KDE vs GNOME

[Dayguy]

Hi All,

I'm fairly new to linux, and I've been using KDE 3.5 on FC4. I chose KDE because I felt (at first glance anyway) it gave me more control over my desktop. I'm wondering what other users are using and why they selected it. What are the pros and cons of your particular desktop environment?

All feedback is welcome and appreciated.

Thanks!

[gtr225]

I use KDE 3.5 as well. The reason I like it is because it seems to run smoother and it has a ton of things to customize. I find that GNOME is more for the novice user who doesn't need a million switches and knobs and just wants a basic desktop environment.

[code_astronomer]

I use gnome over KDE because I hated the feel of KDE. It's apparently a lot easier for new Linux users to use KDE compared to gnome. (I read somewhere that Windows users get on much better with KDE over Gnome due to the standard look and feel. possibly Tux Magazine, but don't quote me on that.)

[IM!]

I use GNOME, don't be fooled GNOME isn't just for novice users. For me KDE is to a) Windows like b) to shiny, it look s like a candy shop. GNOME if properly tuned can be a powerful desktop. Just look at pools these days, a lot of users are starting to use GNOME because it's getting better and better every version and KDE is getting to big, slow and shiny so it's not considered as a useful desktop to me. I used KDE before but after trying GNOME I never installed it again... My advice is to install Gnome, try it, if you don't like it remove it... :)

[glanz]

KDE has lightened up a lot and has lost its glitchiness since 3.5... KDE documentationand the whole KDE documentation system is much better than YELP, IMO.... Also Konqueror now has ad blocking, and transparency across the board, something for which WinBlows VistaH will require a mainframe and a hydroelectric power supply. GNOME is a bit annoying now that fine tuning and expert configurations have been hidden totally from the user. I don't like the "father-knows-best" attitude behind that. GNOME is heavier, slower, and after all these years, beginning when Nautilus replaced GMC, Nautilus is still crashy, glitchy, annoyingly unintuitive and badly designed, except for the candy wrappers.

[gtr225]

I see here you started another Desktop Environment flame thread. Here's a simply suggestion, try both of them and see what you like. Threads like this never go anywhere, one person likes GNOME and they bash KDE, another person likes KDE and bashes GNOME.

[bob]

Well, speaking of Flames, can we at least all agree to hate Hackedbox? What's with those flames anyway on a blackbox or fluxbox clone? As I've mentioned in the past threads, my vote's still with KDE. Dayguy's probably never seen the past votes or threads, since he's joined just recently and it's normal to wonder why one would choose Gnome over KDE or vice versa.

[gtr225]

I think rather than people flaming on about it, think about the cool fact that we can even have an argument about DE's. In the Windows world you don't get a choice! At least we have the freedom of choice to even host a debate about the benefits/disadvantages of the different DE's. I think regardless of what DE your using, the fact that it runs on a linux kernel is good enough for me.

[Dayguy]

Well thank you all for your posts. justol'bob is right, being new I didn't think to look back for similar topics. I certainly didn't mean to cause a DE flame war, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything cool in Gnome. I'll bounce back and forth for a bit, and go from there.

gtr225 is right also, the fact only that it's linux makes it all good.

Thanks again!

[glanz]

Well, when in GNOME, just wait till Nautilus crashes and burns, then go to KDE. Stay there till it crashes, then go back to GNOME, until Nautilus nuts up again. Then get sick and tired of it all and install XFCE4 until it loses its root menu for the tenth time. Then install WindowMaker until clunky GTK widgets drive you crazy. After all that, in desperation, dump Linux and install FreeBSD. Hang out with devils for a few eternities. When youcome back to Linux kernel 2.6.9,847,637,898,367 and KDE 15.0.5, you can start all over again on your 25GHz, 20 T-Byte, 20GBrammed photon-powered laptop.

One thing is certain though: NAUTILUS will still crash.

[yr2alex]

Well, when in GNOME, just wait till Nautilus crashes and burns, then go to KDE. Stay there till it crashes, then go back to GNOME, until Nautilus nuts up again. Then get sick and tired of it all and install XFCE4 until it loses its root menu for the tenth time. Then install WindowMaker until clunky GTK widgets drive you crazy. After all that, in desperation, dump Linux and install FreeBSD. Hang out with devils for a few eternities. When youcome back to Linux kernel 2.6.9,847,637,898,367 and KDE 15.0.5, you can start all over again on your 25GHz, 20 T-Byte, 20GBrammed photon-powered laptop.

One thing is certain though: NAUTILUS will still crash.

HA! now that is a Classic Response! BTW I use KDE because I choose to I also use Gnome, yup you guessed right because I choose to. Linus Torvalds recommends KDE because --wow your smart, you guessed right again... He chooses to. Use whatever the FSCK you want, that is is the beauty of freedom!!!

