Thanks for all the feedback. Debian 13 with KDE is working well for me, package management has come a LONG way...this stuff is almost as good as Irix!
On Thu, Mar 5, 2026 at 11:24 PM Howard Coles Jr. <[email protected]> wrote: > Well, you might feel more comfortable with KDE if you're more used to > Windows or if (like me) you like the absolute crazy amount of customization > options. But the beauty of things is that you don't have to be in the > "this thing and none else" group. > > You can have Gnome, KDE, XFCE, etc. all installed and get a feel for the > one you like. KDE will run Gnome, and XFCE apps, and verse visa, etc. You > have to try 'em (at least enough to have a good idea). > > For Distros, sometimes its what will install on your desktop and drive all > the devices. I just got a new Lenovo Legion Pro 7, and Fedora and Kubuntu > would run, but only Kubuntu really drove most all things (had to remove the > wifi7 MEDIATEK adapter 'cause of no kernel support, found an intel AX210 > and swapped 'em out). I run OpenSUSE and Fedora 43 as VDIs but at work we > use RHEL, Ubuntu, and SLES. I have a POC Proxmox cluster I'm liking a lot > that uses Debian 13 and my laptop is 25.10 (Kubuntu 'cause I like KDE). (I > keep the SUSE VDI to build custom RPMs for a tool we use via podman > containers) > > So, if you have a spare partition to dual boot with install various > distros, see which really drive all your devices well, and then commit. > I think RIGHT NOW, Fedora has a good thing going, Ubuntu would be next Or > Debian if you want more stable than new, I'm fed up with OpenSUSE their > Leap installer for v16 is a pile of dog crap (no I won't apologize 'cause > it's true you can't re-use an existing partition scheme or even /home file > system). And OpenSUSE tumbleweed wouldn't even boot because of secure > boot. But I don't have any experience with any of the BSDs. > > I tried Zorin, but their full OS is behind a paywall (might be worth it > but I'm cheap). > > So, basically my suggestion is to try 'em all. (or go with Linux Mint and > use their desktop, a kind of modified Gnome which I cannot now remember the > name for). > On 3/5/26 18:32, Drew wrote: > > Hello, > It's been a long time since I messed with Linux, specifically. I have some > more recent experience with BSD, but not recently enough to affect my > choices for a "modern" desktop. I have an older laptop I have decided I > want to install Debian on, mainly for the purposes of running ham radio > related software that won't run on MacOS, which is my main desktop. I > pulled live images for Gnome and KDE, and have verified that everything on > the laptop seems to work with the live image. > > My real, burning question is, are there compelling reasons to choose Gnome > vs KDE, and is there something obvious I'm overlooking? I think the last > desktop I ran on BSD was XFCE, but at the time I think that was > specifically because it was fairly light weight and allowed easy virtual > desktop changing. It might have been 20 years ago (and my last linux distro > might have been Slackware) so I am confident things have changed. Any > advice or shortcuts to sorting out which might ultimately work best for me > would be appreciated. > > Drew > -- > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "NLUG" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/nlug-talk?hl=en > > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "NLUG" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/nlug-talk/CAOS9axzOygaGWFT9StAocUAyES0SygaV6GFLpfB31bykscwWdg%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/nlug-talk/CAOS9axzOygaGWFT9StAocUAyES0SygaV6GFLpfB31bykscwWdg%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- > See Ya' > Howard Coles Jr. > > John 3:16! > > -- > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "NLUG" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/nlug-talk?hl=en > > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "NLUG" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/nlug-talk/5d9ee928-fbee-4af3-8e83-6c506bb979d1%40gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/nlug-talk/5d9ee928-fbee-4af3-8e83-6c506bb979d1%40gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "NLUG" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nlug-talk?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "NLUG" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/nlug-talk/CAOS9axwDmdauuMTrDFh6xNHG1XNUkrG3JrQKUEfSy%3DEooB8n2A%40mail.gmail.com.
