I use gnome. But ....all i use the desktop for is so that I can have multiple terminal windows open, and a couple of firefox. So the desktop has never been important to me. ....tell me what am I missing?

Eh...I'm sure there are ALOT of people that are going to disagree with me on this one, but DotHQ, you're not missing much. I, personally, like to stick to a tty session running screen (for the multiple terminals and "links" web browser), and only use a graphical environment for graphical things (watching movies, manipulating images, etc.).

It may be helpful to whoever started the thread to take a look at past LQ Member Choice awards. KDE always wins this such polls by a large majority.

Presently using KDE on my machine. When I first started using Linux I tried to use the Gnome desktop (it's cool !!) but found it too buggy to use full time. I now use a Windows machine about once every 7 days, the rest of my time, 24/7 is on my Linux machine.

I use pekwm and have been for years. It is very light weight and extremely customizable. I recommend it to everyone who loves shortcuts and hotkeys, as well as fluxbox users.

You want hotkeys? Use Ion!

I'm a Gnomie :-)

I chose Gnome but when not using it I am using Fluxbox.

all of the above: KDE with Mandriva, Gnome with Fedora Core, and various "light" desktop environments on my servers (to suit my fancy of the moment).

I use kde as my default desktop!

KDE all the way!


I used to use XFCE, but it was too slow for me, so I started using iceWM. I added more RAM to my Lappy, so now I'm back to KDE

As "Crito" says all of the above. I find myself using Xfce4, Gnome, Kde and Blackbox the most, mainly in that order of preference. Xfce on a dual screen setup, with a bunch of xterms is the way to go for admin tasks. Gnome and Kde for multimedia. Blackbox for the simple life. I boot to a terminal login on all my machines and then startx to my desktop of choice. I wonder how many linux users use a graphic boot/login or do most still use the terminal login and startx to a desktop...Do any still just run X apps directly without a desktop??.

Enlightenment (e16)

Fluxbox on laptop, KDE on desktop.

Doesn't allow for more than one

Quoted from aaries:
I have no clear picture but I could imagine "newbies" do, especially those who have switched from or are dual-using with Windows. I myself learned this whole stuff back in the days when a graphical login manager was a tale from the future..so I grew up using console (to log in, in the first hand), and when introduced to various graphical login managers, had to admit I still don't get their idea: running, say, GDM all the time there, ready for your logins/logous (which most of the people don't do all the time), eats up resources and is not actually needed any way. I find it just as easy to login using a text based "user interface" and then shoot some desktop up - if I need to.

Of course I do use graphical login managers today, but mostly because of other people working on the same computer. It's not my job to make their life more difficult (learning that single command is a task, after all), and with today's machine power it's quite all the same if I'm having GDM or *DM there or not.

..tough, again answering the question, I don't use a desktop environment sometimes at all: if I'm in need of a mathematical tool (say maple or mathematica), which I run over ssh, I don't need the damn thing. Just X with a terminal that lets me start the job.

All the time graphical user interfaces, desktops etc. are "evolving", I feel we're going backwards; plain console seems easier and more efficient to use day after day, and actually I only have just few tasks that I need a graphical desktop for; the situation is beginning to remind me of "Windows use" vs. "Linux use" - I don't need the other one nearly at all any more.

..and to the actual poll question: XFCE is the main desktop I use if I need, because of its' lightness and simpleness. Gnome and/or KDE come into picture if I'm asked to show if it's "easy to jump there from Windows", or if I'm asked "can Linux look THIS good?" - actually I wouldn't need those for that, but they're handy, yes. I've tried also numerous other graphical thingies (like icewm etc.), but none of them, except for Fluxbox for a moment, has proved good. And whatever the situation is, the use of console seems to beat the others if it's not about photo touching or something similar (and even then, the Desktop Environments are on my way).