Fedora’s gaggle of desktops

There are 38 different desktops or window managers in Fedora 31. You could try a different one every day for a month, and still have some left over. Some have very few features. Some have so many features they are called a desktop environment. This article can’t go into detail on each, but it’s interesting to see the whole list in one place.

Criteria for desktops

To be on this list, the desktop must show up on the desktop manager’s selection list. If the desktop has more than one entry in the desktop manager list, they are counted just as that one desktop. An example is “GNOME”, “GNOME Classic” and “GNOME (Wayland).” These all show up on the desktop manager list, but they are still just GNOME.

List of desktops

9wm

Emulation of the Plan 9 window manager 8 1/2 dnf install 9wm

awesome

Highly configurable, framework window manager for X. Fast, light and extensible https://fedoramagazine.org/5-cool-tiling-window-managers/ dnf install awesome

blackbox

Very small and fast Window Manager Fedora uses the maintained fork on github dnf install blackbox

bspwm

A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning https://github.com/windelicato/dotfiles/wiki/bspwm-for-dummies dnf install bspwm

byobu

Light-weight, configurable window manager built upon GNU screen dnf install byobu

Cinnamon

Cinnamon provides a desktop with a traditional layout, advanced features, easy to use, powerful and flexible. https://projects.linuxmint.com/cinnamon/ https://opensource.com/article/19/12/cinnamon-linux-desktop dnf group install "Cinnamon Desktop"

cwm

Calm Window Manager by OpenBSD project https://steemit.com/technology/@jamesdeagle/the-calm-window-manager-cwm-a-quick-start-guide dnf install cwm

Deepin

Deepin desktop is the desktop environment released with deepin (the linux distribution). It aims at being elegant and easy to use. dnf group install "Deepin Desktop" (optional) dnf group install "Deepin Desktop Office" "Media packages for Deepin Desktop"

dwm

Dynamic window manager for X https://fedoramagazine.org/lets-try-dwm-dynamic-window-manger/ https://fedoramagazine.org/5-cool-tiling-window-managers/ dnf install dwm (optional) dnf install dwm-user

enlightenment

Enlightenment window manager https://opensource.com/article/19/12/linux-enlightenment-desktop dnf install enlightenment

e16

The Enlightenment window manager, DR16 dnf install e16 (optional) dnf install e16-epplets e16-keyedit e16-themes

fluxbox

Window Manager based on Blackbox dnf install fluxbox (optional) dnf install fluxbox-pulseaudio fluxbox-vim-syntax

fvwm

Highly configurable multiple virtual desktop window manager http://www.fvwm.org/ https://opensource.com/article/19/12/fvwm-linux-desktop dnf install fvwm

GNOME

GNOME is a highly intuitive and user friendly desktop environment. * both X11 and wayland https://opensource.com/article/19/12/gnome-linux-desktop https://fedoramagazine.org/3-simple-and-useful-gnome-shell-extensions/ dnf group install "GNOME" (optional but large) dnf group install "Fedora Workstation"

herbstluftwm

A manual tiling window manager https://opensource.com/article/19/12/herbstluftwm-linux-desktop dnf install herbstluftwm (optional) dnf install herbstluftwm-zsh herbstluftwm-fish

i3

Improved tiling window manager https://fedoramagazine.org/getting-started-i3-window-manager/ https://fedoramagazine.org/using-i3-with-multiple-monitors/ dnf install i3 (optional) dnf install i3-doc i3-ipc

icewm

Window manager designed for speed, usability, and consistency https://fedoramagazine.org/icewm-a-really-cool-desktop/ dnf install icewm (optional) dnf install icewm-minimal-session

jwm

Joe's Window Manager https://opensource.com/article/19/12/joes-window-manager-linux-desktop dnf install jwm

