this post was submitted on 14 Oct 2023
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Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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Yeah, I thought about not responding on the basis that Sway wasn't a DE, but someone else responded CWM, so I figured at least if I bucked the system, I wouldn't be alone in it.
Plus, not everyone really knows the difference between a DE and a WM. And not everyone knows that a lot of people don't use a DE. So, often times, people use "DE" and "WM" synonymously, not really knowing there's a difference.
(Not saying that describes OP or anyone here in particular. But there was definitely a time when that described me. And I wouldn't be surprised if that described some folks who were browsing this thread.)
Oh, but to answer your question directly, no I don't use anything that could be considered a DE. I use "dmenu_run" from Suckless to launch applications. That's about the only thing I "add" to Sway in my setup.
I didn't realise that people use them interchangeably. I've got an idea on what a WM is and what a DE is but nothing super in depth.
A WM is literally just the window manager. It makes windows work and have a border and maximize and stuff but that's it.
A DE gives you a lot of other stuff: a root window that makes up the "desktop", panels & widgets, notification area, an application menu, workspaces, window and workspace switchers, global hotkeys, the concept of a session and stuff related to it (things to run on start, or saving your session between reboots), a unified theme and fonts etc. etc.
There are also programs that fall somewhere between these. For example tiling WM tend to fill the whole screen so they don't care a lot about all the things I mentioned but they can integrate with some other stuff to some extent. Or something like OpenBox which includes a very lightweight desktop, menu and panel so I guess you could call it a DE but it's all contained in one executable.
I've really appreciated running i3 within gnome-flashback. I keep hitting things that just work, that I didn't even realize I wanted. I hit the pause/mute button on my headphones when watching youtube and it paused... Things like ssh agents, hotplugging monitors and having it remember your preferred config, the main gnome settings GUI, the compose key, etc.. I'm just not interested in reinventing all that, even though each individual step is usually not hard.
I'm glad to see Regolith is making a DE with Sway. One day I'll migrate from i3 and I may let Regolith give me a DE.