Linux

I think for most people and normal users, its the most important part of a system.

I'm a software engineer and I've been using only i3wm and sway for the past 3 years. I don't really need a DE. But when I do (very,very rarely) I always prefer Xfce, and after that, Plasma.

When going over to Linux from Windows full time I landed on Gnome. Despite KDE being superficially like Windows, Gnome keyboard shortcuts are closer to what I’m used to, the defaults feel more sane to me, and the DE gets out of my way faster when in the terminal. I really want to like KDE but it hasn’t clicked for me.

One of the early irritants was way back in the KDE v1 days- the injection of the letter ’K’ in the app names - it harkens back to frat house level shenanigans (at least in the college I attended, except they liked the letter ’Q’). It hasn’t felt right with me.

Dash to panel and a couple of other extensions fixes the main gripes I have with Gnome DE. After testing Cosmic recently I am pretty close to that with my current configuration, and will likely try a transition that DE once it stabilizes.

I can technically manage in any DE generally - heck, I ran CDE on Digital OpenVMS back in the day and it did the job then. It a tool. The terminal is still where things happen for me.

Edits: reformatting the wall of text, added nuance.

Yeah - I've even seen people recommend switching distros just because another has a different default DE without understanding that most distros let you install multiple DEs...

The differences between distros aren't as big as people make them out to be*. Mostly just installer, how packages are managed, what versions of packages you get, etc.

• Unless you're on an "immutable" distro in which case - yeah - shit is different.

I currently use KDE Plasma, Cinnamon and LXQt on three different computers. On most DEs I can manage myself just well. I never liked GNOME post 2. I have recently used MATE, LXDE and Xfce

After 2y on Linux I can say with full confidence that switching from GNOME to KDE (for me) is a bigger barrier than switching from Windows to Linux ever was.

Huh?

How's that a bigger barrier?

You install it, you select it from your login("display") manager on next login, et viola, you're using it... and you still have access to all your prior installed programs too. No backup required, no complete operating system install, no great leap of learning an entirely different operating system paradigm, no reading new software licenses... it's just install it, and log in to it.

How important is a DE to you?

None at all.

Xmonad's been my fave since around 2007-2008ish.

Tried dozens of other window managers. [Special honourable mention to herbstluftwm.]

Tried over half the desktop environments too.

Much more nice without unnecessary clutter and resource wastage and faff of a desktop environment, and just a window manager.

And, as for trying new DE/WM, and needing to log out and back in to try them... even that hurdle can be eliminated. ;) There be ways to switch them without losing everything you're currently running. https://codeberg.org/Digit/wminizer

Still to this day I switch DEs/WMs every so often to try and find that right "fit". I think that's the biggest minor issue with Linux right now. IMHO there's not a single perfect DE. I like KDE, everything just works, BUT how workspaces/virtual desktops work with multiple monitors is an absolute pain. Yes I'm aware with the update coming this month it'll improve slightly but all I want from it is to have each monitor have it's own set of dedicated workspaces like every other WM has. KDE just won't do that regardless of the fact it's been asked for for like 20 years now.

So I constantly end up switching. Niri, Hyprland, Plasma, whatever. None of them feel perfect and they all have their deal breaker quirks that I tolerate for awhile until I just can't and end up switching. Like for example on Niri with some games when scrolling through windows and going back to the game it doesn't pick up the mouse immediately so you have to do a quick switch to either another window and back or another workspace and back. similar issue with Hyprland except it's with the keyboard instead of the mouse. Sway has similar issues. Hyprland I don't like how workspaces work with multiple monitors either.

This is just the nature of Linux overall. sometimes you just have to tolerate the minor issues for the overall better performance/features. and it doesn't just apply to DEs/WMs. there's rarely anything on Linux that is the total package and 100% everything you want. Take terminals for example. Alacritty is great, fast, responsive...doesn't do images. Kitty is awesome with images, gpu stuff, fast, smooth...doesn't work great with tmux/multiplexers cause the dev hates them. or how about editors? DOOM Emacs has all the features I could ever want...slow as shit on startup. Lazyvim is fantastic with all the plugins available...absolute pain in the ass to get working 100% on my distro NixOS. I could go on and on. none of these are absolute dealbreakers just minor annoyances that make me constantly switch things.

