I’m relatively new to the linux space, I was introduced by the steam deck which uses kde, and it’s pretty similar to windows in terms of how it works so that’s the DE i’d be leaning towards when I eventually switch. I’ve never used gnome so i’m not sure if it’d be worth using I guess?
So I’m just looking for some input from the community, do you use Gnome or Plasma, why do you use it, and what’s kind of like a pros and cons kinda thing between the two?
KDE Plasma. It makes sense to me and everything functions more or less how I prefer it to. If I need something, it’s usually easy enough to find. Plasma being flexible is a plus, but I rarely need to do any modifications.
I loathe GNOME. Any time I use it it’s like pulling teeth. On a touch surface I can maybe get it, but on desktop I honestly think it has some serious usability problems cooked in. And since GNOME extensions can break at any time, trying to “fix” GNOME is a losing battle. If I had to use GNOME, I’d install GNOME Classic which is ok. Or better yet, use XFCE or MATE. GNOME is highly opinionated and that’s fair enough, they can do their thing and people seem to like what they offer, but boy is it not for me.
GNOME on desktop is built for keyboard-centric workflows, it really shines when you don’t need to use the mouse. I’ll also say that the official extensions do not break, that’s why they’re official. Third party extensions can and do break and have weird wonky behavior, because they’re not up to the same standards.
It’s certainly not for everyone, but a big part of the reason some people have such negative views of it is because they install a bunch of third party extensions to change it into something it was never designed for, and then inevitably there are bugs or conflicts or updates break some of them. A vanilla GNOME environment with maybe a couple judiciously picked third party extensions is a very comfy experience.