I’m relatively new to the linux space, I was introduced by the steam deck which uses kde, and it’s pretty similar to windows in terms of how it works so that’s the DE i’d be leaning towards when I eventually switch. I’ve never used gnome so i’m not sure if it’d be worth using I guess?
So I’m just looking for some input from the community, do you use Gnome or Plasma, why do you use it, and what’s kind of like a pros and cons kinda thing between the two?
You are used to KDE and Gnome is very different But also KDE is buggy, I dont know how Steamdeck people make it better. If you chose Xfce, you will get a KDE similar desktop but more robust. Xfce can look modern with few efforts. MX Linux distro is a good example of a nice Xfce config.
KDE Plasma. GNOME is nice but I like the customizability and the features of KDE Plasma.
Kde. I’d love to be able to give some erudite examples of why.
Alas, the default is clean and works for me. It stays out of the way.
KDE… Mostly sane defaults out of the box and tons of customization options if there’s anything you dont like.
Good question, but you should definitely install both and try them out! Just in case you didn’t know since you’re new to Linux, you can install as many desktop environments as you want. You pick the one to use at the login screen. All your programs and files will still be there.
To answer your question: I prefer Gnome because I find it simpler and less distracting, but I’ve since moved to i3, then Sway, and now Hyprland.
I did not know that I could install more then one and pick that easy, that’s really good to know. I figured if I installed more than one there’d be conflicts or something but that’s really nice I’ll have to do some experimenting. Thanks for mentioning that!
You can install both but it can get a but messy in menus with 2 settings apps and 2 versions of lots basic apps all over the place. It can be cleaned up but it can be a bit frustrating to do.
You may be better trying them both out with live images on USB sticks or a virtual environment like virtualbox. Both are relatively easy to set up without making any major change to your current pc.
You could just do a live install on a USB, and you don’t even have to install to your machine to try it out. Debian has live installs available for both KDE and Gnome and should be perfectly fine for just checking out the DE (and most distros have a live option, check to see if your preferred distro does), just know that it will be slow and you won’t see that in a proper installation.
Edit: just saw further down thread, Mint can do a live USB but you’ll probably just want Cinnamon with that. Bazzite does not have a live boot, and from my cursory glance at possibly running both DEs it seemed to be a bit more of a headache on Bazzite than other distros. Trying Gnome on a Debian live install will at least tell you if you like Gnome.
I tried a lot of desktop environments and I think KDE is the best one, games runs much better than GNOME while the desktop is so smart and many features… I really tried so hard GNOME but the UI sucks, it is slower running games, there are missing options very important for me that KDE has, so for me GNOME is a NO for working/gaming purposes.
Unless you’re barely meeting the minimum specs for a game, on a properly configured system any impact on game performance between the two should be a rounding error.
KDE Plasma Wayland, I’m using it for gaming mainly and occasionally for VR.
Pros:
- supports DRM leasing mandatory for wired VR headsets
- supports tearing (also in windowed apps but requires an additional setting) which reduces input latency in games
- usually all the new fancy features, ex. HDR, appear quickly
- decent support for fractional scaling (handy on laptops)
Cons:
- you might encounter bugs. While Plasma 6 has been a much better experience as opposed to older versions of it, there are still some bugs here and there appearing between the updates. As of this writing thought I can’t recall any bugs on my system.
I use KDE. It’s very powerful and flexible. While it can be windows like, you an also craft pretty much any GUI you like with it with relative ease. It can be Mac like or something unique, or even Gnome like if you really want that.
It’s also intuitive and user friendly, with well made apps and a comprehensive settings menu.
I’ve found KDE to be reliable and stable, as well as attractive and customisable.
There are a lot of apps made for it - the only downside is software bloat if you install all of them. I’d start with the basics KDE desktop and add apps one by one rather than install the whole KDE app suite. Although the apps are usually excellent lots of the apps may not be useful to you personally . For example I don’t like installing the PIM suite (email, contacts etc) as I don’t use it - all that is online for me so I don’t need the native apps.
I’m personally not a fan of Gnome. It’s got a single rigid GUI philosophy which you can now expand with extensions but I find they can be hit and miss on whether they work or are stable, and time consuming to set up how you want.
So for gnome you either like it as is or you don’t, and if you dont like it then honestly I’d say don’t bother trying to make it be what you want - just use something more flexible.
But regardless of what desktop you use, Apps will work on either or any of the others available.
Gnome. Love how it just gets out of the way and let’s me do whatever I want without interruptions.
Use both! You can switch between them when you log in. Find what you like.
I enjoy gnome but that isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.
This. When you install a desktop environment (DE) in most Linux distros, it’s just available, not forced on you. Then, as OC said, you can choose which to use each time you login.
Try them all, decide for yourself. This is the way.
yo i tried installing kde alongside gnome before and it ended up just feeling sorta “after the fact” and scrambled, with mishmashed applications on both environments.
I prolly just did it wrong tho, is there a way to do this seamlessly you know of?
I imagine it’s due to the default apps not being changed when you switch between the environments. For example it’s probably still using GNOME’s Files application in KDE instead of Dolphin (or maybe vice versa). You should still be able to manually launch the “correct” app in each case, but of course you’ll have to know which is which. There’s no actual problems created by having both installed, but most people don’t because of this and other annoyances.
Out-of-the-box GNOME, with no extensions or tweaks.
I used to be a customise-everything kind of guy. But I’m not naturally efficient, so any workflow I designed for myself would always end up being inefficient. With GNOME I see it as a kind of off-the-shelf workflow that I can adapt to, something I wouldn’t have come up with myself but it makes me more efficient.
with no extensions or tweaks.
🫥
Why do people downvote this?
Default gnome is honestly a GOAT, face of Linux for me and it is far more convenient than any other workflow I used before in the past
I totally get people saying things like “I couldn’t live with GNOME because it’s difficult to customise” because I used to be that guy. It took a significant shift in my mindset to come back to GNOME (having moved away from it previously when GNOME 3 was first released).
Gnome. It feels better even tho it runs so much worse
Why am I getting down voted? It does
I’d just like to interject for a moment. What you’re refering to as KDE, is in fact, KDE Plasma.
Anyway, I use Gnome but if you are used to Plasma, there is no need to make things harder by using Gnome on a device and Plasma on another. Just stick to Plasma.
I’m OK with GNOME.
Gnome! I use Nixos so I prefer to use things that can be configured using its system, I like KDE but I can’t find a elegant way to configure the UI layout using nix
