GNOME v. KDE, December 2005 edition [LWN.net]

GNOME v. KDE, December 2005 edition

Posted Dec 14, 2005 20:26 UTC (Wed) by aigarius (subscriber, #7329)
In reply to: GNOME v. KDE, December 2005 edition by cventers
Parent article: GNOME v. KDE, December 2005 edition

I am a programmer, but I still want my desktop to "just work". I do not want to configure things - I have work to do. Maybe sometimes there is an option missing, but the time I spend configuring my desktop is tiny compared to time I spend working. If there are more options - I will spend more time on useless configuration just because I *have to* look through all the options.
I am all on Gnome about this one - if you want to work, just work and forget about configuring.

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GNOME v. KDE, December 2005 edition

Posted Dec 15, 2005 7:41 UTC (Thu) by pascal.martin (subscriber, #2995) [Link]

I am in a similar situation, except for a few things:
- Gnome removed some of the options I did setup. I felt cheated.
- Despite its "keep it simple" mantra, Gnome has become really heavy.
- Gnome has had a tendency to forget my config on upgrade (debian specific?)

As logon time kept increasing, the frustration of not being able to restore my config convinced me to switch to Xfce:
- Xfce is simple and has not much more options than Gnome,
- but it starts much faster and takes up less memory.
- It tends to loose the user's config less often (your mileage may vary).
- It still use GTK (I don't like C++, the language made complicated so to maximize memory leaks :-)

GNOME v. KDE, December 2005 edition

Posted Dec 15, 2005 15:23 UTC (Thu) by mightyduck (subscriber, #23760) [Link]

Oh, come on, this is just BS. Nobody forces you to look through all
available config options, you don't *have to*. I use KDE and I never scan
the whole control center and go through all the options. I have maybe a
handful of things I change on a new system (like "focus follows mouse"
for instance) and then I'm able to work. But if for some reason I decide
to tweak some option because my habit changed or I discovered a more
practical way of doing things I know the option is there and I can easily
find and change it.

GNOME v. KDE, December 2005 edition

Posted Dec 23, 2005 4:54 UTC (Fri) by obi (guest, #5784) [Link]

Maybe it's BS for you, but you seem to think that everyone thinks like you. I agree with the parent - seeing boatloads of options just irk me. And this visual annoyance happens every time I have to search for an option. And I always feel something is set up "wrong", but I don't know what (maybe I'm paranoid).

I'm a programmer too, and I do appreciate Gnome's "not-in-your-face"-ness. Yes, there is some functionality missing, but I'm willing to bet it's not by design, but simply because they didn't get round to it yet, or in the worst case that it's not really a high priority.

Every time I try KDE, I appreciate the polish and some great technology, but I just can't cope with the UI feel for a very long time. Considering how many pro-KDE comments there were, I can see not everyone feels the same way as me. It just goes to show that it's good there are choices, and I'd encourage all the desktop projects out there to continue finding their unique identity.