Why GNU/Linux Rocks

[sgreger1]

It's all personal preference. If you love the look of Win7, KDE might be a good desktop for you. I was a big fan of Gnome2, but it's no more. I liked the balance of eye candy, features, weight. Here's my choices in rough order...

Xfce
E17
OpenBox
Lxde
Awesome

Nothing else ranks. Unity and Gnome3 don't work because I need a minimum of 2 panels. I like the classic computing paradigm, and deviations from that displease me. KDE just boils down to looks. I really dislike QT styling, and using KDE is like flying an airplane there's so many options. I'd be willing to deal with the options if it weren't for QT.

Try a few, and see what you like. Lets say KDE. Install the KDE desktop, log out, then when you go to log back in, you can pick which desktop environment you want to use. You can have all of them installed, and log in to the one you feel like at any given time. My Debian install has Xfce and E17.

So if I install one of these and log out, it will automatically prompt me for which one I want to run each time I start up my computer by default, or do I have to use some other program, kind of like how Grub handles dualbooting etc?



How do I go about downloading these? Do I just yum install Xfce? And from what I gather, people don't like Gnome, which is what Fedora comes with, why? It is pretty bare bones. I mean it's a bland desktop, then on the left hand side you can bring up the favorites panel, or you can click over to applications and find what you need. Is this really that bad? It seems pretty simple and sleek to me, but I havn't tried anything else.


I have pretty much unlimited resources and a 27 inch monitor so not really worried about resources, I am just curious what really could be added to Gnome other than unecessary widgets? I am going to check out Xfce and see how that works, assuming I can easily transition back.


Edit; Just checked out screenshots of Xfce, I dont't think that's for me, has too much going on. I odn't like the start menu style menus either. I think i'm goign to stick with whatever fedora came with, I only need like 4 things on the favorites panel and everything else I access from command line anyways, I like a clean desktop with nothing really else on it.

It is kind of annoying when I go to click "back" on the browser and it mistakenly opens the shortcuts thing which it's only supposed to do when you move your mouse to the top left hand corner, but it's not too bad.

[lxskllr]

So if I install one of these and log out, it will automatically prompt me for which one I want to run each time I start up my computer by default, or do I have to use some other program, kind of like how Grub handles dualbooting etc?

The way GDM(Gnome Desktop Manager) worked in Gnome2, is during login, you had a dropdown box you could could select your desktop with. I imagine Gnome3 is similar.

How do I go about downloading these? Do I just yum install Xfce?

Something like that should work. In Debian I think it's xfce-desktop going from memory. You could look it up on the web for doing it in fedora.

[devilock76]

It's all personal preference. If you love the look of Win7, KDE might be a good desktop for you. I was a big fan of Gnome2, but it's no more. I liked the balance of eye candy, features, weight. Here's my choices in rough order...

Xfce
E17
OpenBox
Lxde
Awesome

Nothing else ranks. Unity and Gnome3 don't work because I need a minimum of 2 panels. I like the classic computing paradigm, and deviations from that displease me. KDE just boils down to looks. I really dislike QT styling, and using KDE is like flying an airplane there's so many options. I'd be willing to deal with the options if it weren't for QT.

Try a few, and see what you like. Lets say KDE. Install the KDE desktop, log out, then when you go to log back in, you can pick which desktop environment you want to use. You can have all of them installed, and log in to the one you feel like at any given time. My Debian install has Xfce and E17.

Funny most of the time I make KDE look more like OS X, I often install Cairo-dock for that purpose.

Ken

[devilock76]

The way GDM(Gnome Desktop Manager) worked in Gnome2, is during login, you had a dropdown box you could could select your desktop with. I imagine Gnome3 is similar.




Something like that should work. In Debian I think it's xfce-desktop going from memory. You could look it up on the web for doing it in fedora.

Stock fedora should be GDM, once you enter/select your username you should see a selection box at the bottom that specifies your WM/DE environment, it will probably say default or last, as in your default choice or the last one you used. If you click on that it should expand to all recognized WM installed on the system. Install a lot of them and play.

Ken

[devilock76]

Edit; Just checked out screenshots of Xfce, I dont't think that's for me, has too much going on. I odn't like the start menu style menus either. I think i'm goign to stick with whatever fedora came with, I only need like 4 things on the favorites panel and everything else I access from command line anyways, I like a clean desktop with nothing really else on it.

