Protecting the environment

Most computer users like to have a set of tools that they always see - things like a clock, a region that displays the date, a button that displays a menu with the programs available for you to use. People have become accustomed to an icon system that sits on a "desktop" that allows you, with a click of your mouse, to have your favorite program up and running or open a web browser to your favorite website. This usually goes beyond the call of duty for a window manager. In these cases you need the services of a "desktop environment". This is a uniform looking desktop interface which sits on top of and uses the services of a window manager. There are two major desktop environments, GNOME, which uses the services of independent window managers (at the time of this writing GNOME runs with Enlightenment) or KDE, which has its own background window manager, known as kwm

GNOME or KDE

The question: 'Should I use GNOME or KDE?' was a controversial one not so long ago. Luckily, now, it is just a matter of which interface you like more. The controversy stemmed around the KDE project which was founded in 1996 with the goal of creating a uniform desktop experience for Linux. KDE made the decision to use libraries to create the desktop interface which were not open source. The libraries in question, known as 'QT' are now open source, so the question is pretty much moot. However, at the time, the issue inspired a young Mexican developer named Miguel de Icaza to create a desktop interface known as GNOME.

GNOME was founded in August of 1997 and was an attempt to create a uniform desktop manager that was totally compliant with the GNU's General Public License, avoiding the licensing issues involved in the case of KDE's using the QT libraries. Miguel de Icaza and Nat Friedman founded Helix Code in 1999 to oversee the business end of developing the GNOME desktop. Helix Code later changed its name to Ximian.

What GNOME and KDE can offer

Both of these desktop environments offer a Microsoft Windows-like experience. To date, KDE is the only one of the two to offer an office suite for word processing and its own web browser. Other than that, both offer top-rate productivity applications like email clients, agenda and scheduling software and address books. They offer multi-media software for playing CDs, MP3s and other music formats. Both offer a large selection of games in addition to other sundry applications for system monitoring and other miscellaneous tasks.

Where to get these desktop environments

Most distributions come with both the GNOME and KDE desktop environments. However, if your distribution did not have this or you are reading this and have not yet installed Linux, you may want to check out both offerings.

• KDE homepage
• Ximian Inc.

You can also download the latest versions from their homepages.

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