All these DEs are giving the users options. The DEs themselves try to organize between each other to make sure devs don't have to write apps twenty times to support the different DEs, which sometimes isn't done fast enough. But the fact that users have a choice between many different DEs, with very different philosophies, is excellent.
KDE is for people who like configuration options. GNOME is for people who prefer simplicity. LXDE is for those looking for a lightweight DE that doesn't get in the way. Cinnamon is for those who like OSX but want to stay on Linux. XFCE is for the truly minimalists out there. Etc.
What would "one single highly extensible DE" bring? It'd just be a name. A desktop environment is a few things:
- A core session manager. This stuff is common to all DEs and works pretty much the same for all.
- A set of core apps for desktop management (eg desktop, panel, system settings)
- Desktop apps. They're just apps. Some DEs don't ship any, some ship a hundred. They generally don't require you to run the DE alongside them, they're just built by the same people in the same spirit.
So tell me, what would your ideal desktop environment bring to the table, exactly?
KDE is for people who like configuration options. GNOME is for people who prefer simplicity. LXDE is for those looking for a lightweight DE that doesn't get in the way. Cinnamon is for those who like OSX but want to stay on Linux. XFCE is for the truly minimalists out there. Etc.
What would "one single highly extensible DE" bring? It'd just be a name. A desktop environment is a few things: - A core session manager. This stuff is common to all DEs and works pretty much the same for all. - A set of core apps for desktop management (eg desktop, panel, system settings) - Desktop apps. They're just apps. Some DEs don't ship any, some ship a hundred. They generally don't require you to run the DE alongside them, they're just built by the same people in the same spirit.
So tell me, what would your ideal desktop environment bring to the table, exactly?