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#1 2008-01-21 13:17:32

khalderon
Member
Registered: 2008-01-03
Posts: 70

Recommend me a desktop environment, please ;)

Hi! I just installed xorg and it looks like it is set up. Now I have to choose a desktop environment. I'd like something simple (and small in terms of download), yet offering great amount of functionality. What could it be?


The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

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#2 2008-01-21 13:18:50

skottish
Forum Fellow
From: Here
Registered: 2006-06-16
Posts: 7,942

Re: Recommend me a desktop environment, please ;)

XFCE is small and very functional.

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#3 2008-01-21 13:18:59

arox1
Member
From: Poland
Registered: 2006-07-08
Posts: 174

Re: Recommend me a desktop environment, please ;)

Xfce

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#4 2008-01-21 13:19:36

khalderon
Member
Registered: 2008-01-03
Posts: 70

Re: Recommend me a desktop environment, please ;)

Okay, that was the same I was thinking about... Now I will use this thread to ask you questions about setting it up wink


The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

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#5 2008-01-21 13:19:52

luciferin
Member
Registered: 2007-05-10
Posts: 144

Re: Recommend me a desktop environment, please ;)

How much are you willing to learn and configure?  I use Gnome myself but if you want something more lightweight XFCE is very good.  There are other, lighter option depending on what you want, but some of them require extensive customization.

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#6 2008-01-21 13:22:36

khalderon
Member
Registered: 2008-01-03
Posts: 70

Re: Recommend me a desktop environment, please ;)

I am young and I want to learn everything. XFCE might be a good start.


The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

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#7 2008-01-21 13:46:53

stylopath
Member
Registered: 2007-07-26
Posts: 112

Re: Recommend me a desktop environment, please ;)

i can also recomment xfce. The Next step would be fluxbox- Not that easy to configure and not a complete DE, but very very configurable, beautiful and fast.

Have Fun.

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#8 2008-01-21 13:55:05

bionnaki
Member
Registered: 2006-09-05
Posts: 289

Re: Recommend me a desktop environment, please ;)

openbox is great.

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#9 2008-01-21 14:10:02

decimal
Member
From: Greece
Registered: 2007-06-27
Posts: 43

Re: Recommend me a desktop environment, please ;)

bionnaki wrote:

openbox is great.

And a great learning experience!

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#10 2008-01-21 14:19:59

patroclo7
Member
From: Bassano del Grappa, ITALY
Registered: 2006-01-11
Posts: 915

Re: Recommend me a desktop environment, please ;)

And when you finally feel that there is no purpose in spending time moving and resizing windows, give a go to the tiling window managers


Mortuus in anima, curam gero cutis

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#11 2008-01-21 14:37:25

zyghom
Member
From: Poland/currently Africa
Registered: 2006-05-11
Posts: 432
Website

Re: Recommend me a desktop environment, please ;)

patroclo7 wrote:

And when you finally feel that there is no purpose in spending time moving and resizing windows, give a go to the tiling window managers

this is what I wanted to say as well: I "visited" almost all from the top 5 and finally I stay with kde, which imho is just as it should be: simple to use when needed and fully configurable when wanted


Zygfryd Homonto

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#12 2008-01-21 14:46:40

khalderon
Member
Registered: 2008-01-03
Posts: 70

Re: Recommend me a desktop environment, please ;)

I just finished installing xfce4 and I am using it!
Although I edited .xinitrc to run startxfce4 it doesn't do it after restart. Instead, I have to manually type this to start xfce. Why?
I'd like to have a login manager - whether root or my normal account just like it used to be in Gnome.
Btw, the fonts look horrible. What to do with them?


The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

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#13 2008-01-21 14:49:29

pressh
Developer/TU
From: Netherlands
Registered: 2005-08-14
Posts: 1,719

Re: Recommend me a desktop environment, please ;)

Read this wiki page if you want to use a Login manager.

For your fonts, there is also some information in the wiki, and there are numerous threads on this forum about it.

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#14 2008-01-21 17:58:27

gunnihinn
Member
From: Torreón, Mexico
Registered: 2007-10-28
Posts: 81

Re: Recommend me a desktop environment, please ;)

Evilwm. Bottom-up is the way to go. big_smile

Edit: In the interest of fairness I have to point out that Evilwm does very well in the smallness of download and simplicity categories. But functionality... well... little to none, really.

