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.
then it can be a game changer indeed, and KDE is the default on it, so it might work.
As long as they stay FOSS and doesn't remove the freedom och choice in the DE, I'm a happy camper.
If it has a Start menu I can type in, does Windows, and has system tray/notification area, I'm pretty happy.
Now, if you want to really impress me, implement a fully functional "Control Panel" / settings page / control center thing. Most DE's are a little limited to thier own settings. Closest thing I've seen is YAST, although I'm sure there are others.
Quoting: 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. As for ugly - there's way more themes on stock KDE than you get on Gnome, even when delving into Gnome-look for further customisation. KDE is stunning these days. But then, frankly, all the DEs are stunning these days. If you think there's a reasonably modern, yet ugly DE out there, you're just not trying! Check out the screenshot thread for some inspiration, maybe?
I do like KDE but it's really not made for me. It's kind of bloated and I feel like I need to customize it to death before I am satisfied. Apps made for KDE tend to be overcomplicated for the exact same functionality and I'm not very fond of taskbars...
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!)
Nevertheless Nov 15, 2021
Quoting: omer666I've been using so many desktops over the years I lost count a while ago, but after all these years I finally know what I want: something I don't have to configure for hours. So I prefer GNOME because it fits my needs perfectly and it is very intuitive. I can quickly focus on what I'm working on.
There is functionality that I require from my computer - like being able to set the volume control interval to something other than 6%, or making applications look how I want - that can't be achieved on Gnome no matter how much tweaking I do. Whereas from any distro's KDE defaults I can turn it into what I want with maybe a couple of minutes clicking in the built-in settings application.
Cinnamon: 8,09%
Gnome: 29,49%
Togehter: 37,58%
KDE Plasma: 32,97%
slaapliedje Nov 16, 2021
Quoting: omer666I've been using so many desktops over the years I lost count a while ago, but after all these years I finally know what I want: something I don't have to configure for hours. So I prefer GNOME because it fits my needs perfectly and it is very intuitive. I can quickly focus on what I'm working on.This is exactly how I feel. When I actually want to get things done, I use Gnome. When I want to play around with the desktop, I install KDE.
I do like KDE but it's really not made for me. It's kind of bloated and I feel like I need to customize it to death before I am satisfied. Apps made for KDE tend to be overcomplicated for the exact same functionality and I'm not very fond of taskbars...
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