It is kind of annoying when I go to click "back" on the browser and it mistakenly opens the shortcuts thing which it's only supposed to do when you move your mouse to the top left hand corner, but it's not too bad.

XFCE is way cleaner than Gnome. Still if you like command line and clean desktop you should try fluxbox. In most of my fluxbox installs I have it configured so Alt+F2 brings up FBrun which I can just enter any command/program to run, ALT+F1 brings up my terminal of choice.

I also advise getting conky setup to use with Fluxbox. It is very handy.

Ken

[lxskllr]

You also don't need a start menu with Xfce. You can add CairoDock for a dock type thing, or use the menus from the desktop. If nothing else, you have to give E17 a try. It's a nifty desktop that's super light, yet still has eye candy. Some people say it's too shiny, and they have a point, but it has a nice feature set, and it's fun to use. You may even like their panels since you don't seem to mind Gnome3.

[sgreger1]

I dunno guys, these all look kind of the same in the screenshots. Maybe I just need to try them out to see how it works. If they are easily interchangeable than no harm no foul anyways.

See I don't put any items on my desktop, I just like a wallpaper, nothing else there. Maybe a HDD space or network meter would be nice. I was using rainmeter on Windows, is there sort of a rianmeter equivalent for Linux? I remember hearing it on a linux podcast I was listening to but can't recall the name. Something that shows your network activity, amount of ram/processor being used etc.

Other than that, I want it empty. With Gnome I just move my mouse to the left side of the screen and not only does it show the 5 programs I use most often (which is all I need), it also zooms out and shows me a preview of all of the windows I have minimized in case I want to switch them quickly. Then, if I want to to 10 things at once, I can have a complete second desktop panel that has a different set of things running in it, and can easily switch between the two desktops. I am trying to use the GUI for as little as possible. Right now the only thing I use outside of the terminal is firefox, stickynotes, and thunderbird.

To me it's simple, no menu trees to navigate, nothing. Just a background, and when I need it, a list of my favorite programs. If I need something else I am running it from the terminal anyways so since the terminal is displayed on the left panel, that is pretty much the shortcut to any other program I need.

All I have is :

Firefox
Thunderbird
Terminal
StickyNotes

So Gnome seems to work for me. I don't frankly need even a single other feature other than the above mentioned meters for RAM/Processor usage etc, but I imagine there is seperate software that can handle that.

Or am I just completely missing out on an entire world of bells and whistles that will help make my life better? I'll have to try some others to see.

[sgreger1]

XFCE is way cleaner than Gnome. Still if you like command line and clean desktop you should try fluxbox. In most of my fluxbox installs I have it configured so Alt+F2 brings up FBrun which I can just enter any command/program to run, ALT+F1 brings up my terminal of choice.

I also advise getting conky setup to use with Fluxbox. It is very handy.

Ken

What exactly does one mean when they say "cleaner"? Gnome is just a wallpaper, and if you move your mouse to the top left it lists whatever programs you set up as your favorites. What could you possibly remove from that interface to make it cleaner? I guess I am just missing out and havn't seen any of the others yet.

[lxskllr]

My desktop. Ignore all the crap laying around. I have a couple projects I put to the side, and have folders strewn around. At the top I have access to all programs, and file systems from a menu. Moving right, I have program launchers I use a lot. Then I have an indicator showing network traffic. Next one shows cpu usage, Click it, and I get a task manager. Then we have some open programs, and finally network applet, time/date, and my logout button.

To the right of my desktop is conky which shows a bunch of information, and it can be made to show just about anything you'd like. And I have a screenlets clock, and weather notification. Hidden at the bottom is a taskbar that shows open applications, a desktop switcher, and a trashcan.

I have a ton of useful stuff, with minimal space taken up. This is Gnome2, and Xfce would be closest to it for a project that's very healthy, and actively developed.

[Corvus]

Isn't Cinnamon essentially a continuation or fork of Gnome 2?

[sgreger1]

Hey I was just listening to a podcast and they were talking about using different shells. Namely he was talking about Z-shell. Does this mean a different command terminal? Does anyone else use a different one? (KSH, CORN, TSCH, C-SHELL Etc.)He is saying there are features like automatic command completion, where you press tab and it does it's best to complete your command so you don't have to type as much, or it remembers the directories and you don't have to type them all out etc. Is this a thing, has anyone tried this? He makes it seems like it's awesome but I am curious if this is something anyone has used before.

