KDE vs Gnome vs FVVM vs Whatever...

ckiraly · n00b Joined: 30 Jun 2004 Posts: 50

Ok -

Because I want to optimize my Gentoo system, I was wondering what kinds of arguments there were for the various window managers.

I don't know the differences between them, besides some small visual elements. But here is what I'd like to do with my linux box:

I plan on making it my main computer. My wife will have a login to play some games (like mahjohng) and listen to some music. Check out the internet. Stuff like that.

I want the same thing, although I'm also going back to school to finish my degree in Comp Sci. So I'll be doing a lot of C++ programming, as well as java. I also want to get into some database designing, php, mysql, etc. I'd also like to run WINE, and other emulators on it. [I'd like to run some older windows games I have, plus some newer ones (newer as in the last 18 month)]

I want to customize both desktops to our preferences.

But I'm also going to want to watch dvd movies, burn cd's and dvd's, create documents and spreadsheets and other typical computer stuff. What I would like to be able to do is to turn off the USE flags for stuff that I won't use (like if I go KDE compared to Gnome, I want to turn off the Gnome compiling for better optimization).

When I program in C++, I want to do 'window' designs, not just straight code (eventually, so far, all my class stuff is just in application mode, and not with widgets or buttons, etc.)

So any comments, advice, preferences I would like to hear about why you like, or why you dislike the various window managers. Also, if this has been asked before, or someone has a webpage that discusses it, I'd would love to see that as well.

Thanks in advance...

CK

PS : Sorry to forget about this.

Here is the system specs:
P4 2.67Ghz
1 GB ram
200Gb Hard Drive
80Gb Hard Drive
128Mb ATI Radeon 9700Pro
Sony +/- RW DVD Burner

ep98 · Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2004 4:32 am Post subject:

emerge ufed
u can find description of everything that u need for all those FLAGS
For the desktop depends on your requirements
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Cinder6 · l33t Joined: 05 Aug 2004 Posts: 767 Location: California

Gnome: never used it.
FVWM: HIGHLY configurable, but hard to get in to.
KDE: easy to configure, but is pretty bloated. Easy to use.

My personal favorites: Fluxbox, WindowMaker, and Enlightenment (which is now my absolute favorite).

What it kind of boils down to is this: do you want simple menus to configure your themes and whatnot, or do you not mind the (more powerful) text editing required of FB, WM, E, FVWM, and others.
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Ugly Overload

ep98 · Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2004 5:27 am Post subject:

and if we search thru portage, we can see that this little and ugly wm is a clone of BlackBox, if u really want a small and fast, and ugly of course Window manager , use BlackBox, u can found a lot of BlackBox addons, to make your life easier :twisted:

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ckiraly · n00b Joined: 30 Jun 2004 Posts: 50

After reading and doing some more researching, I want to "undo" as little as possible, and still keep an optimized system. So I guess what I want to ask is this...

Are any aplications depending on the window manager? So if I compile OpenOffice, does it matter whether I'm using Gnome, or KDE, or Enlightenment, etc. Same thing with WINE, and XINE, and K3B.

If later, when I'm ready to start coding, does it matter if I then add Qt+ stucture (and can that be used in other WMs) or Gtk+ structure without installing KDE or Gnome, etc.

Again, thanks for the info...

inode77 · Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2004 5:09 pm Post subject:

Skraut · Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2004 7:20 pm Post subject:

First of all, let me just get this out of the way. I use Gnome.

From the sounds of what you will be using it for, I think your best bet may be KDE, with Gnome a good second choice.

I know I'm over simplifying things and don't mean to start a flame war, but from a "new user" perspective, KDE is the most similar to Windows, and just seems to have the most polish. Things are integrated better, and it just seems to work.

Gnome is similar to MacOS 9, is also very easy to use, and while is making fantastic strides, still has a few rough edges here and there.

as far as WM FVWM E and the *boxes, even XFCE I'd just tell you not to bother. Not yet anyway. My wife sits in front of my Gnome box and she can figure out what to do. It may take her a minute or two but she figures out the menu and launches the program, but she can do it. She's lost if I load fluxbox. Many of the other window managers require configuration from a text file, or some other method which just isn't as user friendly. If you're just starting out, you'll spend a lot of time configuring these for your needs, whereas KDE and Gnome just work "out of the emerge" so to speak.

The advantage of Linux is it's diversity. The other window makers are great as well, and if you have the time to tinker with them. Don't get caught into thinking that this is a once in a lifetime decision, and that you're locked into what you choose from now until forever. Grab KDE or even Gnome, get it running, and have fun with Linux as a Desktop OS. Then when you have some time, and are up for a challenge give one of the others a try, as they are all great in their own way.

amps · n00b Joined: 06 Aug 2004 Posts: 49

hello,

from the specs on your machine, you should be able to run anything. i agree with skraut, don't bother with light weight stuff like fluxbox, blackbox etc. i like fluxbox and blackbox, but i only use them on computers with limited resources. they are not nearly as full as gnome/kde (thus their light weight) but that shouldn't be an issue for you. i have a p4, 2GHZ with 256 megs of ram and gnome/kde run fine. they should fly on your computer.

i am personally a gnome user, but i did use kde for a little while (i really did not like gnome 2.4 because nautilus was so broken and slow) but gnome 2.6 is great. I would recommend gnome, but kde has many users in it corner as well.

the one thing that gnome really lacks that kde has is a good cd/dvd burning suite. IMHO k3b (for kde) is by FAR the best burning app for linux. everything is easy and transparent with it. but of course, you can use gnome, optimize everything for gnome (have only gnome support compiled for everything) and have kde and k3b installed for when you want to burn stuff (that is what i do). sounds like you have a lot of room on you computer, so it shouldn't be an issue.

amps