4 ms·

Great to see the KDE development community being so active. I think it has really been showing in the end product. Over the past 2-3 years KDE has easily become

by jogu 5y ago

Great to see the KDE development community being so active. I think it has really been showing in the end product. Over the past 2-3 years KDE has easily become my favorite environment, even over macOS or Windows as of late. For the most part things just work, all the default apps are solid. In particular Dolphin is hands down the best file manager out there. Kudos to the KDE devs.

Wxc2jjJmST9XWWL 5y ago
I always preferred thunar or pcmanfm back when I was into exploring all those Desktop Environments and Window Managers ; some of the xfce/lxde tools are particularly light on additional libraries needed, which makes them great options if running a wm only and wanting a slim system. lxterminal with i3 or dwm for example. Actually preferred that compared to rxvt-unicode. But happy to agree on the larger point: it's been showing in the end product. Particularly the KDE community has done a wonderful job slimming down its codebase. Tried KDE a few months back for a short time, was surprised that KDE's footprint (in mb of space on disk, not ram) was not that much heavier than LXQT. The desktop experience seemed polished, though for me it has far too much gimmickery (in settings), and at this point I'm quite used to Ubuntu's Gnome. But happy for a healthy ecosystem. When I got into Linux (back in ~2008 probably?), I remember the choice with regards to full DEs was KDE vs Gnome vs XFCE vs LXDE ; there are more today, but I would hate to see one of them gone for good, and wish all of them well. Good to read that KDE seems healthy.
- ryantgtg 5y ago
  I’m just a casual user, but three features I really like in Dolphin that I haven’t seen elsewhere: - Split window, so you can have two explorers right next to each other. - Tabs - If you drag a file/folder into another folder, you get prompted about “copying or moving?” In terms of health, I also appreciate that many of the devs frequent the kde subreddit, and they all seem really chill and receptive.
  - Wxc2jjJmST9XWWL 5y ago
    I am not that aware of the various file managers and their specific features these days. I guess it's about use case. I always want primarily something "which doesn't annoy", since the file manager is mostly there "just in case" for me. I live in the terminal, even for most file operations. Back when I tested them out (years ago, so not relevant today, still): Considering dependencies (if not running KDE), but even then Dolphin always seemed to do something quite not intuitively for me. Can't name examples anymore. Different people, different tools.
    - ryantgtg 5y ago
      Yeah, totally. For some strange reason I'm envious of people who are mostly in the terminal, while at the same time that wouldn't at all suit my needs (I do graphic design, mapping, web and app development... and I just like using a mouse and clicking stuff!). And I haven't hopped around and tried anything new in a few years. I've lost my desire to break and fix things or try anything new, and now I just want something that works and that I'm used to (which for the last 4 years has been Arch + KDE Plasma).
  - shorts_theory 5y ago
    I love the integrated terminal too! It's such a great idea which is now integral to my workflow.
  - executesorder66 5y ago
    - Split window (just use your window manager?) - Thunar has Tabs, and I'm sure lots of other file managers do too - That is a nice option, and others should copy it.
    - noisem4ker 5y ago
      Agreed about tabs and split windows. I think they take over the window manager's job, and do it poorly. About the menu, it is nice, but not unique. Windows' Explorer, for example, shows it when dragging with the right mouse button. Options include copying, moving, zipping and actions from any registered shell handlers. That said, I think KDE is still the best desktop environment across all the operating systems I've tried.
- Jedd 5y ago
  > ... for me it has far too much gimmickery (in settings), ... One person's gimmickry is another's convenience. Does the alleged surfeit of configuration options materially affect your usage of KDE, or just offends your sensibilities that they're available?
  - noisem4ker 5y ago
    It's a good thing for those "offended" by in-depth configurability that KDE's System Settings now opens to a reduced view called "quick settings". It's the "simple" part of the "Simple by default, powerful when needed" slogan manifesting itself.
topspin 5y ago
I agree. I had been using OpenSUSE for years, then converted to Kubuntu about 2 years ago. No regrets. KDE is currently excellent; quality is high and they are thankfully being very conservative in design and development. This has produced a pleasant, complete and stable DE. The only real problem KDE has now are the scars of past mistakes that have kept people away and all too often mired in Gnome.
- noisem4ker 5y ago
  What did bring you to Kubuntu from openSUSE? I'm just curious, as I've been exploring the latter as a possible alternative to Canonical's offering. Compared to Kubuntu it feels more friendly to enterprise administration than polished for personal use.
  - topspin 5y ago
    Everyone that distributes Linux software targets both Debian/Ubuntu and RHEL/Centos/etc. and OpenSUSE is frequently neglected. I have to deal with a great deal of such software. I know this can be worked around in most cases. The added friction is, however, not helpful. And that's a shame, because OpenSUSE is excellent. If KDE continues to thrive SUSE deserves a lot of credit for keeping it alive.

