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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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OK so I have used several DEs but right now I'm on Plasma 6 because frankly, it's the best out there. It's easy to use, customizable, intuitive and looks nice. Is it on the heavier side? Yes, but that's okay. Also it helps that I have learnt the keyboard shortcuts on this.
I have used XFCE, Mate and Cinnamon in the past. If KDE somehow vanished off the face of the planet, I would likely switch to XFCE because it's light, customizable and fully functional.
XFCE4. It's intuitive and predictable without sacrificing the ability to customize it exactly the way I want (with Chicago95 ofc). The built-in panel widgets are nothing short of amazing: battery, CPU, RAM, network, and disk monitors with labels toggled off to save space and a clock with only what I need on one line: MM/DD HH:mm:ss
Enough features so that it "just works" (no nitpicking through config files), especially on laptops, without being bloated in any way. Bonus of its lightweight nature is that I can keep my Debian/XFCE setup consistent across all of my machines, both old and new.
Can't wait for the finished xfwm4 port to wayland so I don't have to sacrifice some security running X11 and so I can do fractional scaling on hidpi machines.
xfce, i dont need that other bloat.
KDE, because I'm too lazy to switch back to XFCE, which offered every feature I already use in KDE except without the stuttering, the bugs, and the update cycle that breaks things way, way too often on a rolling release distro.
Or openbox. My old laptop has openbox, but that's more for screwing around with EWW than doing day-to-day things.
COSMIC most of the time and then gnome as a fallback when I run into any temporary issues I can't work around.
I do this with a custom bluebuild image I made that uses ublue (fedora 41) as a base and then added cosmic on top along with some other layers that I need/want.
I use i3. Pretty bare bones, so it took me a while to get productive with it. But it's all exactly how I want it, it's all mine.
I have numerous machines and use several. On my main, KDE because of all the customization. Widgets, window styles, colors, themes etc. It's really like exactly how I want for maximum efficiency and productivity.
I've got gnome on my hybrid notebook and my transformer pad because gnome with Wayland is amazingly compatible with touchscreen.
I have one machine running Elementary which has the Pantheon DE it's kinda like Gnome with modifications.
And finally, I have an older system so just for efficiency, LXQt.
I do enjoy trying out different ones and especially more esoteric ones that I occasionally come across.
Gnome because it came with ubuntu and I'm too scared to change it to kde incase everything breaks. Really don't want to reinstall something else again either
I'm running KDE Plasma with the revived Krohnkite for auto tiling. Plasma 6.2 seems to have fixed most of the bugs from 6.0 and 6.1, at least the ones I've noticed.
I was using Sway/SwayFX for a few months but was missing some KDE Gear apps like Dolphin and Okular which I couldn't get to display correctly. KDE is afaik the only desktop with a working Qt theming engine right now, so I can't really see myself switching (unless maybe if they break Krohnkite again).
OpenBox but that's a window manager, not a DE.
sure it still counts.
Usually KDE, but I'm messing around with qtile atm.
Plasma, because I want things to Just Work(TM) and the customizability and modernity are neat. I like right click --> pin to top/bottom as well.
Gnome, be it PC or Laptop. It just remains out of my way with it's minimalism. Tried KDE for a while, and I seriously can't stand it, personally.
GNOME
Gnome on Nixos I like how standard it is I know what to expect
Same!
KDE on my main laptop, Cinnamon on the TV-connected mini-PC in my living room. I like the customization options of KDE, and with Cinnamon I just wanted to test out Linux Mint, no big reason other than that. I used GNOME for some time with Pop_OS!, and it was not fully my thing. I plan to test out more DEs when I can free up an older laptop to do some more experimentation - for my main laptop I require stability, so I don't mess around with it too much.
Traditionally I've been running lighter desktops like opebox, xfce, or lmde. Last couple of years I've been using MATE with good results.
KDE for my main PC. Pretty with floating panels, KDE Connect, QT apps are often the best apps in their class and are perfectly integrated (FreeCAD, krita, okular, kdenlive, vlc, dolphin, etc...) And konsole is also very full featured.
I don't know what KiCAD uses, but it also seems very well integrated into the KDE desktop unlike most gnome apps.
XFCE on MX Linux for an old Intel Compute Stick to keep it very usable.
KDE Plasma on my PC, just use i3 on my laptop. prefer using the mouse on a pc, prefer not using it on a laptop.
I'm on Hyprland mostly because of all the tiling window managers out there these days, it feels like the most usable default config and the ecosystem (e.g. hyprlock, hyprbar etc) feels pretty complete.
Hyprbar is not a thing. There is hyprlock hypecursor and hyprpaper.
i use zorin os's gnome with forge, once cosmic comes out ill switch to that
I'm really looking forward to the release version of Cosmic. Used to be a fan of Gnome-based Cosmic on PopOS, but Pop just kept on "popping" so I moved to Fedora Workstation. I have never looked back.