Installing Manjaro

 Sunday, June 2, 2024
Installing Manjaro

I have never tried Arch except ArcoLinux briefly.

Today I decided to Install Manjaro on my NUC.

1. It is pretty good.

2. Its browser is Vivaldi which I begins to like.

3. Wifi Configurations is quick.

4. It has USB formatter.

5. It has Gparted.

6. GIMP is preinstalled.

7. It can be installed with Office package.

8. It has AbiWord but one has to download.

7. It has OpenOffice

8. Lets you use Microsoft office online.

9. It is a mature distribution.

10. Its software is Pakman

11. Installation is complete and need to see it pick up the Debian already installed (Ubuntu now shuns Debian).

It has some problems with my GRUB file, hence I use Reborn OS and BluStar Linux.

Stacer Utility

 Sunday, June 2, 2024
Stacer Utility

This Utility is something one should have on your desktop especially if you are playing games.

I am installing Ubuntu 24.04 for the Umpteenth time.

I see only the arrows and if I click the button on the right I get terminal activity.

But no idea about the CPU, Memory usage and Diska usage

This is where the Stacer comes.

It is sitting on the RAM and gives a running commentary.

1. CPU 65 to 70%.

2. Memory usage 1.5GB out of 8GB RAM.

3. Disk Usage is 350MB so far

4. Download speed is 0 bytes to 900 bytes

5. Upload Speed.  

I  tried Jitsi and it went up to about 500Kb/sec

6. My NUC has 2 CPU Cores

7. CPU usage 0 bytes

8. I started using Firefox, CPU went up to 90% usage and settled down to 65%.

9. I tried LibreOffice both Memory and CPU usage went up.

10. Finally I tried AbiWord it almost did not show any changes, may be a few MB of memory.

This is why I use AbiWord, it is a powerful Word Processor but uses minimum of resources. The Latest Debain update 12.10... deleted this utility.

I want use the update and perhaps its version 13- plus.

11. Still only 500MB filled of 3.7GB total usage of the disk.

I think I should go for a cup of tea.

Evolution of Gnome

 
Wednesday, May 29, 2024
Evolution of Gnome

Debian Live 9.12.0-amd64-gnome.iso

This gave a Graphical Installer to install Debian, which I found was easy.

Partition table looked like this which I had no ides.

/root

/var

swap

/tmp

/home

I became aware of /var for variable data and I did not know how to use it.

Icon setup was primitive.

Only Ethernet and not compatible with wireless but whereas Ubuntu could (Emmabantus,too) configure wireless.

So installing new software was impossible and had to be stuck with what came with it.

It had LibreOffice.

Debian installer was clumsy and installing AbiWord was not possible and stuck with Emmabantus which had AbiWord

 These days I had fun with Apache Open Office.

Debian Live 10.12.0-amd64-gnome.iso

Similar to above comment but icon display was much better

Debian Live 11.6.0-amd64-gnome.iso

 Similar to above comment but icon display was much better but no ESP Grub

Debian Live 12 5 0 amd64 Gnome ISO

 This is the most elegant and has the new Calamara Installer.

Its ESP compatible and GRUB Loader is pretty good.

No problem with wireless connectivity.

This is my favourite and I use it on daily basis, it comes with Synaptic Package Manager (in fact Debian Package manger which is extensive) which I prefer to SNAP.

Ubuntu has gone SNAP but Synaptic Package Manager is still available for Ubuntu.

I am going to download all three of these isos from torrent files and see how I got addicted to Gnome.

I actually had the stable version installed in my very old PC and Live CD/DVD were collected for testing.

Yes, Debian 10 is the one who had a panel on the left side and dots on the right side when one sees whole lot of application items.

Ubuntu of cores successfully implemented live session with only a minimal of applications.

Al these images were less than 3GB and now they are nearing 5GB.

That is my conclusions, even Gnome getting bloated with each new version.

All these images had only one peer each.

Thank you to them.

BOX utility has made my life easier.

By the way, I have limited number of USBs and I have Ubuntu from 2020 version to 2024, for USB used up.

I did not do this with Debian since I had been using Debian fr over 10 years.

Nevertheless, I am catching up with Ubuntu.

Those days I had no interest in Ubuntu.

Ubuntu Install was minimal and I got addicted it later since it had the best GRUB file.

Of course I had Ubuntu CD/DVDS from its version 6 in my CD/DVD collection.

Gnome BOX utility is fantastic and I am going to run these isos in BOX Utility and see how Gnome evolved.

Linux is steady and incremental, stable and not flashy like Apple and Windows.

The is for those YouTube Linux pundits, some of whom are hell bent on saying bad things about Linux having not tested Gnome.

All of them only test Linux Mint and do not talk about LMDE (Linux Mind Debian Edition).

