# Linux users: which desktop/WM? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 18, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-users-which-desktop-wm/510635 "2009-09-18T19:53:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Commander\_Keen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@Commander\_Keen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Commander_Keen)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-users-which-desktop-wm/510635/1 "2009-09-18T19:53:51Z")
At various points I’ve used GNOME/Sawfish, GNOME/Metacity, KDE/Kwin (versions 3 and 4), Enlightment DR16, FVWM2, IceWM, Fluxbox, WindowMaker, Ion3, xmonad, and dwm. My overall favorite, and the one I’m still using, is [dwm](http://dwm.suckless.org/). After using tiling window managers, I don’t think I’ll be able to go back. My other favorites are KDE3 which actually does a pretty good job of making everything “just work” (KDE4 is still not very usable, I’d say), FVWM2 for its insane customizability, and WindowMaker just because it feels way different than any of the others (been a _long_ time since I used it though). ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-users-which-desktop-wm/510635/2 "2009-09-18T20:33:20Z")
On my dual boot desktop and laptop PCs, I’ve just let Ubuntu do its thing and install Gnome. Beryl/Compiz fusion was fun for a while, but really, who needs all that wobbling and transparency. It got old really fast. I’ve got a minimal install of Debian on an old Thinkpad 300 (nearly as compact as a modern netbook) - on there, I’ve got IceWM and I like it. I tried gOS (Ubuntu with Enlightenment) on an old recycled PC and that seemed pretty good - although trying a bit too hard to be OSX in that configuration. I don’t like KDE very much - I don’t really know why - it’s quite configurable and probably more familiar to a Windows user than some of the other desktops, but I just didn’t get on with it. ---
**Author:** ![gurujulp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba9def/32.png) [@gurujulp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gurujulp)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-users-which-desktop-wm/510635/3 "2009-09-18T20:43:36Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > On my dual boot desktop and laptop PCs, I’ve just let Ubuntu do its thing and install Gnome. > > -SNIP +1 on the laptop- it isn’t dual-boot, 'cause I couldn’t ever figure the right proportions for my drives… Finally gave up and did it all Linux. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-users-which-desktop-wm/510635/4 "2009-09-19T19:18:19Z")
Ubuntu on a separate machine. Best of all worlds. And the little Galeon Web Browser is Zoooooooooooooomm!!! ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-users-which-desktop-wm/510635/5 "2009-09-20T17:46:14Z")
Gnome - used it on Red Hat in '00, using it now on Jaunty. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-users-which-desktop-wm/510635/6 "2009-09-20T19:22:29Z")
XFCE. I don’t want to have to wait for buttons to press. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-users-which-desktop-wm/510635/7 "2009-09-20T21:40:03Z")
Personally, I’m very happy using ION 2 (not used ION 3 since it dropped dual-monitor support, and it didn’t really work much better than 2 anyway). What were your reasons for choosing dwm over ion? ETA: am I right in assuming dwm doesn’t/can’t do stacked windows in a single tile? That’s the main reason I like ion. I usually have 1 or 2 main tiles and a couple of logging/reference tiles that I’m working on. All the rest should stay out of the way. Awesomewm for example forces me to keep all windows in view, when I usually just want to switch quickly between 2 apps in the main tile and leave the rest where they are. (Or leave a bunch of xterms with ssh sessions to other machines open but not in view). ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aca169/32.png) [@Red\_Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-users-which-desktop-wm/510635/8 "2009-09-21T01:12:01Z")
Usually lwwm, since I pretty much run everything out of terminals anyways, I don’t need all the fancy menu’s and crap cluttering up my workspace. ---
**Author:** ![Commander\_Keen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@Commander\_Keen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Commander_Keen)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-users-which-desktop-wm/510635/9 "2009-09-21T01:41:25Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > Personally, I’m very happy using ION 2 (not used ION 3 since it dropped dual-monitor support, and it didn’t really work much better than 2 anyway). > > What were your reasons for choosing dwm over ion? > > ETA: am I right in assuming dwm doesn’t/can’t do stacked windows in a single tile? That’s the main reason I like ion. I usually have 1 or 2 main tiles and a couple of logging/reference tiles that I’m working on. All the rest should stay out of the way. Awesomewm for example forces me to keep all windows in view, when I usually just want to switch quickly between 2 apps in the main tile and leave the rest where they are. (Or leave a bunch of xterms with ssh sessions to other machines open but not in view). I think you’re right about dwm’s lack of support for that kind of thing. Now that I think about it, actually, it would be a pretty nice feature, but I don’t mind that much. I just use separate tags when necessary. As for why dwm over other tiling window managers, mostly just because it’s the simplest and I like that it doesn’t rely on config files outside of the source code (I forgot to mention in the OP that I used awesome for a time, and it worked pretty well, but a recent new version broke my config). ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-users-which-desktop-wm/510635/10 "2009-09-21T09:51:09Z")
I’m a Kubuntu user myself, 4.3.0 is pretty darn good. And my wife likes it, too. Si ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-users-which-desktop-wm/510635/11 "2009-09-21T12:11:24Z")
Gnome. I hate KDE, though I don’t really know why. Gnome just seems to look nicer.