My $0.02

[glanz]

Dasssssss Right!!!!!
I use FreeBSD with XFCE4 too.... :p

[gtr225]

yea I mainly use KDE but I have Gnome to just becuase I can!

[jim]

Why does Nautilus crash? Hmmmm i would say if Gnome and KDE are both installed that could be a reason. I have had Linux installed since RH9 Since then I have only installed Gnome and never had a problem with Nautilus crashing EXCEPT when i was drunk one night and decided to install KDE. I had to re-install because of KDE messed my system up. So pick one and stick with it but not both.

This may start a flame but take it with a grain of salt :rolleyes: :D :eek:

K LUNKY
D ESKTOP
E NTRAILS

Just playing!

[glanz]

I've been kidding around a lot here too! But seriously, :eek: I have both Fedora and FreeBSD laptops. Both work perfectly. I have KDE 3.5 on both but use mainly XFCE4 because I hack XFCE4. I also have WindowMaker in case something goes drastically wrong with all window managers. WindowMaker will always come up no matter what happens.

I have been using GNOME since BEFORE :eek: Nautilus was the default FM. Back when GMC was the thing. I have had nearly every version of GNOME since the beginning on several laptops, and many workstations in FreeBSD, Fedora, Mandrake, RedHat, Debian, Ubuntu, Slack, OpenBSD, and SuSE. I have never had an installation on any platform or machine where Nautilus wasn't buggy and crashy. NEVER. Although I must admit, Fedora and RedHat came the closest to having flawless GNOME integration.

I must mention that the older KDEs were terrible... terribly slow, and very buggy. Not so any more though. KDE is now faster and less resource eating than GNOME in general... depending on services configs.

The fastest is, of course, XFCE4. :p
KDE is now tolerable, but I do not go for the "full install" of all the applications. KDE has forty or so applications that I consider totally useless (for me, of course.))) GNOME is a bit more reserved and has some fine networking front ends. I just can't get excited about Nautilus though. It is the only thing preventing me from using GNOME regularly. It's pretty, to be sure. But a pretty face just isn't enough.

[gtr225]

I mainly use KDE and the only thing I ever would use GNOME for is audacity, however I've never had any problems with the two of them together.

[Optimal Aurora]

I like gnome for its easier to use interface. I like it also because of GDM (Gnome Display Manager) especially since I hated KDM which is KDEs (you would know that if you use SuSE or Mandriva for a length of time).

However I like using KDE programs like Konquerer, KDE educational suite (namely KStars), KDE Games (namely Patience) and Konversation (IRC chat utility) and a few others.

[Phoenix49]

KDE - is the future of linux desktops. GNOME is stuck with GTK, Cairo and co. Why should we choose poor desktop ? and why FC's default desktop is GNOME? GNOME is simple, I think extremely simple, and very very boring, it has less aplications for desktop computing, may be for corporate work or smthin else, but for all other things - there's KDE. KDE 4 will burn GNOME away. Also I think KDE works much faster than GNOME, try to open 5-10 windows in GNOME, and look what will happen..
My choise is KDE, it's attracting, good looking, workable, configurable, etc etc.

[Scytale]

I mainly use KDE and the only thing I ever would use GNOME for is audacity, however I've never had any problems with the two of them together.

Audacity works fine in KDE for me, see attachment

[JN4OldSchool]

I also use Audacity with KDE 3.5 with no problems. In fact, while I much prefer the KDE environment I tend to like Gnome tools and programs. With the exception of a few games I havent had any conflicts. I successfuly use Gnomesword which is a Gnome front end for the Sword project, Gthumb, Gdeskcal, GRAMPS, Gimp, GNUcash and many others in KDE 3.5. When in doubt, just try it.

[glanz]

I like gnome for its easier to use interface. I like it also because of GDM (Gnome Display Manager)
I retain GDM and use KDE. I do not have GNOME desktop environment installed at all. I like the timed auto login with GDM. I have it adjusted for five seconds, which gives me enough time to choose another manager or configure in another mode if necessary.

[InKo]

I use GNOME since 3 months and find it really good! previously used KDE for about 5 years.

I think the both are absolutly OK. just a matter of taste.
I also plan to try the XFCE. heard it is good. :)

[gtr225]

Audacity works fine in KDE for me, see attachment
I can run it but the audio barely works and the slider doesn't move when i playback.

[Scytale]

Hmm I've never had any problems like that, are you using the newest version of AUDACITY/ASLA

[Phoenix49]

Audacity works great in KDE, one problem is existing, when I use audacity, I can't use any other multimedia programs (such as listen music with amaroK).

