What Desktop environment do you use?

[wizard10000]

openbox has made me happy for years.

[None1975]

Default XFCE4

[alienspy]

By the way, i wanted to ask why Gnome is "default" for Debian, while being so controversial for many? Because of implementing new technologies like Wayland and Pipewire?

[steve_v]

i wanted to ask why Gnome is "default" for Debian

At a guess, mostly inertia.
AFAIK GNOME has always been the default, since the time when the only real options for a full "desktop environment" were GNOME, KDE, and CDE.
At that time, CDE was still proprietary and QT (and by extension KDE) was under a rather odd licence that made people nervous (still is, sort of), so GNOME (caps BTW, because GNU Object Model Environment) was the go-to for a lot of distributions.

These days I too question it being the default desktop, but then again, who really cares? It's not like you can't just install something else.
TBH I don't think I've ever actually installed Debian with the default "desktop" set, "expert" mode netinstall all the way (and usually with recommends off).

[anticapitalista]

herbstluftwm

[None1975]

herbstluftwm

Very good and nice wm!

[Diesel330]

All the Cinnamon users ignoring this thread and look away, I can't explain the results otherwise

[Fossy]

All the Cinnamon users ignoring this thread and look away, I can't explain the results otherwise

I suspect this is due to the fact that contrary to e.g. Mint which is on the rise and Ubuntu which is on the decline ( due to Snap ) , Debian is still not really " popular " among computer users looking for a full-fledged comfortable alternative to Microsoft , because it has not yet penetrated their minds that since Buster , Debian has become undeniably installation and maintenance friendly :

cf. : https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/cu ... so-hybrid/ / Calamares .

Or who knows , the satisfied Cinnamon users belong to what is called the silent majority ?

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

[Bulkley]

Openbox, of course.

[Diesel330]

All the Cinnamon users ignoring this thread and look away, I can't explain the results otherwise

I suspect this is due to the fact that contrary to e.g. Mint which is on the rise and Ubuntu which is on the decline ( due to Snap ) , Debian is still not really " popular " among computer users looking for a full-fledged comfortable alternative to Microsoft , because it has not yet penetrated their minds that since Buster , Debian has become undeniably installation and maintenance friendly :

cf. : https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/cu ... so-hybrid/ / Calamares .

Or who knows , the satisfied Cinnamon users belong to what is called the silent majority ?

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

I installed Bullseye August of 2021, I don't remember taking any action to maintain it, it just doing its thing ever since. It looks like it gonna outlast the hardware

[alienspy]

OK. Numbers haven't changed for a while, so according to this poll winners are (after 49 votes)

1, 2 - Gnome and XFCE

3. KDE Plasma

Other DE just have only 2 votes and are less popular than WM and are as popular as CLI.

@fabien provided numbers from Debian PopCon

• 1. Gnome
  
  2. XFCE
  
  3. KDE Plasma
  
  4. MATE
  
  5.Cinnamon
  
  6. LXDE
  
  7. LXQt

https://popcon.debian.org/

Surprisingly for me Gnome is on the first place, despite all the hate. And very good results for XFCE, which is much popular then its "rival" MATE.

[sunrat]

Surprisingly for me Gnome is on the first place, despite all the hate.

Gnome is the default install. I guess many people don't bother to explore better alternatives.

[None1975]

I guess many people don't bother to explore better alternatives.

Yes, I agree. People eat what the creators give

[Fossy]

I guess many people don't bother to explore better alternatives.

Yes, I agree. People eat what the creators give

https://www.debian.org/devel/debian-desktop/

https://wiki.debian.org/DebianDesktopHowTo
Select a Desktop Environment
During the installation, you can select your preferred desktop environment at the Selecting and Installing Software installation step.
By default, Debian installer will choose GNOME, however you can also select Xfce, KDE Plasma, Cinnamon, MATE, LXDE, or LXQt.
GNOME and KDE each boast a complete desktop experience, an extensive ecosystem of apps, and support for Wayland.
For older computers, consider using Xfce, LXQt, or LXDE, as they consume less system resources.
Users used to GNOME 2 may prefer MATE, which is a continuation of that project.
Users transitioning from Windows may prefer Cinnamon, which provides a Windows 7-like experience.
Or, you may choose e17 (Enlightenment), a new candidate that also features a touchscreen mode.

exquisite cuisine ...

[None1975]

Select a Desktop Environment
During the installation, you can select your preferred desktop environment at the Selecting and Installing Software installation step.

Hello.

I understand and know all this.

But what worries me is precisely that

By default, Debian installer will choose GNOME

[Jay Young]

On my work laptop, I used KDE Plasma for the past three years.
Now working with the StarFive VisionFive-2, their testing debian comes with Gnome standard.
I thought I would get to know Gnome really well and use it for a few years. I just installed Gnome 43 on my work laptop.
So far, the ram usage is a little high for me, but I will solve that in time.

In almost all other cases, I just use TWM and Xorg - it usually "just works" ^ tm.

[sunrat]

https://wiki.debian.org/DebianDesktopHowTo
Select a Desktop Environment
During the installation, you can select your preferred desktop environment

You expect people will read the wiki?

[steve_v]

You expect people will read the wiki?

Absolutely. Also the release notes, the handbook and the relevant manuals... Before asking questions on a forum or complaining that the defaults aren't to their liking or they didn't get what they expected.
Why would anyone install an unfamiliar operating system without referencing the documentation, or at least ensuring they know where it is if they need it? Back when I started with GNU/Linux we printed the install guide, before we even prepared installation media.

As for DE defaults, my preference would be none at all. No vague and preselected "Debian desktop" (GNOME, but that's not particularly obvious), just a straightforward opt-in choice of one or more desktop metapackages in the installer. Then we could avoid inane "I'm running Debian 12"... "Which desktop environment?"... "Debian 12" type conversations altogether , and new users wouldn't find themselves unwitting GNOME + wayland + pipewire guinea pigs and come asking why all 10000 internet guides that assume X11 (and probably pulseaudio) are not working as expected.

[CwF]

As for DE defaults, my preference would be none at all.

For the net install I'd agree. Default should be a tty prompt.
This makes a standard starting point for tasksel and meta packages, and a good restore point,

[sunrat]

As for DE defaults, my preference would be none at all. No vague and preselected "Debian desktop"

+100!

Of course then we'd have a flood of forum posts "I installed Debian and don't have a graphical desktop."