Changing desktop environment

2026-01-31 16:59

Switched from GNOME to xfce desktop environment on this here Debian. Quite like the style. It's meant to be lighter on resources too. The file manager thunar looks rad. xfce4-terminal is fine. I'm not a terminal power-user so not ready for something like kitty anyway.

I didn't realise how easy it was to add and switch a desktop environment using tasksel. It's the same package used in the Debian installation, but can be run by itself. Simply:

sudo tasksel

Then select and install a chosen DE, reboot, and switch to whichever you want. Just had to reconfigure some keyboard shortcuts. I'll stick with this for now, though I'm contemplating moving to Debian 13 Trixie soon, or maybe something completely different like openSUSE.

I'm in full light-mode now. Using the base16_terminal theme in helix. It's all just silly aesthetic changes, but a nice working environment gives me a little comfort.