KDE developer Nate Graham, who is known for writing the 'This week in KDE" blog posts keeping us up to speed on all the latest changes has a fresh update about plans for taking over the world, and Graham has some interesting things to say.
There's certainly no shortage of desktop environments on Linux and a number of ways to build software, each with their own goal and way of doing things. It's both a strength for choice and a reported weakness with so much. It's always interesting to read the point of view from developers whose work we rely on so much in the FOSS community. Especially when Graham came from a background in working with Apple, while now a KDE developer.
Here, it wasn't quite what I expected to read. The post goes over talking about the market leaders like Windows and Android, noting neither was the first to come to market but they've successfully captured the biggest slices. Noting that "Neither is picky about what kind of software you run on them or write for them, so they are used on a wide range of devices by lots of different people. Both work with others in adjacent industries, rather than taking a 'my way or the highway' approach. They are flexible."
The flexibility, Graham thinks, is the key to success.
Comparing KDE to Apple, they're clearly very different in how they do things explaining that "we’ve always dreamed of a broad scope and being useful for everyone" on why the Plasma desktop is so flexible and why "the Steam Deck handheld gaming console, PinePhone smartphone, and JingPad A1 tablet are built on top of KDE technology".
Some interesting words aimed at two other big names in the Linux space too, with Graham's post mentioning "So I think ultimately we will become the Windows or Android of the Free Open-Source Software world, with projects like GNOME and ElementaryOS competing to be the Apple of FOSS". You could easily take that as putting them in the firing line but it's more positive than that as Graham continues "I think there will absolutely be room for projects like theirs; in fact I think it’s highly likely that they’ll offer a better user experience than we do for people who fit within the usage paradigms they focus on–just like Apple does".
It's part of why I ended up moving from GNOME to KDE myself, that flexibility of setting it all up how I want it to be, not how designers think it should be. I cannot see myself moving away from Plasma as my own desktop environment on Linux any time soon. Looks good, works well and doesn't get in the way of gaming.
What are your thoughts? Will KDE and Plasma become the biggest players? Going by our own stats from users, Plasma is currently on top but GNOME is not far behind at all.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
slaapliedje Nov 16, 2021
Quoting: scaineWhat makes KDE bloated?I obviously can't know what others speak to, but I personally find their settings / control panel to be a bloated mess. Many articles I have read point out the wish for a Basic / Adanced mode toggle.
A good example of this is the clock settings. In Gnome, you can change it in the settings -> Date & Time. It lists 'Automatic Date & Time', or you can manually change it. And Time Zone. And 24 hour or AM/PM.
Then it is smart enough to do the reast based on location.
KDE on the other hand (which it looks like it is better, is still terrible)...
Settings -> Regional Settings -> Date & Time Or Time Zone (they are on separate tabs).
It has too many layers for doing just simple things. I had to use the search function to find even the control panel, because there are System and Settings menu entries...
It isn't that it is bloated in the requirements, it is bloated in how you have to navigate things. It is bloated in features. Some people like to just boot and launch what they want to work on. While you can eventually get there with KDE, it has a bloated feel out of the box. It is like going to a restaurant that people have told you is really good, but never mentioned a particular meal to try. Then when you get there, they have this massive menu....
fenglengshun Nov 16, 2021
The main issue for me had always been that the KDE default is clunky, and customizing it is clunky with all the panel, dock, widget, and window settings until you learn how it works.
The distro defaults help with that, especially if they follow Feren's step of multiple desktop layout (which is becoming more of the norm on the gtk side it seems, from what I saw on Manjaro-GNOME, Zorin OS, and Ubuntu Budgie)
Of course, I've encountered problems on both KDE and GNOME. But my experience with KDE have only improved in past year or so, while GNOME has always had issues with extensions. I can adapt my workflow, but ultimately, I do need a bunch of extensions with GNOME for my optimal workflow UX, and as long as that remains terrible experience, I'm only going to use it just to keep up with it but not seriously.
That said, the recent integration of some Tweaks into GNOME's system setting is a cause for hope. But man, is all these drama with GNOME is just exhausting.
