Have you tried Mac OS ? It is probably more polished than distros and less enshittified than Windows.

IMHO distros share the same apps. The defaults can differ, the implementations too but the user can install apps that are on other distros.

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You can also install Alpine.

I customised Xfce a lot, only with menu settings. I removed the window tabs from the status bar, the focused window title is written on the status bar. The window manager was removed for bspwm. The result is an optimized screen space while keeping the convenience of a DE.

I use Xfce with a swap of the window manager by Bspwm. I got the easy to configure Xfce status bar (instead of things like polybar and others…) and also the Xfce terminal, file manager… The window title is written to the status bar. I use Super + B/N to switch the workspaces. Some apps are set to floating mode like the image viewer, the calculator… So everything can be displayed in a good tiling WM and I don’t need to manipulate windows.

Doas has a readable config file and it is easier to add an user. To answer your question On an MX install.

Xfwm -> bspwm

Dont remember -> nsxiv

Don’t remember -> mpv

Featherpad -> Mousepad

You are used to KDE and Gnome is very different But also KDE is buggy, I dont know how Steamdeck people make it better. If you chose Xfce, you will get a KDE similar desktop but more robust. Xfce can look modern with few efforts. MX Linux distro is a good example of a nice Xfce config.

Xfce allowed me to replace the default window manager by Bspwm. Also the panels are fully configurable. This is a totally different philosophy.

I use Xfce with Bspwm as a window manager. A plugin writes the window title in the status bar. Window decoration is just a rectangular outline. Its hard to get a more space efficient gui.

Xfce works nicely with Bspwm window manager. I dont need polybar or other hard to configure status bars. Xfce panels are easier and you can make them looking like a typical polybar if you want 😉. Maybe Mate can do the same, idon’t know.

Kiss linux. Gobolinux. They are both alien, but interesting, each one in its own way.

You’re following the Unix philosophy.

I’m ignorant about display servers. Should applications be ported from a Wayland compositor to another Wayland compositor that has a different “protocol extension” ?

Sorry for the bad link, I will be more careful for the next time.

In the official website, the glibc page was updated with a new glibc layer. You can also check if you have “nouveau” drivers for Nvidia.

Its possible to install glibc on Alpine. https://hatchjs.com/alpine-linux-install-full-glibc/

The Alpine simplicity is attractive, but I failed to install it while keeping my /home partition. Setting this manually is beyond my skills.

It can fits as a desktop wallpaper.

Personnaly I don’t need to manipulate windows with Bspwm. How they spawn is fine for me.

I don’t use i3 because windows spawns in such a layout that force to use shortcuts for changing the layout. Bspwm displays everything in nice rectangles.

To start apps you can keep an application menu in your bar, such as Whisker menu, or the KDE bar, while having a tiling window manager, so you can run apps with mouse clicks. And after the spawn you should not need to manipulate them if you use more automatized tiling WM such as Bspwm or Xmonad.

The Gimp Tool Kit !