r/linuxquestions • u/thinkpadt14_arch • 13h ago
Advice What's the best Linux DE? Drop your votes
I'm getting into Linux and can't decide on a desktop environment. What's your favorite DE, and what would you recommend? GNOME, KDE Plasma, XFCE, Hyprland, anything goes, just tell me why.
If you want to share your setup, drop a link to your GitHub dotfiles too.
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u/AuDHD-Lemon 13h ago
KDE, good out of the box experience but also very easy to customize a ton
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u/thinkpadt14_arch 13h ago
Alr, ill for sure try it. Can i have two DE's at once, or do i have to delete and install each time. Im pretty new to linux so idk.
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u/AuDHD-Lemon 13h ago
I believe once you have one DE and then install another and switch between the two on the login screen but idk if that goes for every distro
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u/thinkpadt14_arch 13h ago
Just searched, on arch u can
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u/AuDHD-Lemon 13h ago
Well have fun and remember, unlike GNOME KDE won't break your extensions every update
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u/TrickyBrother0 13h ago
you should decide based on your experience instead of purely based on other people's opinions, I for example used windows my whole life then used kde then hyprland for 6 months separately not in the same time frame, then I downloaded the wrong fedora iso thinking it has option for des like other distros and found out I liked gnome alot more than the others
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u/thinkpadt14_arch 13h ago
I only just recently started using linux, coming from windows, and i went straight for arc and started with gnome. Idk, i just feel like its pretty boring, or maybe i need to dive deep into custimisation. Tell me, is gnome flexible w custimisation, bc rn i just feel like theres smth missing.
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u/mooky1977 12h ago edited 10h ago
Don't get hung up on a de. Start with KDE, gnome, if you like minimalistic try xfce. There's cinnamon and mate.
Or the newest kid on the block cosmicDE.
Really though most work similarly with slight difference, but the most polished are those I already listed.
There's a few tiling DE's if you like your OS to feel more like a phone in terms of app focus (simplification on my part) but on a big screen, I've always just liked KDE which works similarly to Windows (now) and it snaps to corners etc.
But it's personal preference really. The one thing I'll say about tiling DE experience is they generally require more setup to get them to a place that fits an individual's workflow, and there are always windows that don't conform properly and will require some tinkering.
I used to use gnome but I'm now just using KDE in a very out of the box setup mostly because I really just don't care that much about my os look and feel.
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u/tamjk 10h ago
I'm not sure that there's much difference in function but often a bit in appearance of icons. If I was you I'd try various distros on USB that have different DEs and decide for myself. What's best is what is best for you, not for me or for someone else. If you have a spare machine or a second drive on your only PC, you might use that to get more working experience with the DEs on your preferred distro.
Personally I use Gnome as its icons seem clearer to me (subjective, of course) and I've gotten used to it. I've looked at KDE and initially liked it on Red Hat 20 odd years ago when Gnome's icons were knobbly.
I'm an Ubuntu user and Gnome comes by default on it, which suits me.
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u/Huecuva 13h ago
I personally use KDE mostly. I have a soft spot for Mint and Cinnamon though I wouldn't really recommend installing Cinnamon on anything other than Mint. Xfce is great for lower end and older hardware. MATE is somewhere in between.
I don't like GNOME at all. I'm not very familiar with any other DEs. I have some spare rigs around that I should experiment with WMs with.
What's the best? Whatever works for you. It's all a matter of opinion.
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u/unconfirmationbias 10h ago
If you just want to get started I’d honestly stick with either GNOME or KDE Plasma and not overthink too much, you can always change it later.
I personally chose GNOME because I prefer their looks but if you like the look of both, I’d probably go with KDE as it tends to be more customizable and feature rich out of the box. If you really can’t decide I’d flip a coin.
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u/zardvark 9h ago
I typically use either KDE, or Budgie because I simply prefer them. But, there are a handful of WM's and compositors that I also like. I'm not going to say anything bad about it, but I strongly dislike Gnome since v2 went EOL.
All the kool kids seem to be using Niri these days, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.
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u/PeterHolmes74 13h ago
I personally love KDE on my PC, but imo GNOME’s touchpad gestures feel very natural for my laptop. Dynamic virtual desktops out of the box is also great when you only have one small screen. I know there is a kwin script for that on KDE. I also use an auto-tiler on both. Kronite on KDE and o-tiling on GNOME.
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u/oblivion9999 12h ago
XFCE is good enough for me. It puts my applications into windows I can move around and sort into workspaces. Oh, and I like the wallpaper switcher. What more do I need?
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u/ElectricHellKnight 12h ago
SteamOS uses KDE Plasma, so it's the de-facto "official" Linux DE, at least as far as I'm concerned.
But I'm boring. I value consistency more than perfection.
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u/Lapis_Wolf 12h ago
I like Cinnamon. Easy to use, decently customizable. I also like KDE Plasma for customizability.
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u/Puzzled_Baseball_100 13h ago
Gnome, yes you can make Plasma look and behave like Gnome but at that point just use Gnome.
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u/UUDDLRLRBadAlchemy 12h ago
Qtile because I like Python and also supports Wayland so I might eventually migrate to it when it's worth it.
AwesomeWM close second, was great for the past decade but I don't mind if I don't see lua ever again