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View Poll Results: What windows manager do you use for you divine slackbox?
I've been using KDE since the early 2000s (I think my first introduction to it was Redhat 7.2 back in 2001 during college). A few years ago, I did a massive upgrade of packages on Slackware 14.1, basically upgrading X and mesa (and the required dependencies -- I think it was over 200 packages in all). When I did that, KDE broke. I don't even remember what it did, but I couldn't use it. So, I switched to XFCE... and I found it was still lacking and missed some, what I'd consider, necessary components, like power control. As cwizardone stated above, I found that the default xfce apps where drastically inferior to the KDE apps (at least in how I used them).
I was able to live with xfce for the 6-12 months it took until 14.2 was released and I was able to switch back to KDE when I upgraded my system to 14.2. If I need to, I can run xfce, but I definitely prefer KDE.
NOTE: I have not tried Plasma 5 yet, as I tend to stick with stable releases of Slackware, so I can't comment much on that. From what I've read on the forum, I don't think it will be nearly as big of a change as KDE3 to KDE4. I'll probably continue to stick with KDE/Plasma5 when Slackware 15.0 is released (if it is included with it, which I suspect that it is, even though the changelog is mostly silent about it).
KDE > Trinity > LXQT > Cinnamon > FVWM > Fluxbox > Openbox > Blackbox > LXDE > XFCE > just about every other WM > Windows > Gnome
I actually use Gnome at work (Ubuntu, but regardless). It works. It works well. I hate everything about how it does anything. And it makes Windows look fast It's so horrendously bloated and slow. It is, IMO, the worst desktop there is on any OS despite being functional. But that's what my developers use, so that's what I use.
Last edited by Timothy Miller; 04-27-2019 at 02:04 PM.
Gnome was once included, but was removed years ago for becoming too big and complex. Some feel KDE-5 is now at the same point, some don't.
The axe was wielded in the past in order to keep Slackware on a single DVD. Given there's no longer likely to be an official DVD, that constraint probably no longer applies. Complexity, however, is a different matter, but it might be less complex now to include things than to exclude them.
Last edited by Gerard Lally; 04-27-2019 at 02:13 PM.
I notice that hardly anyone here voted for gnome. May I try to guess why?
1) KDE is big and complex but it comes with the full install
2) Gnome is big and complex and you have to install it explicitly.
Looks like people who install their own desktops prefer to use something simpler.
I swear by Fluxbox. I use it on all my systems.
True. Fluxbox is very nice as well, I would use it on a dated think-pad which is all I ever really need to code/hack things around. One can not argue against the fact though that Xfce JUST works and in the world of Linux and Slackware in particular such a feat is a testament to good design and good programming - but more importantly conscientious on behalf of the developers of Xfce - something that at times is lacked in some way or form in the open source community to some degree.
I've been using KDE since the early 2000s (I think my first introduction to it was Redhat 7.2 back in 2001 during college). A few years ago, I did a massive upgrade of packages on Slackware 14.1, basically upgrading X and mesa (and the required dependencies -- I think it was over 200 packages in all). When I did that, KDE broke. I don't even remember what it did, but I couldn't use it. So, I switched to XFCE... and I found it was still lacking and missed some, what I'd consider, necessary components, like power control. As cwizardone stated above, I found that the default xfce apps where drastically inferior to the KDE apps (at least in how I used them).
I was able to live with xfce for the 6-12 months it took until 14.2 was released and I was able to switch back to KDE when I upgraded my system to 14.2. If I need to, I can run xfce, but I definitely prefer KDE.
NOTE: I have not tried Plasma 5 yet, as I tend to stick with stable releases of Slackware, so I can't comment much on that. From what I've read on the forum, I don't think it will be nearly as big of a change as KDE3 to KDE4. I'll probably continue to stick with KDE/Plasma5 when Slackware 15.0 is released (if it is included with it, which I suspect that it is, even though the changelog is mostly silent about it).
Indeed, KDE and their team that makes the apps are dedicated to their cause and KDE application development. The problem with KDE is not the many applications they have that are in some degree's superior to Xfce BUT KDE as a windows manager, file manager and the overall feel and approach/look of it. TO some degree's it doesn't make sense but to other's it does; still all in all KDE application can be argued to be superior to Xfce's henceforth the need for "hybrid applications" when running Xfce.
Last edited by Slackwarefanboy; 04-27-2019 at 03:17 PM.
