So, recently, I've been having a problem. I can't control the way my desktop or programs look, nor how I interface with them. For me, control of my environment

So, recently, I've been having a problem. I can't control the way my desktop or programs look, nor how I interface with them. For me, control of my environment takes priority over aesthetics but doesn't explicitly exclude them. The nature of the work I'm getting done changes depending on how I do it, which in turn is shaped by the GUI, or what appears and its mechanics. I want to tell my GUI how I want it to look, feel and work, not the other way around. In my opinion, although CDE is nice and functional, and definitely more so than any recent desktop I see, I'm not sure if I can hold it up as 'the way', if it won't let me decide what that would be. I can just say it works, and well, but it's not 'optimal' if I don't get to change it, just like I can't reach in and rip out every little hamburger menu in modern apps by the seams. To me a fundamental control problem still exists. CDE restores lost functionality, but I am left to wonder: what do I control? All that aside, this is a great project, just for proving that someone can get all the modern engines to behave and show consistency again. That's a gift.