OSDev.org

Well I decided to try out a distro of linux so I ordered an Ubuntu cd from: http://www.ubuntulinux.org

Anyway, there is another flavor of Ubuntu called Kubuntu that replaces Gnome with KDE. But I have no idea what gnome and kde are and what the differences between them are. Can anybody give me some info on them?

As far as I know, Gnome and KDE are Desktop environments.

Gnome and KDE are Desktop environments for the X Windows server. GNOME is meant to have a nicer user interface (seems reminiscent of Mac OS), KDE is more like the Windows GUI. [Because as we all know Linux is a command prompt OS like DOS without a graphical environment installed]

Which one is better for my type of use? I will be doing programming(C/C++), and web developement(apache, php, etc) mostly with it as well as other internet related things. Which one makes for a better development environment?

Also anyone got some screenshots of each so I can see the difference?

http://www.gnome.org/start/2.0/screenshots/
http://www.kde.org/screenshots/
Screenshots in the screenshot section. I personally have found KDE to be more comfortable and it also has a preset configuration that makes it operate like Windows (keyboard shortcuts and mouse configuration).

However, unlike Windows, the environment makes little difference really as you can run most of the GNOME software on KDE and vice versa, although you will probably have to recompile the programs yourself.

And, for C/C++ you'll always be using GCC or the Intel Compiler, both of which are console based, there are development environments specifically for both environments but they don't really compare to MSVC++ if you're use to that. Apache, MySQL and so forth are console based as well, the environment makes even less difference with these as they run without any graphical manager at all.

As far as I know, all you'd need to be looking for, is Kate's Notepad, or whatever it's called. If it's got that, the rest doesn't matter for what you're doing, I guess.

Edit: This, of course, comes from a Windows user who's only worked with Linux's desktop environments in uni (which's KDE)

OK, I'll elaborate.

A desktop environment is somewhat like a window manager on steroids. It not only defines the look & feel of the windows, but also adds stuff like inter-application communication, drag & drop support, etc. etc. as well as a common look & feel of the applications involved.

GNOME is a desktop environment (DE), built on top of the GTK+ UI libraries (which, IIRC, are written in C, or Object C, but provide various language bindings).

KDE is also a desktop environment, built on top of the Qt UI libraries (which are written in C++, but also provide bindings for other languages).

You can have a system with both Qt and GTK+ installed. Then it doesn't really matter which DE you are using, because the applications will run anyway.

KDE is considered to have the more "integrated" approach. You have KOffice, Konqueror (file- and webbrowser), KMail, Konsole (xterm), Kate (KDE advanced text editor), and so on. KDevelop, for example, is an IDE that seamlessly integrates with the rest of KDE.

GNOME, on the other hand, took exception to the Qt libraries not being "free". (They are so only for Open Source software; proprietary applications have to pay a license fee for using Qt.) It's considered to be more of a collection of seperate apps, not the tightly integrated package KDE presents. Some of GNOME's applications are superior to their KDE counterparts (Evolution vs. KMail / Kalendar), some are not (Nautilus vs. Konqueror).

Both DE's can be configured to look & feel like just about anything you like. Yes, KDE can mimic Windows quite closely - which can actually be a blessing if you're hopping OS's like I do. But it doesn't have to - it can likewise mimic CDE, MacOS, or whatever. I guess GNOME can do the same. They can even be made to look quite alike, as has been shown by several recent distros.

---- end of trying to be objective, opinion follows ----

I think KDE is the way to go, as it seems to be better organized (if still wanting, as usual, in the documentation department, but which Linux app isn't...)

While still learning my ways with Linux, I got the impression that KDE is more "complete". There is very little you can't do with "native" KDE applications. KDevelop and K3b (CD/DVD burning) for example are non-core KDE apps that nicely integrate with the rest.

I am using Gentoo Linux. On this distro (which compiles packages from source instead of installing binary packages), KDE is better supported because of a more stable build process - GNOME changes its source tree / Makefile structure on every release, which is a real pain for the Gentoo package maintainers (and results in KDE updates making it downstream much quicker).

KDE is also the DE employed by Knoppix CD's, which is the other "brand" of Linux I am using regulary.

And I found the KDE apps to be more intuitively named, which made it easier for me to learn which app to use for what.

kate rules I'm using it for my all day os development (not as if I'm sitting much behind the box these days, for it's too bright outside and the promise of consimung loots of calories and a load of adrenaline whilst making sports is tooo luring )

I'd go for KDE. Gnome needs to find it's way ere I gonna give it a more than test-only look

Just my opinion, have no hankering for doing objective stuff today.

Well judging from the screenshots and what I am reading. I think I will go with KDE then.