[Scytale]

I can play mp3's in the background while I edit the sound files, I haven't tried playing both back at the same time so I'm not sure what would happen. I generally pause the mp3.

One thing I do get is I have to open audacity before I open any other music programs or it will give me an error message. Other than that it runs fine

[Phoenix49]

I mean the same :). You cannot play music and prelisten to your project in audacity (anyway, I don't need to listen music and listen audacity, if I work with audacity, I don't want to listen other things except audacity)

[Scytale]

I program drums via a sequencer then play them through my keyboard / amp setup while recording into a microphone its kind of a hack since audacity doesn't support Midi yet, but in cases like that I need the external output while audacity is running. AS a plus though midi sounds a lot better coming out of a peice of hardware then it does from a software midi map.

I don't know wether any of the people using audacity here have much to do with midi, but I am having trouble getting linux to detect my EDIROL UM-1X USB--->midi interface, I've placed a post in the hardware part of the forum but its probably a few pages down by now.

[jult]

Who needs Nautilus ?

"I personally just encourage people to switch to KDE. This 'users are idiots, and are confused by functionality' mentality of Gnome is a disease. If you think your users are idiots, only idiots will use it. I don't use Gnome, because in striving to be simple, it has long since reached the point where it simply doesn't do what I need it to do. Please, just tell people to use KDE." Also, "Gnome seems to be developed by interface nazis, where consistently the excuse for not doing something is not 'it's too complicated to do', but 'it would confuse users'."

according to Linus. And I think he's right. I like options, and don't want to feel like I'm being condescended by my system. So yeah, KDE for me.

[sailor]

KDE for me...I run both kde and gnome but for me I think KDE is more configurable, nicer looking and can look anyway you want. Those of you who think it's too much like windows, just haven't messed with it much. I can make KDE look like Gnome, bet you can't make Gnome look like KDE..:p

Anyway, both are suitable window managers...it is really a matter of taste. I have not had any trouble using gnome apps in kde or vice versa.

[neo_matrix]

Hi,

To be very frank I too was confused abt which DE I should use. But I searched the net for some info and believe it or not, the result was 50-50 for GNOME and KDE (U can try it!!). There is surely no clear winner. I personally have settled for GNOME as I find it a little hassle-free when compared to KDE. Well, I still am a novice to Linux, but, to be frank again I feel there should be a new DE which combines the plus-points of both GNOME and KDE. Hope it comes out soon, and when it does, the battle that today appears to be heading till eternity will finally end. ;)

[tomcat]

Who needs Nautilus ?

"I personally just encourage people to switch to KDE. This 'users are idiots, and are confused by functionality' mentality of Gnome is a disease. If you think your users are idiots, only idiots will use it. I don't use Gnome, because in striving to be simple, it has long since reached the point where it simply doesn't do what I need it to do. Please, just tell people to use KDE." Also, "Gnome seems to be developed by interface nazis, where consistently the excuse for not doing something is not 'it's too complicated to do', but 'it would confuse users'."

according to Linus. And I think he's right. I like options, and don't want to feel like I'm being condescended by my system. So yeah, KDE for me.
Hmm... you took Torvalds comments out of their context. The discusion was about the gnome-printer tools vs. KDE printer tools, if I remember right, not about Gnome in general. After all, Torvalds has his very own opinion based on his very own needs and expectations, but he is not the great Messiah that has the ultimate knowledge. But many people tend to see in him as just that. The super-duper-hero. For me he is just a damn good programer with lousy communication-skills. I repeat: This is just "my very personal view" and you don't need to share it.

KDE or Gnome. Use what works best for you and what you feel more comfortable with. For me, it is Gnome. Less cluttered, rock-stable (on my box), nice look 'n' feel.

[Coolerthanyou]

I've tried KDE, but it spends a bit more of the resource, so I will stick with that other one with the dumb name. It's what I started with on linux anyways. I don't know what people are talking about when they say this or the other is missing features. You can customize both to put in pretty much any content that you like. The appearences are another thing all together, that's just a matter of opinion. To me, an eye catching GUI is not necessary, and gets old anyways. KDE can be stripped of a lot of fancy stuff, GNOME is already simple enough, I will stay there, esp. because of all this talk of the next version which will iron out a lot of things. KDE, this is just my own opinion, but it's in the same league as the Mac GUI. Mac is great, the GUI is overrated. And I hate looking at it too. I don't know which it was, but a while ago there was some mascot/icon on a Mac with some screen with a smiley face. I wanted to punch that dumb thing with brass knuckles.

[joe.pelayo]

I used to work with KDE since I started using Linux (SUSE 9.0) because it was the default DE and I really did not like the GNOME of that time very much. Since then I mostly used KDE: I like all the customization you can make and despite the fact it consumes much more resources than GNOME it has many useful programs like K3B and Korganizer.

