[arch-general] [OT?] Which is most future-proof desktop environment?

[Ralf Mardorf]

GNOME

For example, GNOME once provided menu bars and then dropped the menu
bar, you can see this by simply installing e.g. gedit or file-roller.
GNOME requires priority for 3D graphics, if you have bad luck the
combination of graphics driver and graphics doesn't work anymore, if
you run GNOME, even if e.g. google-earth shouldn't cause an issue. If
you set real-time priorities for audio, it will make the situation
likely more worse. Even the name for idiotic crap, such as
configurations that aren't human readable changed from gcrap to dcrap
or similar.

Somebody already gave a few KDE examples, so just a note regarding Qt.

Qt was "improved" by dropping qtconfig, this is an issue what ever WM
or DE you're using. GTK fortunately still provide .gtkrc-2.0
and .config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini.

Xfce4

After an update e.g. a small window title bar with a clean design,
became a fat thing with a Microsoft appeal.

Enlightenment

Was steady in always being buggy whenever I tested it and always
providing blatant nineties look, with no option to get rid of it.

Many basic DE applications are simply crap. E.g. try to disable or
enable the bell for xfce4-terminal by the GUI. Then try to do the same
by an editor to edit it's configuration file but find this
configuration file for an older version and a new version of Xfce4.
Resize the window of what ever terminal emulation that belongs to
what DE ever you're using. What happens to wrapped lines? In the end
you anyway will install a file manager, terminal emulation, editor or
something else that doesn't belong to the DE.

Some DEs make pluseaudio, GVFS and other things you might not need
and that ould cause serious issues, a hard dependency, while those
things could be optional dependencies, since if you replace them by
empty dummy packages nothing evil will happen. At least GNOMEish apps
allow to get rid of the green HDD killer GVFS by simply replacing it
with an empty dummy package. I never found out what to remove to get
rid of KDE's green HDD killer, after launching e.g. K3b my green HDD
spins down and up and down and up ... until I restart the computer. The
developers of those bloated DEs don't care about their broken virtual
file crap. OTOH when I experienced that libfm-gtk wakes up green HDDs,
used for e.g. lxpanel, a developer immediately fixed it.

The long and the short of it, if you want to decide how your
environment should work, what you need and what not, then better do not
use ad DE such as GNOME, KDE, Xfce4 or similar, instead use a WM
such as openbox, jwm or similar.

2 Cents,
Ralf