KDE Plasma Desktop

The KDE Plasma Workspaces, a highly-configurable graphical user interface which includes a panel, desktop, system icons and desktop widgets, and many powerful KDE applications. * both X11 and wayland https://opensource.com/article/19/12/linux-kde-plasma https://fedoramagazine.org/installing-kde-plasma-5/ dnf group install "KDE Plasma Workspaces" (optional) dnf group install "KDE Applications" "KDE Educational applications" "KDE Multimedia support" "KDE Office" "KDE Telepathy" (optional for wayland) dnf install kwin-wayland plasma-workspace-wayland

lumina

A lightweight, portable desktop environment https://opensource.com/article/19/12/linux-lumina-desktop dnf install lumina-desktop (optional) dnf install lumina-*

LXDE

LXDE is a lightweight X11 desktop environment designed for computers with low hardware specifications like netbooks, mobile devices or older computers. https://opensource.com/article/19/12/lxqt-lxde-linux-desktop dnf group install "LXDE Desktop" (optional) dnf group install "LXDE Office" "Multimedia support for LXDE"

LXQt

LXQt is a lightweight X11 desktop environment designed for computers with low hardware specifications like netbooks, mobile devices or older computers. https://opensource.com/article/19/12/lxqt-lxde-linux-desktop dnf group install "LXQt Desktop" (optional) dnf group install "LXQt Office" "Multimedia support for LXQt"

MATE

MATE Desktop is based on GNOME 2 and provides a powerful graphical user interface for users who seek a simple easy to use traditional desktop interface. https://opensource.com/article/19/12/mate-linux-desktop https://fedoramagazine.org/installing-another-desktop/ dnf group install "MATE Desktop" (optional) dnf group install "MATE Applications"

musca

A simple dynamic window manager fox X dnf install musca

openbox

A highly configurable and standards-compliant X11 window manager https://opensource.com/article/19/12/openbox-linux-desktop https://fedoramagazine.org/openbox-fedora/ dnf install openbox (optional) dnf install openbox-kde openbox-theme-mistral-thin-dark

Pantheon

The Pantheon desktop environment is the DE that powers elementaryOS. https://github.com/elementary https://opensource.com/article/19/12/pantheon-linux-desktop dnf group install "Pantheon Desktop" (optional) dnf install elementary-capnet-assist elementary-greeter elementary-shortcut-overlay

pekwm

A small and flexible window manager https://opensource.com/article/19/12/pekwm-linux-desktop dnf install pekwm

qtile

A pure-Python tiling window manager https://fedoramagazine.org/5-cool-tiling-window-managers/ dnf install qtile

ratpoison

Minimalistic window manager https://opensource.com/article/19/12/ratpoison-linux-desktop dnf install ratpoison

sawfish

An extensible window manager for the X Window System dnf install sawfish (optional) dnf install sawfish-pager

spectrwm

Minimalist tiling window manager written in C dnf install spectrwm

Sugar

A software playground for learning about learning. * Possibly the most unique desktop of this list. dnf group install "Sugar Desktop Environment" (optional) dnf group install "Additional Sugar Activities"

sway

i3-compatible window manager for Wayland * Wayland only https://fedoramagazine.org/setting-up-the-sway-window-manager-on-fedora/ https://fedoramagazine.org/5-cool-tiling-window-managers/ dnf install sway

twm

X.Org X11 twm window manager https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twm https://opensource.com/article/19/12/twm-linux-desktop dnf install xorg-x11-twm

WindowMaker

A fast, feature rich Window Manager https://opensource.com/article/19/12/linux-window-maker-desktop dnf install WindowMaker (optional) dnf install WindowMaker-extra

wmx

A really simple window manager for X d nf install wmx

XFCE

A lightweight desktop environment that works well on low end machines. https://opensource.com/article/19/12/xfce-linux-desktop dnf group install "Xfce Desktop" (optional) dnf group install "Applications for the Xfce Desktop" "Extra plugins for the Xfce panel" "Multimedia support for Xfce" "Xfce Office"

xmonad

A tiling window manager dnf install xmonad (optional) dnf install xmonad-mate

Photo by  Annie Spratt  on  Unsplash .