Joe L.

Member Avatar for floris

No problem.

There are a lot of programs that say they are for Gnome, but they work perfectly ok on KDE. And on almost any 16mb+ video card it looks amazing.

Member Avatar for Dominick

vote for gnome in 2k4 ;)

Member Avatar for b0x

ya, gnome rulz! :)

Member Avatar for Tekmaven

:idea: Just install both... and decide for yourself

Member Avatar for twilli227

quote:
Just install both... and decide for yourself

Good point Tekmaven, I installed both to see what they both offered. I have migrated to kde, just didn't like the feel of gnome.

Member Avatar for Zachery

when i was running mandranke i chose KDE as it had more of a windowish feel :) dunno if thats a good thing or not, but i felt more at home with it

Member Avatar for brainchasm

Glad to see you already made your decision by testing both, so this information will be rhetorical at best.

KDE has been historically known for doing "latest and greatest" as far as features. They try to sit on the bleeding edge of their niche, that being GUIs for *nix.

Gnome is their opposite in a way, as Gnome has shown that they will not implement something into their GUI until it is for all intents and purposes, bug-free. This is not to say that bugs aren't present, but that they have a very long incubation time on anything they consider introducing.

It's two schools of thought, and neither is necessarily better, it's just about your needs and how you work.

When installing Mandrake, I've always chosen KDE because it seemed "smoother" to me, and I knew where everything was since the first time I tried it.


BC

Member Avatar for TheOgre

Don't forget that there are other window managers available, like BlackBox, Window Maker, and a ton of others that aren't as "heavy" as Gnome or KDE. Both KDE and Gnome are great for various reasons, but they are by no means the end-all be-all of window managers.

Member Avatar for WEATHER CHANNEL

Add on, dont forget about FluxBox I run it on my laptop it is so quick!


cheers

Member Avatar for Sphyenx

From what ive read, gnome is also good for people with diabilities (blindness), were it will make sounds, its very interesting. I dont know why, ive never met a blind techie, well not yet. KDE, is just good looking, Gnomes great too, but ive always went KDE my self. Please do not forget gnome is very cosimzable as previously mentioned.

Member Avatar for Kamex

I use both alternately. Overall, I think KDE is better, but I use GNOME once in a while because I get tired of KDE. From what I hear, GNOME is easier for people switching from Mac OS, whereas KDE is easier for people switching from Windows.

I've heard many recommendations that users start with KDE, then decide if they like GNOME better once they're more comfortable with Linux, and from my limited experience, I think this is the way to go.

Member Avatar for kc0arf

Hello,

Wow. An old thread!

GNOME seems to me to be more speedy, and less extras on it, whereas KDE seems to have more bells and whistles, such as Palm stuff and Games.

I usually install both, and go with GNOME. I think on my next box, however, I will go with KDE, because I want to do more different things with linux. I work with RedHat / Fedora systems.

But for strict performance over VNC, TWM still wins hands down.

Christian

Member Avatar for jbennet

I have an older PC and use GNOME insted of KDE for its speed as i has less bells and whistles and ocasionally sawmill.

However, I upgraded from FC1 to FC4 (with GNOME 2.0) and things have changed alot.

I would ahve to say that KDE is easier to configure and has more extras but GNOME is a solid, reliable, good looking desktop.

Member Avatar for alc6379

Hello,

Wow. An old thread!

GNOME seems to me to be more speedy, and less extras on it, whereas KDE seems to have more bells and whistles, such as Palm stuff and Games.

I usually install both, and go with GNOME. I think on my next box, however, I will go with KDE, because I want to do more different things with linux. I work with RedHat / Fedora systems.

But for strict performance over VNC, TWM still wins hands down.

Christian

I'm in line with Christian on this one. Maybe I'm just apathetic, but I don't care what WM I'm in. The main criteria I use is "Can I quickly open a terminal in it?" Most of the time, that means I just use the default WM of the distro. Since I'm running Debian quite a bit now, that usually turns out to be Gnome.

To throw in my US$.02 regardng VNC performance, I'm going to have to shoot for ion (http://modeemi.cs.tut.fi/~tuomov/ion/), because it uses almost NO resources. I think using top, I calculated that ion was using at most 300KB of RAM on my box, and that's running over a VNC connection. Out of all the WMs I've come across, that one is the best example of my "Can I quickly open a terminal in it?" need.

Member Avatar for pty

it comes down to the apps.

I use gnome on my laptop as I use it for web (firefox)/email (evolution) /chat (x-chat, gaim) and general productivity (abiword, gnumeric, mrproject)

my desktop machine has kde 3.4 installed as I use it for web development as I really like kioslaves, kate, konqueror and quanta

I know I can run kde apps in gnome and vice versa but I like my desktop to be consistant :)

Member Avatar for ayksolutions

I'm trying to set up DSL on my old laptop. But its not working, going to try BeatriX.

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