Reason: spelling
The axe was wielded in the past in order to keep Slackware on a single DVD. Given there's no longer likely to be an official DVD, that constraint probably no longer applies. Complexity, however, is a different matter, but it might be less complex now to include things than to exclude them.
I agree - KDE is over complex with no real applicability to justify it. +1 for netBSD also, that's going to be the OS on the server I am getting.
There are several others who have contributed their talent and hard work, so I didn't mean to leave anyone out, but these are the only links I've collected over the years.
The axe was wielded in the past in order to keep Slackware on a single DVD. Given there's no longer likely to be an official DVD, that constraint probably no longer applies. Complexity, however, is a different matter, but it might be less complex now to include things than to exclude them.
Quote:
Slackware may drop GNOME
October 28, 2004 — 1.54am
One of the oldest Linux distributions may drop the GNOME desktop and leave it to users to install this environment if they so wish.
Slackware Linux was started by Patrick Volkerding in early 1993.
In reply to a recent mailing list post, asking why the packages for the latest GNOME - version 2.8 - was still not available for Slackware, Volkerding wrote that since GNOME 1.4 he had felt that it (GNOME) was going in a direction that did not fit well with Slackware's goals.
He said as far back as release 1.4 he had considered removing it completely "and taking whatever flames I get for that decision."
"Right now, I think removing it would be the best thing for Slackware as it's become a maintainance (sic) nightmare," Volkerding wrote.
"I do believe it would be best to let Dropline produce Slackware's GNOME and quit wasting my own time with it. Probably 1/3 of developement time here is used maintaining GNOME, and *most* of the bug reports I get have something to do with GNOME (and aren't bugs I caused, or can fix)."
Dropline Systems is now producing a version of GNOME, designed specifically for Slackware systems.
Volkerding continued: "KDE, on the other hand, tends to build using the existing build scripts with no changes at all. I can start the build and come back to finished packages in a few hours. A GNOME update usually takes at least a week of manual labor, and another week of cleaning up broken things. It's been a long time (like I said, around GNOME 1.4), since I've felt the effort was worth the return."
Asked for a reaction, Jeff Waugh, release manager for GNOME, said he could speak for himself and not the GNOME Project or Foundation.
Waugh said: "Integrating and supporting a complete desktop software stack such as GNOME is a challenging task, comparable to the maintenance of a simplified Linux system such as Slackware. It is no surprise to me that Patrick is thinking about passing the torch to Dropline, who have done a sterling job providing high-quality, up-to-date releases of GNOME for Slackware.
Distribution: Slint64-14.2.1.2 on Lenovo Thinkpad W520
Posts: 8,856
Rep:
MATE is the default in Slint, partly because it is by far the most accessible to blind users (using the Orca screen reader) and to users with a low vision (for instance with a zoom that keeps the cursor in the center of the screen when typing in a terminal or in a text editor).
It is also reasonably fast, has all features expected of a desktop, actively maintained and relatively easy to integrate.
I also like LXDE that is good enough and modular, but now use almost exclusively MATE.
Last edited by Didier Spaier; 04-27-2019 at 06:15 PM.
Depends. On my 2in1 I use XFCE because it's underpowered and XFCE is a surprisingly good touchscreen interface.
Workflow wise though, nothing beats KDE5 on my desktop with a big monitor, krunner and all of its terrific apps. So KDE gets my vote though both have their place.
I use KDE when I'm not using Fluxbox. I prefer KDE applications, and I like KDE's configurability. Also, per a little item I saw recently in Linux Magazine (unfortunately, this story is not online, at least not publicly), KDE is lighter-weight in usage than most give it credit for.
Quote:
I notice that hardly anyone here voted for gnome. May I try to guess why?
I don't like the Gnome interface. At all.
Additionally, I find it annoying that Gnome seems to spell "simplify" as "d-u-m-b d-o-w-n."
The problem with KDE is not the many applications they have that are in some degree's superior to Xfce BUT KDE as a windows manager, file manager and the overall feel and approach/look of it.
It isn't the problem with KDE, it's your problem with it... and that's ok I prefer the KDE window manager over Xfce. To me, Xfce just feels unfinished. There's a lot of things they do right, but there's also areas where they fall short (I was running rworkman's 4.12 Xfce packages for 14.1 at the time -- 14.2 was still in development). It's been long enough that I don't really remember what my issues with it were, but I know I usually had several annoyances a day. Nothing major, but issues that I didn't have with KDE.
This is certainly the great thing about Linux. What is awesome for me may suck for others, but we're given the ability to choose various aspects of our OS so it works best for us.
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