> *sigh* Yes, I know that. But there's no point having all those resources
available at the kernel level if none of the user-facing software makes use
of it.
Like... games? Web browsers? These are the types of programs that fully
utilize the capabilities of your hardware. No DE worth its salt makes
extensive use of any hardware capabilities. Even the most heavy DEs use only
a few hundred megabytes of RAM, and the use of hardware acceleration is
minimal. And then there's the matter of the CPU itself, which any good DE
barely has an impact on at all.
> They use those extra resources because they provide extra functions, and
yes, this includes a certain amount of eye candy, particularly in KDE and
Unity. If you deny this obvious fact, then I can only conclude you are being
contrary for the sake of it, and there's no point trying to continue a
discussion with you.
Yes, but you're making an absurdly weak justification for describing GNOME as
"a DE that can make use of all the potential of their hardware". It can't,
and if it could, it would not be good as a desktop environment. This
description, and the name "Maxi", makes GNOME, KDE, Unity, and Cinnamon sound
like unnecessarily bloated environments whose sole purpose is to look pretty
at the expense of usability. That is not even close to true.
You are also putting emphasis where it doesn't belong. I wouldn't buy a
lightbulb because it "can make use of all the potential of your electrical
system", i.e. uses as much energy as my electrical system is capable of
outputting. That would be an absurd thing for me to look for. I would buy a
lightbulb because it's bright enough for my use-case. Looking at energy
usage, I would consider more to be a downside, not a benefit!
The exact same thing is true of desktop environments making use of RAM and
other resources. No sane user picks a desktop environment because it uses
more resources. They pick a desktop environment because it works for them
better, and if two DEs are equivalent in that regard, the one that consumes
less resources is always the better choice.
