As to why I prefer KDE and have used KDE almost exclusively as a desktop since 2001.
First I will preface this with a disclaimer as what I have to say is a bit controversial. There are many good desktops. Initially I was dismayed when I heard Knoppix was moving away from KDE. However using LDXE on Knoppix I was pleasantly surprised by LDXE and if I were to use another desktop at this point and time LDXE would be my choice. Linux is freedom and power, the choice of desktops is part of this. Different desktop managers appeal to different people because of their different needs. No desktop is perfect by any means. I gripe lots about certain things in KDE. 1. KDE offered me a chance to step into the power of Linux with a low learning curve. I started with Tandy, CPM & the other primitive PC operating systems of the mid-80s. By the time I moved to Linux in 2000 I was suffering serious IDE fatigue. Tired of learning yet another set of keystrokes, shortcuts and menu configurations to do things I'd been doing for 15+ years at that point. Multi-Mate, Word Perfect, Borland programming IDEs, Watcom, Microsoft, and a zillion other programs. KDE software is very good about a consistent UI across the software. One that usually matched what I had been using for years in previous software. Thus with KDE I spent far more time doing things and far less time trying to memorize yet another set of keystrokes, shortcuts and menu configurations. 2. Best of breed apps. While I use several Gnome apps as well as many apps which are desktop independent, at least seven times out of ten, if I had a strong favourite for an app it was a KDE app which was my favourite. For example, at the time I discovered K3b there was no burner software which compared in power and ease of use. Prior to switching to K3b I burned from the command line as other Linux burners were buggy, unfriendly, seriously lacked features and had such a horrific interface that the command line was far easier to use. Today most Linux burner software mimics K3b but it was a KDE app which set the standard for not just Linux but other operating systems which eventually came to include features K3b had for years. 3. Community. The old school Unix crowd may not realize it but they come off as arrogant, unfriendly and contrite. The RTFM mantra is often a substitute for actual discourse when it comes to providing feedback, suggestions and getting help. When I first started using Linux I had many questions and I got good answers from the KDE community. What I got from the Gnome community was contempt. I was a noob and thus unworthy of their knowledge and help. This left me with a really bad taste for Gnome. This attitude has driven many potential Linux users back to Microserfdom. The KDE community lacks that elitist attitude found in certain distros, in particular among the Gnome crowd. Instead it is the friendly brawls that are normal for any gathering of geeks to rejoice in our favourite bit crusher at this time. 4. Practical innovation While I see a lot of things tried in other desktop managers, just because you can do it, does not mean you should. Unity for example. Whoever designed that should be shot, drawn and quartered, then burned at the stake and their ashes scattered to the 4 winds just so they never touch a computer again. The only good thing about Unity is that Microsoft could not help but steal it and call it Windows 8. For once Microsoft's kleptomania is biting them hard enough to really hurt. Other desktops have pioneered some good ideas which found their way into KDE but more often than not it's KDE which comes up with the practical new way of doing things which winds up in other desktops. 5. Graphics. KDE has always been sleek and sexy. An electronic seductress if I've ever known one. Gnome's graphics seem like an afterthought. Inconsistent and toyish. Almost as primitive as Microsoft's lame efforts to look modern. If I want to see what Microsoft and everyone else will be imitating 5 years from now I need only look at what KDE is today. 6. Customization. I like how easy it is to create a very customized desktop with Linux. There are very few configuration options which only live in obscure files residing in /etc or even deeper in some desktop specific dir. I can create a desktop which is uniquely mine with ease. On Sat, Dec 21, 2013 at 8:45 PM, Bruce Byfield <bbyfi...@axion.net> wrote: > > As you may have heard, KDE recently topped the Linux Journal's Readers' > Choice > Awards. > > That got me thinking. Why do people prefer KDE? What advantages do you > think > it has over other desktop environments? > > Warning: If I get enough replies, I may use them in a blog entry for Linux > Pro > Magazine. > > My thanks in advance for any replies. > > -- > Bruce Byfield 604-421-7189 (on Pacific time) > blog: https://brucebyfield.wordpress.com > website: http://members.axion.net/~bbyfield/ > ___________________________________________________ > This message is from the kde mailing list. > Account management: https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde. > Archives: http://lists.kde.org/. > More info: http://www.kde.org/faq.html. >
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