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@mxchara@seattle.pink

Post #3998053

2026-07-21 22:33 UTC

OK let me run up this flagpole. now I KNOW there's so many UNIX-style desktop environments that I can't possible make a really comprehensive poll but I'm genuinely curious as to what folks use. We first experienced Xfce quite a while ago (late 1990s when it was new) and after spending a while with KDE and other things instead we settled back into Xfce. It gets the job done and that's what matters. So, your #Linux / #BSD / #UNIX desktop environment!

Replies (16)

  • @mxchara@seattle.pink One that rarely gets mentioned but deserves so much more attention is Pantheon. It is made by the team at @elementary@mastodon.social and looks great.

    Open ##3998052

  • @mxchara@seattle.pink On most of my NixOS installations I have KDE Plasma. (So I voted for KDE in the poll) That being said, on my Clockwork uConsole, I have Sway instead, because KDE Plasma is a bit performance heavy for that device.

    Open ##3998085

  • @Quoidian@mstdn.ca 2026-07-21 22:53

    @mxchara@seattle.pink Either Maté or Cinnamon.

    Open ##3998230

  • @n1ck@beige.party 2026-07-21 22:58

    @mxchara@seattle.pink I like a minimal desktop, so i always use #openbox or #labwc

    Open ##3998346

  • @crowbriarhexe@tech.lgbt 2026-07-21 23:08

    @mxchara@seattle.pink Motif. Now there’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time. A long time.

    Open ##3998565

  • @OldFartPhil@mastodon.social 2026-07-21 23:09

    @mxchara@seattle.pink I'm probably going to be in the minority, but I've had an affinity for Gnome Shell since it was first released. I like the simplicity, polish, workflow and dynamic workspaces. I haven't always agreed with the decisions the Gnome team has made, but it hasn't stopped me from using the DE. I also have a soft spot for XFCE, which I've used for my special needs computers in the past, and still run on a 2012 Latitude laptop.

    Open ##3998570

  • @mxchara@seattle.pink dwm, with some 3rd party patches, and some personal patches, on my Slackware machines, and cwm on my OpenBSD machines.

    Open ##3998695

  • @mxchara@seattle.pink I've switched to LXQt from whatever BunsenLabs uses (OpenBox + a bunch of other things, I think) for all my VMs and lighter hardware. it's nice and light and has half-decent polish plus not too many bugs.

    Open ##4000812

  • @deutrino@mstdn.io 2026-07-22 01:08

    @mxchara@seattle.pink Cinnamon

    Open ##4000813

  • @lily@java.duke.social 2026-07-22 00:40

    @mxchara@seattle.pink openbox

    Open ##4000822

  • @upofadown@mstdn.ca 2026-07-22 01:28

    @mxchara@seattle.pink Spectrwm. Switched just recently. A tiling window manager with all my favourite tweaks in a 15 line config file. Where has this thing been all my life?

    Open ##4000880

  • @shtrom@piaille.fr 2026-07-22 01:27

    @mxchara@seattle.pink Other. GNOME is great on my single-screen side-of-lounge personal laptop, but it just doesn't work for work purposes. I tried all the tiling add-ons, and non work as I want them (mainly lacking deterministic window placement). I'm using Sway there.

    Open ##4001954

  • @memewarrior@hear-me.social 2026-07-22 03:03

    @mxchara@seattle.pink Cinnamon on my laptop, Sway on my desktop.

    Open ##4002630

  • @tasket@infosec.exchange 2026-07-22 03:32

    @mxchara@seattle.pink Gnome is the favorite default DE of most large distros: Less licensing issues that might (theoretically) pop up, and a lot fewer features to maintain than KDE. Users often switch to KDE or something else because they want a 'regular' desktop with features and not a mobile-inspired UI. KDE strikes a better functionality and "just works" balance for me, even though it has a reputation for not liking nVidia setups (I avoid nVidia because they're hostile to open source). FWIW, my first desktop was Enlightenment way back in '98.

    Open ##4002776

  • @daumenlutscher@fedifreu.de 2026-07-22 05:05

    @mxchara@seattle.pink It would be nice to have multiple options. It depends on the age of the computer. My 14-year-old netbook with an Atom CPU runs LXDE, and my main computer runs KDE.

    Open ##4004325

  • @TomAoki@mastodon.bsd.cafe 2026-07-22 06:04

    @mxchara@seattle.pink Using Mate DE on FreeBSD. It's a fork from Gnome2, but Gnome broke their UI quite badly (for me) on Gnome3 and later.

    Open ##4005188