So I completely 100% hear you. you like GNOME, it's your preferred DE, BUT the potential issues with Steam Frame and VR are a deal breaker. And those things work on KDE BUT you're just not happy with how KDE works overall. I get it man. I'm not a fan of GNOME but I get it. I mean give hyprland a shot but try it out with the defaults first before you invest too much time into configuring it and then finding there's like one or two things that just won't work. I've done that before. spent hours configuring like Sway or something to my liking and then finding out one particular application just doesn't play well with it. It's frustrating. Good luck.

It's an important software choice just like choosing a browser (though unfortunately browser choices are much more limited these days).

I usually see people discussing distros but I feel like picking the right DE makes much bigger impact.

Yes I do feel like the emphasis is often wrong; choosing a distro should be about choosing a philosophy towards included packages and updates, choosing a DE is much more relevant for day-to-day user experience/workflow.

I prefer Gnome aesthetically, but I value more KDE's speed to implement gaming related features.

Critically. Its the face of the operating system, and I'm shallow enough to put a lot of value on a pretty face

Try cosmic, its very smooth and just works.

I guess its more simular to gnome than to kde so you should like it.

The importance of choosing the right DE is quite low for me because, with daily use, I can get accustomed to any new environment. It’s uncomfortable at first, but it can be done and, eventually, it grows on me.

In my case, I'm used to window managers because they improve my current workflow; however, the most intuitive DE for me is GNOME. I love its gestures, aesthetics, and functionality.

Interface matters a ton, of course. But once you switch between a few it gets easier, even if you retain your preferences.

Distro is more an alignment of philosophy between you and the distro. Something slowly updated but really stable? Debian. Something cutting edge, but with lots of guides? Arch, etc. etc.

Any of them can pretty much run any shell, DE or WM, and as that's what you spend the most of the time interacting with, that's a more personal touch point. The distro is really just the package manager that you regularly interact with, and thats easy enough to hide behind something like topgrade.

I have only used Sway for a few years and anything else feels bloated and slow to use to me now. I spent a long time tweaking to get it how I wanted both in terms of add ons and config, then setting the keyboard shortcuts that work for me. I even have a bunch of them configured on my actual keyboard on layers to make them even easier to activate.

Its worth the investment for me as its now transparent to my workflow. I run the same config across all my machines and its been a stable config for the longest time. Long term stability is the key for me.

Super important. I do also choose a DE first and look for a distro that supports it out of the box second.

This being said, while I think Gnome looks amazing, it's whole UX is killing me. I tried it over and over again, because it looks so beautyful. But it always starts to frustrate and annoy me.

I was ling term Cinnamon user and recently switched to KDE Plasma. Luckily, as Linux users we have a choice.

DE is very important to me, however I'm on the side of extreme minimalism with a focus on the keyboard instead of mouse. I want my graphical environment to respond instantaneously to my commands, and I don't like having to use the mouse for simple tasks like launching programs. I also use tiled layouts and multiple desktops extensively. I hate having to alt+tab to find the window I need - I want to just quickly move to the right desktop with a keyboard shortcut. I switched to i3 a few years ago and love it. I'll admit though, this is not the DE that should be advertised to new Linux users.

Not sure what the Frame means with any of this. It's going to be running the same stack as Deck, which is KDE. It's also not going to be any sort of headset for your PC, at least at the outset.

As for your other Dr questions, it's all just personal preference. The Desktop is just window dressing on a compositor and window manager anymore. If you're comfortable without all the system helpers and convenience of using either Gnome or KDE, you can just run a WM like Hyprland or Sway instead.

Very important.

At this stage, I see no reason to use anything other than KDE.

It is important. But I find the ones I have tried good, and would survive if I had to use either of them. I use KDE Plasma on my main personal laptop, I have Cinnamon running on a living room computer connected to my TV (not an ideal solution, but I've so far not taken the time to optimize the setup) and GNOME om my work laptop. I much prefer KDE Plasma out of them, but I like the others also.

I just wish I could have AfterStep's mini desktop pager in a modern window manager. It was so cool seeing an overview of my virtual desktops next to each other and being able to drag windows from one to the other without switching desktops.

I need a good DE for launching apps and switching tasks. As a mouse user I found Gnome poor in launching apps. Huge mouse movements needed, and hard to lay out the launcher apps as I need them compared to Plasma. Id consider Gnome if I found a suitable replacement launcher. It would need favourites, category navigation and search.

DE is very important. I'm now so used to tiling that I couldn't go back to Gnome or KDE.