Linux users have the unique privilege and challenge of picking the distribution that fits them best. Most start out their Linux-experience with a major distribution like Ubuntu, Fedora, or openSUSE, and for some, that's as far as they go. Others, curious or eager to try the variety of Linus Torvald-"flavors" available, start trying to find out what differences exist between "smaller" distributions like Elive or Crunchbang and the bigger ones.
Desktop Environments for Linux
Initially, an obvious difference between many distributions has to do with their "Desktop Environment." a Desktop Environment is a combination of the Graphical User Interface (GUI), the software that is used by default, and the overall feel of an operating system. For Linux OS the environments used to range mostly between KDE and Gnome desktops, but has now expanded to include XFCE, LXDE, Rox, Enlightenment, Fluxbox, Blackbox and Openbox. There's even one called awesome. The list of possible environments grows and grows.
The difference between the various environments begins with the distribution's intended end-user. If a distribution is marketing its product to as wide an audience as possible, the desktop environment has to be, in a certain sense, "dumbed down" so that anyone can quickly become comfortable using it. If the audience is intended to be higher-level users who want a more configurable desktop, then a less vanilla desktop environment is possible.
Gnome, KDE, XFCE, LXDE, Fluxbox or Openbox
The Gnome Desktop Environment is the most popular and most stable desktop environment used by Linux distributions. For new users, it's probably the best choice. Once a user becomes familiar with the Gnome desktop and with Linux software – different browsers and new programs for all sorts of things – then he can move on to try other desktop environments.
Once familiar with Linux software, Linux "feel," and its file system, users might be ready to try other options – which is really what Linux is all about. According to KDE.org, "KDE grants you freedoms that are not usually afforded the users of other desktops," offering increased customizations, more new software, more effects. After KDE, Linux offers several other environments, starting with XFCE and LXDE. They're both smaller, leaner, and often faster. They're perfect for the older laptop bogged down by larger, space and ram-hungry systems.
Distributions Packaged with Alternative Desktop Environments
The other, newer desktop environments are for the Linux users who are a little more familiar with Linux in general, although the longer they're aound, the smoother and more sophisticated they become. For instance, PC/OS comes packaged with XFCE. When installed, it takes under 2 GB of hard drive space, and it comes with as full a suite of programs as many systems that are closer to 5 GB. It also comes with Google Chrome standard, which is fairly new for Linux, a long-time supporter of Firefox and often Opera. Other distros that come with XFCE standard are Masonux, Xubuntu, and Vector Linux. A really interesting distribution based on Slackware using XFCE in GoblinX.
Other newer desktop environments to try are below:
- Enlightenment is the default environment (really a window manager, but for most users, the difference is negligible) of distros like Elive and OpenGEU. It's an interesting mix of smooth operation and industrial feel. The settings-panels are plain and functional, while the operation of the desktop and software are simply light-speed. Getting around in an Enlightenment desktop is easy, and the configurability is excellent. The i-bar is crisp and responsive; the software is comprehensive.
- LXDE is the standard desktop environment for distributions like PCLinuxOS and Masonux. Both are light and fast, and both have taken a slim desktop environment and made the most of it. PCLinuxOS is so quick and light that it's moved up to #10 on the distrowatch.com popularity poll. That's impressive for a non-Gnome or KDE distro.
- The best known Openbox distro is Crunchbang (#!). It's one of the leanest, meanest recent distributions, but it's definitely made for experienced Linux users. Updates have to be run through command-line, and the minimalist desktop experience requires a thorough knowledge of Linux file structure and workarounds. If Crunchbang is an example of what a Linux distro built on Openbox can do, it's well worth the experiment.
- Very few distros use fluxbox as their base, but they frequently have it installed as an option. Linux Mint provides a Fluxbox edition; Distros like Fluxbuntu and PCFluxboxOS were released as standalone distros based on their obvious roots; Feather Linux was built on Knoppix and used fluxbox.
Whatever desktop environment chosen by Linux users, certain functionalities remain constant. All the environments in this article are windows-based. They all achieve a user-experience similar to that found on any Microsoft(r) of Mac(r) OS. Most people familiar with these commercial operating systems will quickly adapt to the new file structure and feel of a Linux distribution.
What's new for many new users are the myriad collections of open source software and the new look of the menu bars, task bars, application launchers and "screenlets," "gdesklets," gadgets, and "plasmoids" that often accompany Linux OS distros. These differences, those in look and those in desktop environment, are also what makes the Linux experience so fulfilling. It's the ability to do anything, to achieve more, and to learn that appeals to those who choose Linux as their OS.
More Linux Articles by Ben Lingenfelter
Ben Lingenfelter - As an intinerant writer, I've found freedom to write and learn about a variety of topics. That fits me perfectly. I've been an English ...
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