However when I bought a laptop this year I found GNOME 2.16 quite useful for me because of the CPU Scaling applet which helps to save power (I couldn't find anything similar in KDE) and after using it for a while I really liked it.

I have both DE installed and use it at will, depending on my needs. In fact even though I mainly use GNOME I use KDE applications as well (like K3B, Kaffeine, Korganizer, Amarok, etc). I think it is a matter of what you want the system to do.

Cheers.

[Coolerthanyou]

Well we got a Necromancer on our hands.

Since I got better hardware it's not an issue anymore. I use KDE on FC, XFCE and Gnome elsewhere.

[exubuntu]

Gnome for me, I dabbled in KDE, and I liked it, however, I found Gnome to be more for my likeing. I disagree that KDE is more powerful. It's certainly more visual heavy IMO, and the out of ocntext comments about Gnome being condescending? WTF? If i recall coreectly, it was a kind of backlash response to KDE becoming more complex (not complicated mind you), and the fact that it was based on non-free libraries.

But as it has been said, choice is the key issue, and what the hell, I'm sure it's never going to come down to a down right overthrow of one, and crowning of t'other.

This bickering about this, is I feel healthy, and although some flames ocme up (immaturity, all of it!) it's all in good spirit, lol.

However, the day when(if) we get hybrid KDE/Gnome DE will be surely closer to "desktopability" of linux. (And I heard on some website or other that the two sytems would be doing a bit to make the apps designed for both more compatable with each other, dont quote me on that though)

[Al3xanR0]

I think rather than people flaming on about it, think about the cool fact that we can even have an argument about DE's. In the Windows world you don't get a choice! At least we have the freedom of choice to even host a debate about the benefits/disadvantages of the different DE's. I think regardless of what DE your using, the fact that it runs on a linux kernel is good enough for me.

Very well said, in fact does anything else need to be said? :cool:

[JN4OldSchool]

Very well said, in fact does anything else need to be said? :cool:

Yeah! Gnome users have pointy heads! :D

[kona0197]

It's Human nature to argue about such things.

[exubuntu]

Quite! Viva la argumentation!!

But I think you'll find that gnome is *THE BEST*

for me

[leigh123linux]

Yeah! Gnome users have pointy heads! :D

Yeah ! KDE users have bug eyes to take in that over blown menu!


it makes me go cross eyed!

[JN4OldSchool]

Yeah ! KDE users have bug eyes to take in that over blown menu!

Oh you didnt! Oh crap <wildly swinging at the monitor> Hold me back, hold me back now...you filthy gnome using...<foaming at the mouth>...why, I'll... :eek:

[leigh123linux]

JN4OldSchool , resistance is futile you will be assimilated into the Gnome collective!!!

On a more serious note DE is down to personal choice, and what you like.

leigh

[JN4OldSchool]

JN4OldSchool , resistance is futile you will be assimilated into the Gnome collective!!!

On a more serious note DE is down to personal choice, and what you like.

leigh

I am actually on Gnome now! I have been using it the last week or so and find it about the same as KDE. I moved the single panel to the bottom (just cant get used to reaching up...) and combined all the menus into one. Applied my wallpaper and custom icons. Everything is great, really not that big a difference and I have to say speed and stability are the same too. So...y'all can argue it all you want, I can use either. In fact, I am thinking about taking a week or so on XFCE to see if I can get used to it. The thing I like about XFCE over Flux and E16 (havent tried E17 yet) is you can still use Beryl with it. I just wish they would get those desktop icons straightened out. The ability is there but without idesk you just cant configure them.

[leigh123linux]

I like XFCE as well and have it already installed , I have never used or seen E16 let alone E17 but will give them a go.

leigh

[RupertPupkin]

I like XFCE as well and have it already installed , I have never used or seen E16 let alone E17 but will give them a go.
I liked XFCE better when it resembled CDE a bit more. This was before it required the gtk+ libraries (before version 4.x). It's still faster than GNOME, but it used to be a lot faster. But I use WindowMaker, which beats them all for pure speed. :)

[pete_1967]

Real boys just use Emacs maximized and real men use spoons, wooden spoons :D

[leigh123linux]

Real boys just use Emacs maximized and real men use spoons, wooden spoons :D

Yes but wise men use Gnome :D

[Flounder]

Command-Line 4TW! I pretty much only use GNOME for web browsing, IRC (though working on using it from the terminal only), and aMSN. Everything else is done in a terminal.

[dasy2k1]

lol i have gnome kde and xfce4 installed on my fc6 box and i use them all,
i mainly use gnome though it seems to run faster thanm kde and has more fetures than xfce,

but i run konqueror from gnomeas a window manager!