Hi, everyone!
I am considering to switch a light DE. I saw the LXDE edition and liked it. However, when I dig into it a little deeper, I found some comments like it is dead or unusable right now (like, trash i mean). Should I go with it, or find another light DM?
Note: I don’t like Qt at all. I tried LXQt a bit ago and didn’t like it.
If you really want something light, then don’t even bother finding through DE’s. I learnt that after a long time. Use floating window managers like IceWm, JWM(especially JWM), OpenBox or tiling WM’s(if that’s your thing) like AwesomeWM, i3, dwm or such.
really, DE’s are not the thing you look for if you want something light. Most of DE’s (even if they say they are light), are not light. Lxqt itself uses more than 500mb’s. So only think how much other will take. They come with the stuff you need or you may not need(bloatware).
Window managers on the other hand, take much less ram. They don’t come with anything pre-installed which you can easily install later. JWM uses 88mb’s of ram. IceWm uses 110mb’s, i3, takes 40mb’s!!
So as you can see, these WM’s are light and awesome all of them are actively developed by a enourmous community. LXDE or such were light, but they are not developed that much anymore. So take what you think is best.
Thanks for your reply.
Actually, I am using bspwm right now. Customized it for myself pretty much and loving it. However, since I was an old GNOME user, i miss the DE and want to get one. It will be my second desktop tho.
I got the point about how heavy are desktops but still want one as a backup. Do you mind suggesting me one? I am exploring MATE now as second option.
Both LXDE and LXQt is build around Openbox Window Manager
LXDE has been based on GTK2 and most - if not all - LXDE specific components has been ported to GTK3.
The Manjaro LXDE Community edition is using the GTK3 versions - so not dead.
And the LXDE edition has just been released as v20.2.1.
And what ever you are referring to - most of those posts are from 7 years ago - and LXDE is not dead - not at all.
Qt is not my favorite either - but it has improved over the years - and with some decent theming - LXQt is quite usable.
This comment from lxde forum - says it better than I
If people understood better what LXDE really is, they wouldn’t be so worried about it dying.
what defines a desktop ebvironment?
a) session management
b) applications that somehow fit togetherso, about:
a) LXDE’s session management is very rudimentary (i know it got a little more complex in recent years but still next to nothing compared to the likes of GNOME)
b) the applications it consists of: only very few are specific to LXDE: lxappearance, pcmanfm, lxrandr, lxsession, lxpolkit
even so they work well without the whole DE and enjoy some popularity outside of LXDE.
many applications are not even original LXDE apps: openbox, Firefox or whatever browser is installed.the applications are sufficiently maintained and apart from the browser (which isn’t part of LXDE anyhow) there isn’t any security risk.
so, relax everybody.
also, it’s still many years (at least a decade is my guess) until Xorg will not be a mainstream option anymore and everybody is using wayland.
If LXDE is deprecated, can it still be used safely? - LXDE Forums
Thank you for your reply.
I didn’t know that Manjaro LXDE Community edition is using the GTK3 variant. That is great. Despite my huge interest and love to GNOME, I have always tried light DMs and LXDE is one of my most liked one around them.
I know they are exist for our comfort. Sometimes I feel I need to use a different thing. I think LXDE will be my next desktop. Thanks for your reply again. Appriciated.
Then you will 
Manjaro LXDE
If you find any bugs - inconsistencies - let me know - I maintain the profile and build the ISO but I don’t use LXDE enough to know if something has slipped.
It is running smoothly.
The only problem I found so far is some apps need termite but it is not pre-installed. I installed it manually. Maybe you could include it next builds.
Thanks for all your support.
If you want a traditional gtk-based gnome experience, yes, go with MATE. also try xfce and cinnamon as they are also gtk-based. But if you are okay with something new, i highly recommend kde or such. mind that kde is based on qt.Here is a detailed discussion
Xfce would be my first opinion for you. It is based on gtk-2. It’s known for being fast, lightweight, highly configurable, stable and bug-free, has a huge community, suitable for both traditional and modern users. It uses around 500mb on idle. It’s very fast and resource effecient. I highly recommend this one.
MATE is a beast. It’s known to be super-stable, robust and traditional. MATE is a fork of gnome-2 thus based on gtk-2. It’s a very robust and stable DE. You can call MATE the most
Hey mate,
I was happy actually. The reason why I said “was” is because I could just used it for 4-5 days. I am far from home for a while with my laptop.
LXDE is great. It has almost everything that a typical user needs. The only disadvantage about it is the lack of customization, which I literally don’t care about.
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