[lxskllr]

Hey I was just listening to a podcast and they were talking about using different shells. Namely he was talking about Z-shell. Does this mean a different command terminal? Does anyone else use a different one? (KSH, CORN, TSCH, C-SHELL Etc.)He is saying there are features like automatic command completion, where you press tab and it does it's best to complete your command so you don't have to type as much, or it remembers the directories and you don't have to type them all out etc. Is this a thing, has anyone tried this? He makes it seems like it's awesome but I am curious if this is something anyone has used before.

Bash has tab completion too. I read some about other shells awhile ago, but it didn't seem useful to ordinary users. I honestly don't remember the details, but after reading I didn't feel the need to install anything extra. Bash is the standard, and pretty much everything on the web assumes you'll be using bash. Unless you had a compelling reason to do so, bucking the trend is kind of hipster :^D

Regarding cinnamon... Yea, I think that's supposed to kind of like Gnome2, and MATE IS Gnome2. I'm interested in seeing where cinnamon goes, but it's kind of just a Mint thing right now. GNU/Linux is already non-standard. As with using different shells, I try to at least keep within the standards of GNU/Linux at least. I suppose it's a double standard since I accept Unity(but don't like it). Unity has some big muscle behind it, and Canonical's committed to it, right or not, so it's gonna be around awhile. Cinnamon is from small devs, and it strikes me as bing a stop-gap measure until they figure out what to do with the desktop mess, rather than a true vision if you get where I'm coming from. MATE almost doesn't exist. I'll be intersted if it gains traction, but I need to wait and see.

I'm sticking with Xfce cause it's a long standing project, and their vision is clear. I shouldn't have to worry about them screwing up my desktop because I think we're on the same page as to what a desktop should look like.

[devilock76]

What exactly does one mean when they say "cleaner"? Gnome is just a wallpaper, and if you move your mouse to the top left it lists whatever programs you set up as your favorites. What could you possibly remove from that interface to make it cleaner? I guess I am just missing out and havn't seen any of the others yet.

Gnome is a lot more than that, just look at the memory footprin, while say Fluxbox is just a WM not a full DE. Takes less memory and loads quickly. Chagin desktop is a simple shortcut key.

Ken

[devilock76]

Bash has tab completion too. I read some about other shells awhile ago, but it didn't seem useful to ordinary users. I honestly don't remember the details, but after reading I didn't feel the need to install anything extra. Bash is the standard, and pretty much everything on the web assumes you'll be using bash. Unless you had a compelling reason to do so, bucking the trend is kind of hipster :^D

Regarding cinnamon... Yea, I think that's supposed to kind of like Gnome2, and MATE IS Gnome2. I'm interested in seeing where cinnamon goes, but it's kind of just a Mint thing right now. GNU/Linux is already non-standard. As with using different shells, I try to at least keep within the standards of GNU/Linux at least. I suppose it's a double standard since I accept Unity(but don't like it). Unity has some big muscle behind it, and Canonical's committed to it, right or not, so it's gonna be around awhile. Cinnamon is from small devs, and it strikes me as bing a stop-gap measure until they figure out what to do with the desktop mess, rather than a true vision if you get where I'm coming from. MATE almost doesn't exist. I'll be intersted if it gains traction, but I need to wait and see.

I'm sticking with Xfce cause it's a long standing project, and their vision is clear. I shouldn't have to worry about them screwing up my desktop because I think we're on the same page as to what a desktop should look like.

I typically use the shell that is vanilla with the system, saves headaches if the fit hits the shan. Linux is bash, solaris i ksh which i first larned on, bsd is bash, etc. One shell I hear people say is worth switching if you are already strong in it is csh. I see no need, if I need advanced scripting I resort to either perl or python.

Ken

[sgreger1]

So i've tried out Xfce and Fluxbox, Xfce is actually pretty awesome. Very much like Windows. I am going to stick with Gnome since it is more simple but Xfce looks very feature rich and awesome. Fluxbox was, well, I didn't know what the **** to do with the blank screen. It took 15 min to figure out how to log out.