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    The Quintessential Linux Desktop Experiences

    IT Discussion
    linux linux desktop kde gnome cinnamon bungie solus linux mint opensuse opensuse tumbleweed
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    • scottalanmillerS
      scottalanmiller
      last edited by

      So I have been thinking about a project for fun to explore the Linux Desktop experience. And I've been trying to determine what really are the most quintessential desktop experiences on Linux. It's hard because there are many and nearly all have some awesome features or feel to them that make them important and worth considering. I'm thinking about this from an "introducing people to the awesomeness of the Linux desktop" perspective, rather than completeness, and have a few guidelines like sticking to key mainline distributions, avoiding lightweight and low resource desktops no matter how cool they are, only showing a key desktop environment on its most important distro and so forth. I want to keep the number low enough to not be overwhelming, but high enough to show the variety and quality that is out there.

      Here is what I am thinking right now...

      • Fedora with Gnome 3
      • Linux Mint with Cinnamon
      • openSuse Tumbleweed with KDE Plasma
      • Solus with Bungie

      Four seems on the edge of too many, but which one of those would be okay to drop? Gnome 3, perhaps, but with Ubuntu adding Gnome 3 as the default this fall, it's so prominent and important that I don't think it can be skipped no matter how much I'd like to. Elementary OS with Pantheon would be nice, but it's too niche. Ubuntu is absent both because it is in desktop flux right now and because it is just copying Fedora, with Fedora long being the main distro for Gnome 3 - plus Ubuntu is well represented with Linux Mint. This also gives a good survey of underlying OS groupings, not just different distros and desktop environments.

      F QuixoticJeremyQ travisdh1T 3 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • F
        Francesco Provino @scottalanmiller
        last edited by

        @scottalanmiller fedora 25 with kde is not bad, either.

        scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • coliverC
          coliver
          last edited by

          @scottalanmiller said in The Quintessential Linux Desktop Experiences:

          Solus

          Solus seems just as niche if not more so then Elementary OS.

          DustinB3403D scottalanmillerS 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 3
          • DustinB3403D
            DustinB3403 @coliver
            last edited by

            @coliver said in The Quintessential Linux Desktop Experiences:

            @scottalanmiller said in The Quintessential Linux Desktop Experiences:

            Solus

            Solus seems just as niche if not more so then Elementary OS.

            Yeah I had never even heard of Solus.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • QuixoticJeremyQ
              QuixoticJeremy @scottalanmiller
              last edited by

              @scottalanmiller I like the opensuse choice 🙂

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
              • DustinB3403D
                DustinB3403
                last edited by

                Things that I think are essential experiences when it comes to using a Linux Desktop.

                • Simplicity in installing applications (wide variety of sources)
                • Simplicity in using the applications
                • Intuitive desktop design (wifi, my docs etc etc) should all be intuitive to use and find.
                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • scottalanmillerS
                  scottalanmiller @Francesco Provino
                  last edited by

                  @Francesco-Provino said in The Quintessential Linux Desktop Experiences:

                  @scottalanmiller fedora 25 with kde is not bad, either.

                  It's not the most dedicated showcase for it, though.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • scottalanmillerS
                    scottalanmiller @coliver
                    last edited by

                    @coliver said in The Quintessential Linux Desktop Experiences:

                    @scottalanmiller said in The Quintessential Linux Desktop Experiences:

                    Solus

                    Solus seems just as niche if not more so then Elementary OS.

                    It's the home of Budgie, though.

                    coliverC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • coliverC
                      coliver @scottalanmiller
                      last edited by

                      @scottalanmiller said in The Quintessential Linux Desktop Experiences:

                      @coliver said in The Quintessential Linux Desktop Experiences:

                      @scottalanmiller said in The Quintessential Linux Desktop Experiences:

                      Solus

                      Solus seems just as niche if not more so then Elementary OS.

                      It's the home of Budgie, though.

                      Which all and all seems like a niche DE. I get why you'd want to test it of course as it is a unique distribution but I don't see that as having a wide user base even if it grew a bit.

                      scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • travisdh1T
                        travisdh1 @scottalanmiller
                        last edited by

                        @scottalanmiller said in The Quintessential Linux Desktop Experiences:

                        avoiding lightweight and low resource desktops no matter how cool they are

                        While I love my LXDE and XFCE, there are reasons I don't recommend them to most people.

                        scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • scottalanmillerS
                          scottalanmiller @coliver
                          last edited by

                          @coliver said in The Quintessential Linux Desktop Experiences:

                          @scottalanmiller said in The Quintessential Linux Desktop Experiences:

                          @coliver said in The Quintessential Linux Desktop Experiences:

                          @scottalanmiller said in The Quintessential Linux Desktop Experiences:

                          Solus

                          Solus seems just as niche if not more so then Elementary OS.