Quoting: slaapliedjeA good example of this is the clock settings. In Gnome, you can change it in the settings -> Date & Time. It lists 'Automatic Date & Time', or you can manually change it. And Time Zone. And 24 hour or AM/PM.Right-click on the clock widget -> Adjust Date and Time.
Then it is smart enough to do the reast based on location.
KDE on the other hand (which it looks like it is better, is still terrible)...
Settings -> Regional Settings -> Date & Time Or Time Zone (they are on separate tabs).
furaxhornyx Nov 16, 2021
Quoting: scaineQuoting: milkyEasy to see why Valve would go with KDE on something like the Deck, where it can be tweaked and kept in the background. But barring some massive changes to the landscape I'd never, ever use it on the desktop. Just far too clunky, buggy, and ugly.
Good god, when was the last time you tried it? It's not clunky any more, although editing the panel should be easier, I admit. Buggy? I've not experienced a single bug. Not sure how prevalent bugs on DEs are - can't imagine they last long after being reported. [...]
I tried to install a Manjaro KDE edition in a VM like a week ago, and I have to agree with Mily: I also find it buggy and clunky as well (like every time I gave a chance to KDE, on various distros). I quickly changed again to the Cinnamon edition, which is said to use more resources, but feel nice and slick, even in a VM without hardware acceleration.
Quoting: scaineNo problem, that's a legitimate question.Quoting: omer666It's kind of bloated
I'm gonna start sounding like a rabid KDE fanboy here, but I'm really curious by the language people use when talking about it. What makes KDE bloated?
I get your other point, sure. There's definitely a little more "interface" showing in KDE apps, than gnome. Not much though, in my experience and the more I use KDE apps like the file manager and the PDF viewer, the more I realise how much extremely useful functionality I've been missing thanks to all my years on Gnome.
Like Dolphin - I launched Nautilus every single day of my life and every time, I had to move the window to its location on the bottom left, navigate quickly to my Downloads directory, then open a new tab and navigate that to Documents. On Dolphin, all of that happens when I launch it (it remembers its window position and its last-opened tabs). Miraculous.
But back to "bloated". How so? What would you change to unbloat it?
(I've heard rumours that KDE is lighter in RAM/CPU than Gnome these days, so presumably it's not that kind of bloat we're talking about, but interesting if it is!)
In my experience, I never felt KDE had a big memory footprint, even at the time I was using KDE 3.
It is more that it feels bloated. There are a lot of tools installed with it for every use case, lots of options, widgets, desktop icons, system tray icons, etc.
I definitely approve that KDE apps have more interface showing, too much if you ask me. It got better for some apps like Dolphin or Calligra Office, but most of the time it is still very rich visually.
The example you give is a very good one. I don't want my file manager to do that.
I do use quite complicated software on my computer but messing with the desktop is time-consuming for me. I am also not interested in theming, that's the very thing that will become buggy in the very app you need the day you have to work on something important and you've got to fall back to default. No big deal, I know, but my
TheRiddick Nov 16, 2021
I still haven't moved to Wayland as its yet to tick off all my minimal requirements list.
Interested to see what System76 comes up with because I'm not a fan of GNOME, at least in flexibility to customize the desktop (without broken plugins and scripts)...
Last edited by TheRiddick on 16 November 2021 at 7:48 am UTC
Plasma is fast as hell while being fully customizable and having more than enough eye candy, you can mimik the behaviour of almost any other DE while being either more performant or more feature-rich. Plus, the KDE-Apps are among the very best in most cases imho.
So i tend to agree with Nate ^^
Given, i'm not saying the other DEs don't deserve to exist, it's always nice if someone has passion for something and thus can bring out new great ideas! But from a standpoint of choosing a "default-DE", KDE probably is the best bet for vendor-customization while keeping compatibility.
And with new funding from Valve, it can only get even better :D
LiamMcBride Nov 16, 2021
Quoting: furaxhornyxI also find it buggy and clunky as well
Can you be specific? What bugs did you encounter? How is it clunky?
I loved Cinnamon and still have three of my four devices (for my wife and two sons) running Mint in the house. But after using KDE on my own machine, I've found my new home. And the reason for the change remains - xrDesktop doesn't support Cinnamon - it only supports Gnome and KDE, so those are my choices. Gnome is great (with enough extensions), but I'm blown away by KDE.
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