On Saturday 11 February 2012 23:53:32 Timothy Pearson wrote:
> A hypothetical poll for users here....
>
> If TDE were to close down, which desktop would you use instead?  You would
> be allowed to abandon Linux entirely in this scenario. ;-)
>

I looked into a few other desktop environments when KDE3 was replaced by KDE4 
in Debian Squeeze.  I'd switched to KDE3 from Gnome2 in Debian Lenny because 
Gnome2 had become too dumbed down and restrictive.

The best of the DEs I tried, before finding Trinity, was XFCE but I found it 
rather primitive and crude in comparison to KDE3/Trinity.

Why on earth would I want to abandon Linux?

> Please state why you have not already switched; i.e. what item are missing
> or suboptimal in the other environment.
>

The primary reasons are the customisablity of the appearance of KDE3/Trinity 
and a few 'essential' apps that work exactly how I want them to work, such as 
konqueror, kate, konsole, ksysguard and the quick launcher.  Whilst 
alternatives for konqueror, kate, konsole and the quick launcher are usable I 
haven't found anything can that can come close to replacing ksysguard.  I'm a 
bit neurotic about system monitoring and half of my panel is occupied with 
docked ksysguard signal plotters.

In addition, I don't use (or even have) any desktop icons, so any DE that 
relies upon starting apps from the desktop, as opposed to via a panal menu or 
quick launcher applet is a complete non-starter for me (having to 'reveal' 
the desktop just to start another app, only to have to restore all the 
windows again afterwards, interrupts what I'm trying to do and just seems 
ridiculous).

> I am curious as to why TDE still exists and need some concrete examples to
> fall back on to counter detractors.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Tim
>

I started working with (mainframe) computers just before my 18th birthday and 
I'm 54 now - I know how _I_ want to work and don't appreciate anyone trying 
to force me to work how _they_ think I should work.

The bottom line is that people continue to use KDE3/Trinity because they 
_want_ to; whilst DE dev teams are entirely welcome to offer alternatives, 
anyone saying that users _should_ change and who then criticise anyone who 
doesn't is just trying to impose their habits and opinions and on everyone 
else.

Regards,

LeeE