this post was submitted on 07 May 2024
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Linux
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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You most certainly can customise it, the previous version of Nobara had GNOME looking like windows. Not only can, but need to. Try starting out from default GNOME, and then compare it to what comes with distros. It's essentially unusable if you don't spend a lot of time and effort to customize it in order to have the basic functionality you'd expect coming from Windows.
GNOME is bad, and even if it wasn't, you most certainly don't need a one true DE. If you want that, you can go right back to win or mac.
It’s actually really funny you say that since starting out with default gnome is actually what got me to stick with Linux. I tried out Ubuntu style gnome and tried stuff like dash to panel and dash to dock but found it either unstable or hated it. Vanilla gnome is what got me to be at peace lol. I thought I didn’t like it at first but then it just suddenly clicked once I got over that. Calling it bad is just rude.
Oh man. I have to agree with you there. I've been using Ubuntu for so long I forgot how bad Gnome 3 is ootb. Ubuntu really brought some good quality of life improvement to the DE with their own modifications.
But I still stand by my argument that we need one desktop to be the star of Linux if et want more people to adopt it and for it to become mainstream. Giving most people too many options can confuse them.
Honestly, if you want one simple DE for everyone it should probably be XFCE. Dead simple to use, feels vaguely familiar to Windows users, not overly complicated.
KDE is heavily customizable, Gnome is very opinionated, and tiling WMs don't adhere to orthodox UI patterns. Those are all suboptimal if you want something usable by the absolute widest range of users.
Someone recommended Linux Mint's Cinnamon also.
There's also Pantheon from Elementary OS that I really really liked. But it's missing a few features in my opinion.
Mind you, the real winner is of course Android. It has a consistent, easy to learn interface and a wide range of applications that integrate nicely.
And we don't need to speculate; it has already won and is the true face of Linux for the masses. Plenty of young people don't even own traditional computers anymore and do everything on their smartphone or tablets.
And that's why this entire discussion is really just a form of fan wank; we don't need to find a unified UI for Linux because it has already been found and has a massive market share. You may not like it but this is what peak performance looks like.
Everything else can be as complicated, janky, or exotic as it wants because it doesn't matter.
We're talking about desktop environments.