Greetings all,

I have been installing my Arch Linux distro and am to the point of mounting my DE. The problem is there are several choices and just as many opinions about which one is the best. So I am here to get the real deal from the experts!

This is what I am looking for:
Customizable
NOT like Bill Gates DE!!!!!!!!!!!
small and streamlined
Not a memory hog
Good to tinker with, and learn on.
Once set up I want all my friends who run Mac and MS to drool (at its efficiency and pliability)!

Any experienced opinions would be appreciated.
S

Hello smturner,

I'm running gnome with arch. After leaving kde (due to problems with performance and stability) I tried fvwm2. fvwm2 is a good WM, lightwight and very customizable. Unfortunately I found myself using my computer only for the purpose to customize fvwm (an interesting challenge)
So I'd suggest to try gnome.

Markus

Stay away from KDE, since it is the most "like Bill Gates DE" of all the linux desktop environments.
If you want something fast and light, and yet easily customizable, I would suggest XFCE. It strikes a good balance between the more bloated Gnome and KDE, and the frugal austerity of Window Managers like Fluxbox and Window Maker. I use XFCE in Slackware and it rocks!
There is also LXDE, which is lighter than XFCE, but does not seem to be as easy to customize as XFCE.

fluxbox, openbox, blackbox, fvwm-crystal

if you try openbox check out ArchBang and how to set up Openbox
http://archbang.org/

http://willensky.blogspot.com/

I still vote fluxbox cause it's better for me and very easy to customize

Desktop environment is totally a matter of opinion. Personally I don't like KDE simply because it uses a lot of resources and it's never been very stable for me. My personal favourite has always been Gnome. It's fairly light weight and very customisable. Another DE similar to Gnome is XFCE. It is a much more scaled down version. It's not nearly as customisable as Gnome is, but it is far better on resources. However, if you have even a modest computer Gnome should run just fine.

I personally like to have Gnome, KDE, and fluxbox installed. I sometimes even boot into XFCE. Of course I use Slackware and it comes with all of those except Gnome (which I add) anyway. On my Arch box I went with KDE, GNOME, and flux. Each has it's own use. Flux is just the fastest thing I've ever seen which is great for something like an XDMCP session and I like the lack of a kicker/taskbar (until I get too many open windows). Gnome has some software I really like and find that it's layout is perfect for my laptop where I have to navigate with the trackpad and arrow keys. I use KDE day to day on my two desktops because I like the general layout and feel of it when I have a full keyboard/mouse plus konqueror and amarok are the best file manager and media player I've ever had the pleasure of using.

Probably not much help, but I guess what I'm saying is why install one, when you can install several to use when the situation arises, or really just when you're bored!

I started with KDE, flirted with XFCE when it was still new, and have defaulted to Fluxbox for the past three years.

A while ago, I posted a link to a presentation I did for my local LUG on Fluxbox.

it is 100% up to you .What YOU like
some love the kde4 others like Gnome

Me i am in the Gnome camp BUT i also like a bunch of kde4 apps( i can not live without k3b) .So both are installed
i use Gnome but run the kde apps in gnome .

there are also other desktop environments
xfce e17 fluxbox

e17 is by far "considered " to be the "geekiest" by the younger crowd

Have a look at JWM
http://joewing.net/programs/jwm/index.shtml
It's available for Arch and I've just installed it myself. All the configuration is done by editing a single script.

Xfce is rather similar to the big ones, but more lightweight. LXDE still feels like a work in progress to me.