this post was submitted on 13 May 2024
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Linux
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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Honestly the desktop environments is where I kinda get spacey with linux. The cli makes sense to me. Installing different desktops hasn't been very successful for me. Which distros use KDE plasma?
You can kind of think of a desktop environment as everything that's needed to turn a server OS (which has only a CLI interface) into a desktop OS.
So, it contains (or pulls in) all the stuff for displaying any graphics at all, but then also a panel/taskbar, audio support, icons, global keyboard shortcuts like Alt+Tab, a settings menu and some utility programs like a file manager, a text editor, a calculator etc..
Switching desktop environments is kind of like switching between Windows 7 and Windows 8.
You can still run the same programs, all the CLI stuff and OS internals work the same, but the UX for interacting with that is different. Admittedly, though, different desktop environments usually have more differences than there are between Windows 7 and 8.
As for KDE Plasma, it's available on lots of distros, but to name a few: