I'm transitioning from Windows 10 to Kubuntu and I'm curious about the terms I keep hearing like KDE, Plasma, and Neon. What exactly do they mean? I know Kubuntu is supposed to be user-friendly, but I'd love to understand more about how the Desktop Environment fits into all of this. Can someone explain it simply?
1 Answer
Think of the Linux kernel as the engine of a car and the Desktop Environment (DE) as the car's body and interior. The DE is how you interact with your system once you've logged in—it shapes your visual workspace with desktops, menus, and icons. Essentially, it’s everything you see on the screen and how you customize it, from the taskbar to your wallpaper and app shortcuts.
So, is it safe to say the DE controls everything I interact with on Linux? Like how I open apps and manage files?