it's frustrating reading or watching reviews for distros and embedded devices that conflate the default WM/DE setup with the OS as a whole
like, it's a fair thing to talk about or mention, but any judgements can be measured against how easy it is to add and switch to other WMs/DEs, as well as the availability of common WMs/DEs in the distro's software repos
@patchwork we used kubuntu for a while and never did have any idea how to change DEs, though we knew it was possible
i feel like that's just something people don't make obvious? like it feels like the sort of thing that would be a ton of work, which is why we never looked into it
-F
@patchwork what's even the difference between a DE and a WM??
-F
@Felthry DEs are a superset of WMs. they usually combine a WM with some kind of toolbar, desktop/file manager, and a suite of tools meant to work together
this is a somewhat dated but relatively simple example, but lxde by default uses openbox as WM, pcmanfm as file/desktop manager, and has a bunch of DE-specific tools that work on the DE's components and related configs, like lxterminal, lxappearance, etc.
WMs just manage windows, and sometimes come with a configurable panel or launcher or statusbar. starting off with just a WM lets you build your own modular "DE" based on what parts of a GUI you actually care about
I have been using Ubuntu with LXDE and Openbox for a while now, quite happily. I tried the stock Ubuntu "experience" and detested it.
@tsukkitsune @Felthry same. kinda works on ubuntu touch, but as a desktop interface it's not my fave at all
mostly we use i3wm or sway, though we did use lxde a lot in the past. it was fun to play with different panel arrangements :3:3:3:3
@Felthry i'll admit i'm not super familiar with KDE's display manager, but it should be possible to switch DEs/WMs at the login screen, once they've been installed. there's usually like a little dropdown or gear icon or something. DEs tend to come with sensible defaults, but more minimal WMs will likely take some configuration to make comfy.