3 ms·

> Its UI gets out of my way. If you want the UI to get out of your way, why are you using a desktop environment instead of just a window manager?

Grimm665 5y ago
I've been through this back and forth, the devil is in the details. I'm sure with enough customizations and configuration, a tiling window manager can do all of the following, but I just don't have the time or energy anymore, and Gnome does most of these well enough that it doesn't matter. - Works well with 1, 2 or 3 screens as I hop around between desk, laptop, and home office - Seemlessly allows me to share screen with Zoom, Teams, and Discord. - Easily allows me to select microphone and speakers on the fly, and connect and disconnect bluetooth headphones. - Modify network settings easily and quickly as I hop between wired and wireless networks. I've found the best compromise to be Gnome with the MaterialShell, which gives me back the tiling I need without removing the ease-of-use from a full desktop environment. https://github.com/material-shell/material-shell https://github.com/material-shell/material-shell
anoncake 5y ago
You always use a desktop environment, either a premade one or one you assemble yourself starting with a window manager.
rtpg 5y ago
I think this is a legitimate question! Saying you want the UI to get out of the way _can_ mean that you still want the DE for the 10% of the time you need it, but for the 90% of the time you don't, you want it to be unobtrusive. Classic example for me is how Mac will fuse the top bar and a maximized app's toolbar. I want the top bar sometimes! But I like it not being a permanent fixture if the app I'm using needs it. A lot of people want the DE for when they need it, and want it to not be in the way when they don't. That's what a lot of people mean by that IMO.

3 ms·

> Its UI gets out of my way. If you want the UI to get out of your way, why are you using a desktop environment instead of just a window manager?

by subsection1h 5y ago

Grimm665 5y ago
I've been through this back and forth, the devil is in the details. I'm sure with enough customizations and configuration, a tiling window manager can do all of the following, but I just don't have the time or energy anymore, and Gnome does most of these well enough that it doesn't matter. - Works well with 1, 2 or 3 screens as I hop around between desk, laptop, and home office - Seemlessly allows me to share screen with Zoom, Teams, and Discord. - Easily allows me to select microphone and speakers on the fly, and connect and disconnect bluetooth headphones. - Modify network settings easily and quickly as I hop between wired and wireless networks. I've found the best compromise to be Gnome with the MaterialShell, which gives me back the tiling I need without removing the ease-of-use from a full desktop environment. https://github.com/material-shell/material-shell https://github.com/material-shell/material-shell
anoncake 5y ago
You always use a desktop environment, either a premade one or one you assemble yourself starting with a window manager.
rtpg 5y ago
I think this is a legitimate question! Saying you want the UI to get out of the way _can_ mean that you still want the DE for the 10% of the time you need it, but for the 90% of the time you don't, you want it to be unobtrusive. Classic example for me is how Mac will fuse the top bar and a maximized app's toolbar. I want the top bar sometimes! But I like it not being a permanent fixture if the app I'm using needs it. A lot of people want the DE for when they need it, and want it to not be in the way when they don't. That's what a lot of people mean by that IMO.