                          It's the home of Budgie, though.

                          Which all and all seems like a niche DE. I get why you'd want to test it of course as it is a unique distribution but I don't see that as having a wide user base even if it grew a bit.

                          Budgie is starting to appear as an option on lots of other distros.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                          • scottalanmillerS
                            scottalanmiller @travisdh1
                            last edited by

                            @travisdh1 said in The Quintessential Linux Desktop Experiences:

                            @scottalanmiller said in The Quintessential Linux Desktop Experiences:

                            avoiding lightweight and low resource desktops no matter how cool they are

                            While I love my LXDE and XFCE, there are reasons I don't recommend them to most people.

                            Same here. Or Mate.

                            dafyreD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                            • dafyreD
                              dafyre @scottalanmiller
                              last edited by

                              @scottalanmiller said in The Quintessential Linux Desktop Experiences:

                              @travisdh1 said in The Quintessential Linux Desktop Experiences:

                              @scottalanmiller said in The Quintessential Linux Desktop Experiences:

                              avoiding lightweight and low resource desktops no matter how cool they are

                              While I love my LXDE and XFCE, there are reasons I don't recommend them to most people.

                              Same here. Or Mate.

                              Just curious as to why not Mate?

                              travisdh1T scottalanmillerS 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • travisdh1T
                                travisdh1 @dafyre
                                last edited by

                                @dafyre said in The Quintessential Linux Desktop Experiences:

                                @scottalanmiller said in The Quintessential Linux Desktop Experiences:

                                @travisdh1 said in The Quintessential Linux Desktop Experiences:

                                @scottalanmiller said in The Quintessential Linux Desktop Experiences:

                                avoiding lightweight and low resource desktops no matter how cool they are

                                While I love my LXDE and XFCE, there are reasons I don't recommend them to most people.

                                Same here. Or Mate.

                                Just curious as to why not Mate?

                                I haven't used Mate myself, but I'd imagine it's along the lines of LXDE and XFCE. They're just very basic, most of your system management is still done via a terminal emulator. They're for those times when UNIX admins want a web browser.

                                dafyreD scottalanmillerS 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                • dafyreD
                                  dafyre @travisdh1
                                  last edited by

                                  @travisdh1 said in The Quintessential Linux Desktop Experiences:

                                  @dafyre said in The Quintessential Linux Desktop Experiences:

                                  @scottalanmiller said in The Quintessential Linux Desktop Experiences:

                                  @travisdh1 said in The Quintessential Linux Desktop Experiences:

                                  @scottalanmiller said in The Quintessential Linux Desktop Experiences:

                                  avoiding lightweight and low resource desktops no matter how cool they are

                                  While I love my LXDE and XFCE, there are reasons I don't recommend them to most people.

                                  Same here. Or Mate.

                                  Just curious as to why not Mate?

                                  I haven't used Mate myself, but I'd imagine it's along the lines of LXDE and XFCE. They're just very basic, most of your system management is still done via a terminal emulator. They're for those times when UNIX admins want a web browser.

                                  I'll definitely give you that one.

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • DustinB3403D
                                    DustinB3403
                                    last edited by

                                    The essential experiences have to be based around someone coming from windows or mac to Linux.

                                    While the desktop experience it's self is certainly a part of that, the system overall must be intuitive.

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
                                    • DustinB3403D
                                      DustinB3403
                                      last edited by

                                      So @scottalanmiller take away your experience with Linux, and play as if you're a complete newb when it comes to Linux.

                                      Find several distro's that are super intuitive looking, and test with those.

                                      Using your experience here is actually a hindrance for a fair evaluation.

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                      • coliverC
                                        coliver
                                        last edited by

                                        I think you have the primary DE's covered. I wouldn't consider Budgie a major player yet but I can understand why you're testing it. I agree that both LXDE, XFCE, and Mate are a bit too complex for the generic entry level user.

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                        • EddieJenningsE
                                          EddieJennings
                                          last edited by

                                          I'm looking forward to the conclusions here. It'll give me some direction when I make the dive with my home computer.

                                          QuixoticJeremyQ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                          • QuixoticJeremyQ
                                            QuixoticJeremy @EddieJennings
                                            last edited by

                                            @EddieJennings said in The Quintessential Linux Desktop Experiences:

                                            I'm looking forward to the conclusions here. It'll give me some direction when I make the dive with my home computer.

                                            @scottalanmiller I think I was just talking about this 🙂

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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