this post was submitted on 23 Jan 2022
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I never understood this as KDE is clearly much less clunky and less resource heavy than Gnome... until I realized that it is indeed more optimized for keyboard heavy and touchpad only input some people seem to prefer when using laptops.
I still can't get my head around why anyone would voluntarily use a touchpad when they can connect a mouse to their laptop, but I have to conclude that these people exists and are probably better served by Gnome.
I absolutely love KDE Plasma, but I've recently moved to Gnome after jumping around a bit and trying both.
On desktop too, but I started using workspaces and that changed my gnome experience entirely. I love the customizability of KDE but the limited nature of Gnome makes me stop tinkering. I have ADHD so I get into the tinkering and just endlessly do it and never get anything done at all.
That's exactly the reason why I switched to Gnome. If someone would give me an axe and tell me to chop down a tree in 6 hours I would spend 18 hours sharpening the axe and forget about the tree. Whenever I try KDE, XFCE and others I will spend days adjusting things to my liking while on Gnome I just start working. Sometimes something bothers me on Gnome and I will either just install an extension, or realize it's impossible to adjust it and I just go back to work.
Imagine equating using software that doesn't have much customizability compared to the alternative to moving to North Korea. Some people get way too into this stuff, at the end of the day it's just what you're using on a computer and doesn't matter.
That's an unproductive argument
You also don't need endless customization in a desktop for it to be good. Gnome is a decisive desktop with a decisive development vision. KDE is a lot more customizable but it can feel more disjointed sometimes and it's app ecosystem is beyond what you need. KDE and it's ecosystem is known for having an overwhelming amount of options and customization, but there is such a thing as too much. I run KDE on my main PC right now but I'm about to switch to Gnome 41 comes out with system-wide dark mode and the libadwaita redesign is released.
As for extensions, gnome extensions aren't great because they aren't officially supported but they aren't awful either. I only really use the blur-my-shell extension to spice it up a bit. If you rely on extensions like dash-to-dock or other extensions to change the workflow you shouldn't use a rolling release because you'll generally want to wait for a little while after a release to update to make sure it wont break any extensions. In my opinion its probably wiser to get adjusted to gnome's workflow instead of trying to fight it because once you do it's really productive and smooth, way more polished than KDE feels for sure.
At the end of the day though that's all up to personal choice. if you want more options go with KDE for sure, but if you want something that "just works" gnome is a great choice.
None of the points in the comment you're replying to said less options = good because options = distracting. I said that less options can be less confusing, and that KDE has what can be considered an overwhelming amount of options by comparison.
okay you're right about the root topic.
Mainly the idea is that gnome is nice because it has generally solid defaults and doesn't expect you to do anything drastic to get the most out of it. This helps productivity out of the box and makes it more approachable. KDE is also good, I'm running it right now and it's defaults are also good, but it took me a long time to get anywhere near to getting the most out of it.
For some people that's good, they want to be immersed into their desktop and know and control every part they use. Other people prefer a simple setup to use as a medium to get work done and put that effort into other things like their work or games or anything else. It's really up to the type of user.
My question to you is... really?
Connecting a mouse to a laptop is way less handy (no pun intended or wtv) than just using the built-in trackpad. Not only are the gestures nice, but using them isn't bad at all, imo. External mice often need a mat, often have long cables that get in the way (though wireless is certainly becoming more popular), and in general take up more space, which kinda goes against the portability and readiness of laptops, mostly used in contexts where peripherals are not really something you can have.
I used to think the same until I broke my mouse and went without one for a while and ended up just sticking without one because its a lot more convenient than always bringing a mouse around having to find a good flat surface to use it on. I usually end up using my laptop on my lap or at a small desk where a mouse would be clunky and unnecessary.
I disagree. GNOME is great for keyboard and mouse control, with a lot of keybindings and mouse control. GNOME 41 is amazingly optimized and I would argue faster than KDE. I use a trackball mouse with my laptop and desktop, and I still perfer GNOME to KDE.