I like Plasma.
I know, real brave take
All the JavaScript in gnome make it super icky to me as an ex-webdev, and unusable on hardware that is otherwise perfectly fine with other DEs. From high resource usage, memory leaks, and breaking extensions, I have a hard time believing that their userbase is anyone other than mobile native younger folk who are good at consuming via the iPad launcher paradigm. Just my humble opinion, nothing more.
I tried to use linux on a tablet, I've tried GNOME multiple times since it is apparently the best for touchscreen-only devices. This was hell.
As much as I'd love to be able to like that thing I just can't.
Zero customisability, everything has to be changed through extensions, but the extension manager isn't even part of GNOME's core and has to be installed separately.
The settings page is severely lacking so I had to configure everything in .conf files or through CLI directly.
And the whole thing is as stable as a one-legged chair on top of a unbalanced washing machine.
KDE extension crashing : "oupsie a part of your desktop crashed and restarted as fast as possible, hope you didn't notice"
GNOME extension crashing : "go fuck yourself, I burned your whole session to the ground, log back in and pray you weren't doing anything worth saving"
In the end I customized KDE to look and behave like GNOME, this way around was surprisingly easier than just making GNOME bearable.
Oh and to the taskbar haters out there : my first computer was running windows 95 so you'll be taking my taskbar from my cold dead hands, only KDE let me fulfill my dream of putting taskbars absolutely everywhere (even got two perpendicular ones on my bottom monitor)
I got to take this baby from 999 to 1K
I think the key is to just not hate on someone else for having a preference for one you don't care for. (And not being an overzealous missionary for your own preference.) It's fun seeing the variety and people geeking out about the little intricacies they love about their favorites
That's just a good approach to life in general.
Just use any Linux distro you like!
Stock Ubuntu with GNOME
This made me laugh more than it should have. It perfectly captures how we all try to be neutral… until that one preference slips out. Classic moment.
I like gnome and it's philosophy 😬
There's plenty of "customizability" friendly options out there. I like how gnome isn't afraid to break things to improve
KDE: "I just blue myself"
I like gnome DE, I dislike the arrogance of the project team.
My straw was the login-to-exposé thing.
Can you elaborate for the curious? I tried searching but couldn't find anything. What's the login to exposé thing?
It was (and still is) the default input focus to the Search box on the Save dialog. Why? Just.... why? Why would I ever want to start typing in the Search box when I'm saving a file. I have never, ever thought to myself as I saved something that I should search for something to name this thing I'm saving after something else somewhere on this filesystem.
Why? Just… why?
Any time you ask the Gnome devs this, you can expect the answer to be "elegance". And then they block you.
I prefer the default gnome experience to the default kde experience.
I also prefer the styling of most gnome apps, and actively dislike kde apps styling.
Gnome is less customizable, but customizable enough for what I want.
I'm also biased, because I was using Ubuntu since it came out, up until a few years ago 🤷♂️
I'm also biased, because I was using Ubuntu since it came out, up until a few years ago 🤷♂️
Yes. Same here. I'll complain about pain points in Gnome all day, but I owe the various gnome contributors many thanks. Gnome has been a more than good enough daily driver for me plenty of times.
The #2 reason I'm still on a Mac is because I prefer the look of its UX. Can you recommend a good window manager/theme that replicates macOS Sequoia?
And also one that will replicate system 7 because I am an old and nostalgic man.
Making KDE look like a Mac is an entire genre of easily downloaded and installed themes:
https://store.kde.org/p/1400409
https://store.kde.org/p/1305006
System 7 stuff is going to look very small at 2026 screen resolutions. The widget dimensions on it mostly correspond to the original Mac's dimensions, from 1984.
That being said, it looks like archive.org has archives of kaleidoscope.net's
the most popular third-party theme engine
theme archives:
https://web.archive.org/web/20140423004746fw_/http://kaleidoscope.net/schemes/completelisting.shtml
So in theory, somone could make a bulk converter from System 7 themes to GTK or whatever.
checks
https://www.gnome-look.org/browse?cat=135&ord=latest&tag=macos
There's an "Mac OS" category of GTK themes on gnome-look.org, and I imagine that the KDE people probably have something comparable. I haven't used any myself.
Thanks! I’ll try these out tomorrow.
Sidenote: Is there a flying toasters screensaver?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/After_Dark_(software)
A 3D version of the toasters featuring swarms of toasters with airplane wings, rather than bird wings, is available for XScreenSaver.
That being said, it looks like xscreensaver doesn't presently fully work on Wayland (or didn't as of six months ago):
https://www.jwz.org/blog/2025/07/xscreensaver-6-11/
XScreenSaver 6.11 is out now. This is a Unix-only release -- this version contains preliminary support for Wayland.
This is maybe not entirely ready for prime time, but I figured I'd get it out there so that some people who actually understand Wayland can poke at it.
I love GNOME but I found the default usage pattern aligned very well for laptops. And I don't mind they only implement finalized Wayland protocols. But Wayland moves so slow!
I use KDE on in my normal desktop because I want VRR and HDR for gaming. I like KDE but its default theme still looks rough around the edges and it has random bugs and kwin crashes when gaming and sometimes on resume.
Both have things I like and things I don't like and I wish I could take the best from both.
I like Cosmic DE a lot because of this. It feels light, efficient, and smooth like KDE. But it feels coherent, consistent, and laptop friendly like Gnome.
... But Cosmic still feels a bit too incomplete for me to daily.
I don't get the gnome hate, it's my favorite
If it happens to be exactly what you want, then you're golden. If not, you have a fight on your hands.
Gnome is very competently made except it's made for a different genre of person to me, and their attitude towards customisation is outright disdainful. You install an extension or mess around in tweaks and gnome looks at you like you just used the salad fork for seafood.
I think it's made for people who like Macs or sth.
Wouldn't be a problem(people can use whatever makes them happy) if the gnome Devs shit attitude didn't trickle outwards and harm customizability in other environments.
I actually kinda like gnome. I like most of the others too, but I default to gnome. Also I use the hot corners all the time
Also I use the hot corners all the time
I only use gnome. KDE and plasma reminds me of windows which is cringe
I loved using multi desktop in Gnome. Hated using it anywhere else... Except i3. But still kinda like Gnome more. Though... Kinda hated my extensions constantly breaking.
Hint: :q!
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