Last edited by gunnihinn (2008-01-21 18:00:40)

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#15 2008-01-21 19:41:45

Sigi
Member
From: Thurgau, Switzerland
Registered: 2005-09-22
Posts: 1,131

Re: Recommend me a desktop environment, please ;)

Try out dwm if you don't mind configuring the DE before you compile it (this sounds WAY more difficult then it is in reality). I used openbox after using KDE (short time) and xfce (a little longer) and now I'll stick with dwm. DWM is small in its size, stable and quite configurable. It is a tiling windowsmanager which means no more hassle with moving and resizing windows all the time. (I read that awesome (dwm port) and xmonad are also fun to use, but xmonad needs haskell which requires you to download another 70Mb IIRC)


Haven't been here in a while. Still rocking Arch. smile

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#16 2008-01-21 21:26:29

synorgy
Member
From: $HOME
Registered: 2005-07-11
Posts: 272
Website

Re: Recommend me a desktop environment, please ;)

Just try them all.
My recommendation is openbox, but I also use PekWM and KDE. Find what you like (though from what you've told us - Xfce is probably the best fit for you I suppose.)


"Unix is basically a simple operating system, but you have to be a genius to understand the simplicity." (Dennis Ritchie)

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#17 2008-01-23 08:37:47

veek
Member
Registered: 2006-03-10
Posts: 167

Re: Recommend me a desktop environment, please ;)

zyghom wrote:
patroclo7 wrote:

And when you finally feel that there is no purpose in spending time moving and resizing windows, give a go to the tiling window managers

this is what I wanted to say as well: I "visited" almost all from the top 5 and finally I stay with kde, which imho is just as it should be: simple to use when needed and fully configurable when wanted

zyghom, you may have misunderstood.
patroclo7 was recommending eventually moving on to tiling window managers like wmii, dwm, awesome, ion, xmonad, etc.

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#18 2008-01-23 08:56:53

sniffles
Member
Registered: 2008-01-23
Posts: 275

Re: Recommend me a desktop environment, please ;)

decimal wrote:
bionnaki wrote:

openbox is great.

And a great learning experience!

And not a desktop environment!

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#19 2008-01-23 09:22:35

airstep
Member
Registered: 2008-01-21
Posts: 54

Re: Recommend me a desktop environment, please ;)

smile the world of xfce +1

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#20 2008-01-23 09:52:06

bionnaki
Member
Registered: 2006-09-05
Posts: 289

Re: Recommend me a desktop environment, please ;)

sniffles wrote:
decimal wrote:
bionnaki wrote:

openbox is great.

And a great learning experience!

And not a desktop environment!

yes, openbox is a wm, if you want to get all technical about it!

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#21 2008-01-23 13:47:13

abhidg
Member
From: City of Kol
Registered: 2006-07-01
Posts: 184
Website

Re: Recommend me a desktop environment, please ;)

When I started using Linux in 2002, there wasn't the plethora of window managers available as they are now. I used to use GNOME 2 in those days (not even HAL was there!); then I used KDE for sometime too.

After I discovered Arch, I moved through many DEs and WMs.... XFCE, Gnome, KDEmod, openbox, fluxbox, ion3, wmii, dwm and finally xmonad. I find tiling window managers really easy on me as I tend to have many windows open at some time; and though openbox is really cool (it has one of the best theme collections), with 10 windows open, manually managing them becomes a chore. With the tiling WMs, I can concentrate on my work, rather than moving windows around all day.

If you stick with XFCE, I suggest you try out Compiz; it has a nice feature which shows you all the windows at once.

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#22 2008-01-23 14:13:55

bionnaki
Member
Registered: 2006-09-05
Posts: 289

Re: Recommend me a desktop environment, please ;)

I'd want to try a tiling window manager but my monitor is small (15 in)

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#23 2008-01-23 14:56:22

Theomachos
Member
From: Germany
Registered: 2007-07-31
Posts: 67
Website

Re: Recommend me a desktop environment, please ;)

bionnaki wrote:

I'd want to try a tiling window manager but my monitor is small (15 in)

Maybe try a fullscreen WM like Ratpoison or Stumpwm.... wink


There is one thing even more vital to science than intelligent methods; and that is, the sincere desire to find out the truth, whatever it may be.
Charles S. Peirce

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#24 2008-01-24 04:15:38

Sigi
Member
From: Thurgau, Switzerland
Registered: 2005-09-22
Posts: 1,131

Re: Recommend me a desktop environment, please ;)

bionnaki wrote:

I'd want to try a tiling window manager but my monitor is small (15 in)

I have a 14" and I'm happy with dwm. You can also use its "tags" like normal virtual desktops and just use the tiling features of dwm for things like multiple file managers or virtual terminals on the same screen. Try it out...


Haven't been here in a while. Still rocking Arch. smile

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#25 2008-01-24 05:04:39

pauldonnelly
Member
Registered: 2006-06-19
Posts: 776

Re: Recommend me a desktop environment, please ;)

bionnaki wrote:

I'd want to try a tiling window manager but my monitor is small (15 in)

All the more reason to avoid wasting your screen space with floating windows.*




* Disclaimer: I'm using afloating WM right now.

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