Alternative Desktop Environments not supported by DEBIAN 10

As we all already know, the DEBIAN 10 meta-distribution, is one of the oldest, solid and stable of the total and current set of Free and open operating systems existing, and it natively supports the most popular and elaborate Desktop Environments (Desktop Environment – ​​DE) known.

Let us remember that a Desktop Environment, is nothing more than the set of software necessary to offer every user of a certain Operating system, a visual, friendly and comfortable form of interaction. That is, it is an implementation of Graphical User Interface (GUI) willing to provide easy access and configuration, such as toolbars and integration between applications, with functionalities such as drag and drop, among many others.

In the case of the current DEBIAN GNU / Linux meta-distribution, in its most recent version, number 10, code name Buster, it officially supports the installation and use of the following Desktop Environments: GNOME, KDE Plasma, XFCE, Cinnamon, MATE, LXDE y LXQT.

As clearly shown, in the image immediately above this paragraph, by using the application Tasksel (Task Selector or Task Selector). Which is nothing more than a package that provides a simple interface for users who want to configure their system by performing one or more specific tasks. This program can be used during the installation process or at any time, using or not, certain initialization parameters.

Alternative Desktop Environments

Between the Alternative Desktop Environments not officially supported by DEBIAN-10, in other words, not managed by default by Tasksel, we can mention the following:

Deepin desktop

Deepin Desktop Environment or DDE is a Desktop Environment created to be native or default of the beautiful, innovative and functional Chinese Distro called, Deepin. This was initially developed with the library GTK, which allowed to offer functionalities of Gnome Shell about it. Then I incorporate the library Qt5 instead of rendering HTML5.

And currently, it is rewritten by with DTK (Deepin Tool Kit) for the interface design and interaction with the System, in general. Further, DDE includes a configuration center that unifies system settings, appearance, updates, and options for GRUB system specials. It is expected that it can be installed on DEBIAN-10, when the version was released Download Deepin 20, which will be based on this. To know more about said Desktop Environment you can visit their official website at: DDE.

Pantheon

Pantheon is a Desktop Environment created to be the native or default of the fast, free and secure North American called Distro, Elementary OS. This is characterized by being light and modular, in addition to being written from scratch mainly in the language Vala and with and toolkit GTK3.

It is based on GNOME but it uses its own shell. Which makes it lighter and more minimalist than this one and integrates more easily with other applications of Elementary OS as Plank (dock), Epiphany (the web browser), Scratch (simple text editor) or Birdie (Twitter client). Also, use as window manager Gala, which is based on Mother.

It is expected that it will be installable on DEBIAN-10, in a stable way, from its current version 5.X (Juno), compatible with DEBIAN-10, since the previous version 4.X (Loki) was stably installable on DEBIAN-9. To know more about said Desktop Environment you can visit their official website at: Pantheon.

Budgie

budgie desktop is a Desktop Environment created to be native or default simple, independent and easy to use, Irish distro call, Solus. In addition, it is characterized by being modern, robust, fast, fluid and customizable.

At first, his appearance closely resembled GNOME 2 I MATE, although it could integrate elements of whisker y Cinnamon. This because, it is built on Gnome 3 but using some instructions from Gnome 2. Today, it's packed with detail and has support for the latest technology.

Currently, its appearance on the latest version of Solus reminds the interface of Windows 10. Above all, in terms of the bottom bar and the notification area. Point that some users of Windows that they start to drive GNU / Linux, they might value greatly.

Of the 3, Desktop Environments commented, this is the easiest to install on DEBIAN-10, since their packages (budgie-desktop, budgie- *) they are in the default repositories of the same. To know more about said Desktop Environment you can visit their official website at: Budgie.

Conclusion

We hope this "useful little post" on «Entornos de Escritorios» alternatives not officially supported by «DEBIAN 10», some of which can be implemented currently and others not, but which will surely be very soon, is of great interest and usefulness, for the entire «Comunidad de Software Libre y Código Abierto» and of great contribution to the diffusion of the wonderful, gigantic and growing ecosystem of applications of «GNU/Linux».

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