It’s the most popular because it’s Ubuntu’s default which happens to still be the “default linux distro”. Many GNOME users probably don’t even know what GNOME or a DE in general is (and that’s ok).
If you ask linux nerds, however, KDE generally seems more popular but that’s probably because people who care about this sort of thing tend to value customization and KDE’s philosophy more than GNOME’s.
Source: I use KDE on Arch BTW, guess which category I fall on.
I think so too. GNOME famously doesn’t prioritize customisation, which despite lots of angry complaints, still doesn’t intend to change. That’s because they already have a solid user base, a silent group that couldn’t care less about customisation and gaming features, and mostly want it to “just work”.
Think the Linux Torvalds type of person, using a workstation distro. Best thing GNOME can do is to minimize changes that break user’s workflows and make sure the defaults are good.
The side effect is that they turn off their corporate machines after work and that’s it for the day. They aren’t going on forums to defend GNOME vs KDE arguments.
Gnome is the most popular DE for Fedora. Though KDE is popular enough to finally get Fedora to place it equally alongside their Gnome ISO. But I would bet Gnome has at least a slim lead ahead of all DEs.
TBF it’s likely the most popular because it’s the default not necessarily because it is better than KDE (or worse, they’re both good just aimed at different people)
Today, which one you might choose has more to do with how you vibe with either one. So there is no “wrong” choice. But back in the early days, Gnome was the better DE. More polished and definitely more stable. I can remember the crashes and the total crash and burn of KDE from those days. That gave Gnome the leg up to becoming default for many distros.
These days. KDE Plasma is every bit as good as Gnome.
Are we sure that Gnome is the most popular? I would’ve expected KDE to be the most popular one, even not considering the mascots.
It’s the most popular because it’s Ubuntu’s default which happens to still be the “default linux distro”. Many GNOME users probably don’t even know what GNOME or a DE in general is (and that’s ok).
If you ask linux nerds, however, KDE generally seems more popular but that’s probably because people who care about this sort of thing tend to value customization and KDE’s philosophy more than GNOME’s.
Source: I use KDE on Arch BTW, guess which category I fall on.
No way to get reliable numbers without telemetry but KDE’s userbase is a lot louder for sure.
All three major enterprise distros use GNOME, none of them officially support KDE.
I think so too. GNOME famously doesn’t prioritize customisation, which despite lots of angry complaints, still doesn’t intend to change. That’s because they already have a solid user base, a silent group that couldn’t care less about customisation and gaming features, and mostly want it to “just work”.
Think the Linux Torvalds type of person, using a workstation distro. Best thing GNOME can do is to minimize changes that break user’s workflows and make sure the defaults are good.
The side effect is that they turn off their corporate machines after work and that’s it for the day. They aren’t going on forums to defend GNOME vs KDE arguments.
The steam deck might make KDE the most popular
Gnome is the most popular DE for Fedora. Though KDE is popular enough to finally get Fedora to place it equally alongside their Gnome ISO. But I would bet Gnome has at least a slim lead ahead of all DEs.
TBF it’s likely the most popular because it’s the default not necessarily because it is better than KDE (or worse, they’re both good just aimed at different people)
Today, which one you might choose has more to do with how you vibe with either one. So there is no “wrong” choice. But back in the early days, Gnome was the better DE. More polished and definitely more stable. I can remember the crashes and the total crash and burn of KDE from those days. That gave Gnome the leg up to becoming default for many distros.
These days. KDE Plasma is every bit as good as Gnome.
With the fall of Ubuntu maybe yeah