Desktop choices, advice.

[Drew]

Hello,

It's been a long time since I messed with Linux, specifically. I have some more recent experience with BSD, but not recently enough to affect my choices for a "modern" desktop. I have an older laptop I have decided I want to install Debian on, mainly for the purposes of running ham radio related software that won't run on MacOS, which is my main desktop. I pulled live images for Gnome and KDE, and have verified that everything on the laptop seems to work with the live image. 

My real, burning question is, are there compelling reasons to choose Gnome vs KDE, and is there something obvious I'm overlooking? I think the last desktop I ran on BSD was XFCE, but at the time I think that was specifically because it was fairly light weight and allowed easy virtual desktop changing. It might have been 20 years ago (and my last linux distro might have been Slackware) so I am confident things have changed. Any advice or shortcuts to sorting out which might ultimately work best for me would be appreciated. 

Drew 

[Howard White]

Drew,

More information?? Desktop to do what? I find myself running
everything in a web browser and an email client (yeah, I still use
Thunderbird). Boring truth told. My home lab is consumed by servers
running Folding At Home for the benefit of my power provider.

I haven't even managed to upgrade my Debian 12 to 13...

Howard

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[Michael L]

I've been meaning to give the thumbs up for Linux Mint Debian Edition because I installed it for our computer hater in late May and haven't heard one mutter, peep, complaint or hiccup since.

Haven't bothered to thoroughly aquaint myself with it because I haven't had to.  I believe it's the Cinnamon desktop and it should run most or all Debian based software.

  MichaelL

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[Tommy Kelly]

Personally it's kde for me. I find thier apps like konsole, krusader and krunner to all be better than gnome. I have went through decade long phases for both, but I just don't care for gnomes artistic direction. It's not bad, but it's just not for me. If you're coming from windows kde feels more familiar which also is nice. If you want to see beautiful a beautiful kde skin l then garudas gaming edition is pretty neat... Overall everything I use seems to work well in kde, and kwin has made it easy for me to vibe code a few desktop manipulation apps.

Now.. caveats. Xfce is good if you want something simple and lightweight. If you are happy with it, there is nothing wrong with it when compared to either of the two you mentioned. If you want something different that is strictly keyboard focused you could try the i3 tiling window manager. I go through periods of using that as well, but it takes a lot of setup and games haven't liked tiling. The above response about cinnamon is good too, and I use it instead of gnome if I'm not running kde. Mint is rock solid at the cost of new packages. I absolutely love it, but I've switched to cachyOS to be a bit more bleeding edge and for gaming since their kernel optimizations supposedly help ( I haven't tested, just read that it did).

Anyway hopefully that helps!

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[Howard Coles Jr.]

Well, you might feel more comfortable with KDE if you're more used to Windows or if (like me) you like the absolute crazy amount of customization options.  But the beauty of things is that you don't have to be in the "this thing and none else" group.

You can have Gnome, KDE, XFCE, etc. all installed and get a feel for the one you like.  KDE will run Gnome, and XFCE apps, and verse visa, etc.  You have to try 'em (at least enough to have a good idea).

For Distros, sometimes its what will install on your desktop and drive all the devices.  I just got a new Lenovo Legion Pro 7, and Fedora and Kubuntu would run, but only Kubuntu really drove most all things (had to remove the wifi7 MEDIATEK adapter 'cause of no kernel support, found an intel AX210 and swapped 'em out).  I run OpenSUSE and Fedora 43 as VDIs but at work we use RHEL, Ubuntu, and SLES.  I have a POC Proxmox cluster I'm liking a lot that uses Debian 13 and my laptop is 25.10 (Kubuntu 'cause I like KDE).  (I keep the SUSE VDI to build custom RPMs for a tool we use via podman containers)

So, if you have a spare partition to dual boot with install various distros, see which really drive all your devices well, and then commit.
I think RIGHT NOW, Fedora has a good thing going, Ubuntu would be next Or Debian if you want more stable than new, I'm fed up with OpenSUSE their Leap installer for v16 is a pile of dog crap (no I won't apologize 'cause it's true you can't re-use an existing partition scheme or even /home file system).  And OpenSUSE tumbleweed wouldn't even boot because of secure boot.  But I don't have any experience with any of the BSDs.

I tried Zorin, but their full OS is behind a paywall (might be worth it but I'm cheap).

So, basically my suggestion is to try 'em all.  (or go with Linux Mint and use their desktop, a kind of modified Gnome which I cannot now remember the name for).

On 3/5/26 18:32, Drew wrote:

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See Ya'
Howard Coles Jr.

John 3:16!

[Drew]

Thanks for all the feedback. Debian 13 with KDE is working well for me, package management has come a LONG way...this stuff is almost as good as Irix!

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[Blake McBride]

Thought I would jump in with an opinion that is probably not too helpful.

I have been a software engineer for over 40 years. I write software or other things on my computer close to 12 hours per day, 7 days a week. I have gone through many OSs and desktops. What works best for me is either i3 on X11 or Sway on Wayland. These tiling desktops are significantly harder to understand and configure initially but have significantly more payoff in the end. Gaming may be an exception, but I do not do that, so it isn't an issue for me.

Tiling means there is no window overlap, and the complete monitor real estate is utilized.

Since I have three monitors, I often don't need workspaces. However, when I do, the tiling window managers support workspaces far better than anything else I've used for two reasons:

1. I can have multiple independent workspaces per monitor. Other desktops sync desktops across all monitors. Sometimes this is convenient, but usually not.
   

2. I can name each workspace. This means if I have several workspaces, I can simply click an appropriately named tag instead of enumerating all of the workspaces looking for what I want.

This feature is especially useful when I am working on a laptop. I have a single screen with 4, 5, or even 6 workspaces. Each is named, so it is trivial to bounce back and forth. No other desktop is this convenient with workspaces.

Using a tiling window manager means two things:

1. I make maximum use of my monitor
   

2. Nothing is hiding anything else

In my experience and opinion, a good tiling window manager is incredibly better than the standard Windows-like desktop (KDE, Xfce, etc.). Gnome is a more modern desktop but strays significantly from the popular Windows paradigm.

KDE and Xfce are easiest to use for people coming from Windows because they effectively copy the paradigm. Gnome is new and takes some getting used to. i3 and Sway are way out there and about as different from Windows as you can get. Their interface is extremely minimal. I think the following:

1. KDE or Xfce for most end users. It is the easiest to understand and use when coming from Windows.
   

2. Gnome if you want something just as easy to use as KDE but new and refreshing. I haven't decided if it is better, though. It seems relatively equal in terms of ease of use and functionality to me.
   

3. i3 or Sway for serious software engineers.

Just an opinion.

Blake

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[Michael]

Great and informative write up Blake. I've always been a hobbyist or "dabbler" in Linux. I have never had a job that required it or felt I could or had the option to totally stop using Windows in my work or home use. I don't even play games on computers like I used to but from what I have read, it seems Linux is getting better than Microsoft anyway. And maybe when things get a bit cheaper (if they do) I'll try a Linux gaming rig. It'll probably be fine for the amount of gaming I actually do that is not on a console. But I do take a notion every once in a while when I have an extra computer or laptop and go through the process of making a Linux machine again. And I have always seen the cool screen caps of those i3, and Sway desktop environments and never knew exactly what they were until just now after reading your reply. I am thinking about using an old laptop and messing with it all again soon.

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[Michael L]

Relevant to the discussion:

Linux distros are quietly abandoning their own desktops for KDE Plasma, and I get why 

https://www.xda-developers.com/linux-distros-are-quietly-abandoning-their-own-desktops-for-kde-plasma-and-i-get-why/ 

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