What are the best Linux desktop environments for developers?

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score 142 · Accepted Answer

Xfce

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Top Pro

Low system resource consumption

For users with netbooks, tablets and older computers where not a lot of system resources are available. See More

Top Con

Outdated default UI

The default theme that comes with XFCE looks like something you would expect to find on Windows 98. Many PC users do not possess the necessary skills to configure XFCE in a way to look more modern. See More

HumbleZelus's Experience

Works well with Menu customizing using AlaCarte App. Quick to use and easy to tailor. Not awkward like Plasma. Example: See AudioVisual Linux, a pure debian made efficient for AV work. See More

Specs

License: GPL, LGPL,BSD-2-Clause

Widget Toolkit:GTK+

Available on:*nix

Programming Language:mostly C

Top Pro

Highly customizable

Xfce offers plenty of settings, and even things like theming XFWM is a simple task (it's just a handful of images.) Many possible permutations of window colors, borders, fonts, etc. Compositing can make it look downright sexy. See More

Top Con

Very slow development

XFCE tends to be extremely slow in it's development. The last release was Xfce 4.12 on Febuary 28, 2015, 3 years ago, with the next release still remaining unknown. See More

CleverNona's Experience

Fantastic. I have it in my Archlinux in the last years. See More

Top Pro

Classic and Familiar

Xfce works very much like the classic Gnome & Windows desktops, taskbars (panels) and desktop icons, letting you get your work done without being frustrated. Xfce embodies the traditional UNIX philosophy of modularity and re-usability. It consists of a number of components that provide the full functionality one can expect of a modern desktop environment. They are packaged separately and you can pick among the available packages to create the optimal personal working environment. See More

Top Con

Default is a bit Ugly

The default setup of the UI is a bit bland and looks dated, very similar to Windows XP or earlier. While it can be customized to look more modern, what is presented upon first install of the DE is not the prettiest DE out there. See More

I-Ta Hsieh's Experience

It's a very elegant and fast user interface. See More

Top Pro

Designed for productivity

It loads and executes applications fast, while conserving system resources. See More

Top Con

Looks ugly out of the box

Out of the box, Xfce is the one of the ugliest if not the ugliest DE out there. It definitely can become the most beautiful and gorgeous DE after a bit of tinkering and theming, but the default theme is not that good. See More

Top Pro

It has perfect balance between simplicity and usability

The Xfce components are only 287 MiB, all of this without losing any functionality. See More

Top Con

Not a full DE

With a pure Xfce environment you cannot do as much as with Gnome or KDE. See More

Top Pro

Highly stable

XFCE is extremely stable and won’t randomly crash, not often at least. See More

Top Con

Missing some basic functionality for a desktop environment

Xfce is missing essential functionality like a file-archiver or a polkit-client, so you have to find alternatives for those applications (eg: by stealing them from MATE or GNOME, however this adds additional dependencies that will bloat Xfce). See More

Top Pro

It works well in remote environment without troubles

For people who want to remote linux GUI environment, the best choice is XFCE. It can be remote without any delicate techniques via VNC or X2go. See More

Top Con

Dated Point-and-click "desktop" metaphor

Top Pro

Adheres to standards

A priority of Xfce is adherence to standards, specifically those defined at freedesktop.org allowing for interoperability and shared technology for X Window System desktops. This interoperability is particularly significant for users looking to, e.g., run alternative window managers. See More

Top Pro

Easy to setup resource monitoring

xfce4-cpugraph-plugin → to see if stuff is stuck doing an infinite loop for example xfce4-netload-plugin → bandwidth xfce4-systemload-plugin → RAM usage See More

Top Pro

User-friendly

The many options and settings available in Xfce are well presented. The layout is logical and the right amount of explanation is given. This goes a long way to making Xfce seem "simple" when in fact it is quite powerful. See More

Top Pro

If you used to love old Gnome DE you will love Xfce too

For people who were dissapointed with Gnome 3, Xfce can be easily customized to look like Gnome 2.x See More