by jogu 5y ago

Wxc2jjJmST9XWWL 5y ago

I always preferred thunar or pcmanfm back when I was into exploring all those Desktop Environments and Window Managers ; some of the xfce/lxde tools are particularly light on additional libraries needed, which makes them great options if running a wm only and wanting a slim system. lxterminal with i3 or dwm for example. Actually preferred that compared to rxvt-unicode. But happy to agree on the larger point: it's been showing in the end product. Particularly the KDE community has done a wonderful job slimming down its codebase. Tried KDE a few months back for a short time, was surprised that KDE's footprint (in mb of space on disk, not ram) was not that much heavier than LXQT. The desktop experience seemed polished, though for me it has far too much gimmickery (in settings), and at this point I'm quite used to Ubuntu's Gnome. But happy for a healthy ecosystem. When I got into Linux (back in ~2008 probably?), I remember the choice with regards to full DEs was KDE vs Gnome vs XFCE vs LXDE ; there are more today, but I would hate to see one of them gone for good, and wish all of them well. Good to read that KDE seems healthy.

ryantgtg 5y ago
I’m just a casual user, but three features I really like in Dolphin that I haven’t seen elsewhere: - Split window, so you can have two explorers right next to each other. - Tabs - If you drag a file/folder into another folder, you get prompted about “copying or moving?” In terms of health, I also appreciate that many of the devs frequent the kde subreddit, and they all seem really chill and receptive.
- Wxc2jjJmST9XWWL 5y ago
  I am not that aware of the various file managers and their specific features these days. I guess it's about use case. I always want primarily something "which doesn't annoy", since the file manager is mostly there "just in case" for me. I live in the terminal, even for most file operations. Back when I tested them out (years ago, so not relevant today, still): Considering dependencies (if not running KDE), but even then Dolphin always seemed to do something quite not intuitively for me. Can't name examples anymore. Different people, different tools.
  - ryantgtg 5y ago
    Yeah, totally. For some strange reason I'm envious of people who are mostly in the terminal, while at the same time that wouldn't at all suit my needs (I do graphic design, mapping, web and app development... and I just like using a mouse and clicking stuff!). And I haven't hopped around and tried anything new in a few years. I've lost my desire to break and fix things or try anything new, and now I just want something that works and that I'm used to (which for the last 4 years has been Arch + KDE Plasma).
- shorts_theory 5y ago
  I love the integrated terminal too! It's such a great idea which is now integral to my workflow.
- executesorder66 5y ago
  - Split window (just use your window manager?) - Thunar has Tabs, and I'm sure lots of other file managers do too - That is a nice option, and others should copy it.
  - noisem4ker 5y ago
    Agreed about tabs and split windows. I think they take over the window manager's job, and do it poorly. About the menu, it is nice, but not unique. Windows' Explorer, for example, shows it when dragging with the right mouse button. Options include copying, moving, zipping and actions from any registered shell handlers. That said, I think KDE is still the best desktop environment across all the operating systems I've tried.
Jedd 5y ago
> ... for me it has far too much gimmickery (in settings), ... One person's gimmickry is another's convenience. Does the alleged surfeit of configuration options materially affect your usage of KDE, or just offends your sensibilities that they're available?
- noisem4ker 5y ago
  It's a good thing for those "offended" by in-depth configurability that KDE's System Settings now opens to a reduced view called "quick settings". It's the "simple" part of the "Simple by default, powerful when needed" slogan manifesting itself.

topspin 5y ago

I agree. I had been using OpenSUSE for years, then converted to Kubuntu about 2 years ago. No regrets. KDE is currently excellent; quality is high and they are thankfully being very conservative in design and development. This has produced a pleasant, complete and stable DE. The only real problem KDE has now are the scars of past mistakes that have kept people away and all too often mired in Gnome.

noisem4ker 5y ago
What did bring you to Kubuntu from openSUSE? I'm just curious, as I've been exploring the latter as a possible alternative to Canonical's offering. Compared to Kubuntu it feels more friendly to enterprise administration than polished for personal use.
- topspin 5y ago
  Everyone that distributes Linux software targets both Debian/Ubuntu and RHEL/Centos/etc. and OpenSUSE is frequently neglected. I have to deal with a great deal of such software. I know this can be worked around in most cases. The added friction is, however, not helpful. And that's a shame, because OpenSUSE is excellent. If KDE continues to thrive SUSE deserves a lot of credit for keeping it alive.