Top Pro

Can mimic HiDPI supoprt

This requires adjusting settings. In Settings Manager → Settings Editor → xsettings → xft DPI can be adjusted. Setting it to around 180 should work well for "Retina" screens. While not full HiDPI support, this can help mitigate small text on a small HiDPI screen. See More

Top Pro

A true UNIX Desktop Environment

Xfce adheres to the UNIX philosophy, which means it strives for being modular, minimal and expandable. This makes it very much customizable. You can make it as minimal as you want and as heavyweight as you want depending on the features and modules/plugins you use. See More

Top Pro

Low resource usage combined with flexible configuration

Top Pro

Well-defined Session Manager

Top Pro

Does what it's meant to do easily and efficiently

XFCE is a desktop environment first and foremost, it does not waste time being overly flashy or by being bloated with features. See More

Top Pro

Classic and familiar

Xfce works very much like the classic Gnome & Windows desktops, taskbars (panels) and desktop icons, letting you get your work done without being frustrated. Xfce embodies the traditional UNIX philosophy of modularity and re-usability. It consists of a number of components that provide the full functionality one can expect of a modern desktop environment. They are packaged separately and you can pick among the available packages to create the optimal personal working environment. See More

Top Pro

Works on a wide variety of platforms

Xfce can be installed on several UNIX platforms. It is known to compile on Linux, NetBSD, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris, Cygwin and MacOS X, on x86, PPC, Sparc, and Alpha. See More

Top Pro

Rock solid stability

Xfce will never be the cause of your crash. See More

Top Pro

Excellent panel management and selection of panel applets

Xfce provides excellent management of panels and a rich selection of panel applets. See More

Top Pro

Window manager (XFWM) is a compositing WM by default

By having a compositing WM as the default WM makes way for a lot of visual tweaks and tricks that can and do make Xfce look great. You can adjust the transparency, shadows, borders, etc. and many other advanced tweaks are also available. See More

Top Pro

Best for newcomers

Anyone new to Linux feels comfortable using it. See More

See All

What are the best Linux desktop environments for developers?

The Best 1 of 12 OptionsWhy?

Xfce

My Recommendation for Xfce

My Recommendation for Xfce

Low system resource consumption

Outdated default UI

Highly customizable

Very slow development

Classic and Familiar

Default is a bit Ugly

Designed for productivity

Looks ugly out of the box

It has perfect balance between simplicity and usability

Not a full DE

Highly stable

Missing some basic functionality for a desktop environment

It works well in remote environment without troubles

Dated Point-and-click "desktop" metaphor

Adheres to standards

Easy to setup resource monitoring

User-friendly

If you used to love old Gnome DE you will love Xfce too

Can mimic HiDPI supoprt

A true UNIX Desktop Environment

Low resource usage combined with flexible configuration

Well-defined Session Manager

Does what it's meant to do easily and efficiently

Classic and familiar

Works on a wide variety of platforms

Rock solid stability

Excellent panel management and selection of panel applets

Window manager (XFWM) is a compositing WM by default

Best for newcomers

11 Other Options Considered

LXDE

My Recommendation for LXDE

My Recommendation for LXDE

Energy saving and extremely fast

Development has slowed

Crazy light resource management

Deprecated

Extremely lightweight

No compositor

Simple and straightforward menus

Uses GTK

You can setup LXDE with the same look across different machines easily

Designed for cloud networks

LXQT

My Recommendation for LXQT

My Recommendation for LXQT

Lightweight emphasis

Missing features = lightweight

Modular

Ugly

Customizable

Not quite ready for open deployment

Utilizes Qt

A lot of bugs

Great for old and low-end devices

UHD screens hardly supported

Unthemeable for usual users

MATE

My Recommendation for MATE

My Recommendation for MATE

Extremely stable

Not very likely to have new features

Traditional desktop experience

Requires XML for wallpaper slideshow

Works great on old machines

Dated look and feel

Suitable for both new and mature users

Not really user friendly

Highly customizable

Unfriendly and hostile developers

Works smoothly with Compiz

No official forum

Works on single board computers

MATE lacks customized desktop icon placement on multiple monitors

Distraction-free environment