I think Ubuntu which is a derivative of Debian became popular by adopting Gnome 10 desktop.

Less I talk about Arch and Manjaro is better for my sanity.

I have been trying Debian from version 6.0 but full adoption was probably from version 9 in 2015 when,  I retired fro the University.

5.0           Lenny         14 February 2009
6.0           Squeeze       6 February 2011
7              Wheezy        4 May 2013
8              Jessie           25 26 April 2015  
9              Stretch        17 June 2017
10            Buster          6 July 2019
11           Bullseye      14 August 2021
12           Bookworm  10 June 2023 

Linux Mint Installation

Sunday, June 2, 2024
Linux Mint Installation

 Linux Mint Installation is painfully slow but with Debian LMDE it is pretty smooth bit similar to Calamara Installer but different.

I do not know why?

Reasons may be;

1. It does not have world wide mirrors.

2. It takes ages to look for codecs.

3. It is basically the Ubuntu Installer padded up with graphic.

4. Unlike Debian Calamara Installer the panel cannot be expanded to see my hard disks partition which is 28 in number.

5. I think mouse pointer takes a lot of memory.

6. Deleting and making a new partition is pretty slow.

7. I have 7 partitions to review (for installation, no /var) before hitting the OK button but can see only 4 partitions.

8. I do not rush things, so it is not a worry.

9. Fortunately it does not direct me to its home page.

10. How it updates I do not know.

11. I only want to see how it configures the GRUB file.

It failed to configure GRUB and missed  both Manjaro and Debian and detected only Ubuntu.

I did reinstall Debian and got the GRUB file in order.

I think if one is having multiple distributions, Debian should be installed last to get the GRUB Efi in order.

12. I do not fiddle with Gnome basic or default configuration.

It suits me fine and why fiddle?

This so called customization is a gimmick for Newbies.

There is a father son file hierarchy and everything is organized.

I can understand it for a Server where resources have to be allocated equitably for better management.

In a desktop environment in a family set up if each individual is given a user name an a password of their choice, what matters is the applications available for their consumption.

I install several web browsers from light to heavy for my work. If one browser is slow I open a another browser and do my work on that.

What matters is the RAM. I have 8GB RAM (it was 4GB for a long time) and without playing games, it can handle numerous task one and the same time.

Daemon behind allocate resources as needed and with a healthy SWAP partition nothing get choked.

That is the strength and the basis of efficiency of Linux.

Microsoft Windows won't be able to handle this with padded up 64GB RAM.

That is the difference and that is why I use Linux.

There is no junk in my computer.

So I do not won!t a Snapshot of my Computer.

Each year by December, I take 6 weeks off the computer and look (Debian has two year cycle of update) new distributions and test them.

13. I tested the snapshot utility.

After one hour of copying it said there is no space for the snapshot.

I promptly deleted the half baked snapshot (save space for Linux mint).

The home partition has less than 1000 files or items and it is only 115MB. It has 17.3GB space from 20GB allocated to the home partition.

I always check this and if the (mainly due to iso images) if the balance space is nearing 2GB, I delete few of the tested images.

I use AbiWord for my books they are always less than 300KB and never in MBs.

That is the beauty of AbiWord.

So this customization is a big joke.

I just installed Window Maker in my Gnome Desktop and (it is a window manager) and fiddled with it with minimal strain on the computer RAM.

This game of windows within windows is not a creative concept.

One should use different Workplaces for different tasks not within windows.

Mint has only one workplace, I wonder whether I can make two work places.

I need maximum of 3 workplaces.

Any distribution without workplaces do not entice me.

14. I think my reporting of Linux would end with this.

Lot of Things I did not Know about Gnome Desktop

 Tuesday, June 4, 2024
Lot of Things I did not Know about Gnome Desktop

There is lot of thinks I did not know about Gnome Desktop.

I am a Gnome user and not a developer.

I am happy with it and I leave it at that.

Only thing, I worry about was AbiWord and it did not have it in its repository.

So I went to Emmabauntus simply due to that. It supported AbiWord.

Emmabantus has XFCE Desktop which I do not like.

I also liked the Cairo Desktop Panel like Mac Operation system.

Today I realized Gnome has Cairo dock but do not port it as a default application.

It has tons of applications.

It has most of the applications that are used in SUGAR Desktop.

Use Synaptic Package Manager and type Gnome and YOU can see all of them

I am currently downloading those I want including Latex type of editors.

I do not need to go for SNAP, Flatpac or RPM of Fedora.

Apart from its Operating System needs, it uses less than 100MB of my hard disk.

What matters is the RAM and all these works at run time on the RAM.

So one should only invest on RAM and as busy as today, it is now using 2.5GB of my 8 GB RAM.

If you have an old computer by some DDR4 RAM and they are getting cheaper since DDR5 is on the market and they are very expensive.

So do not buy a new machine unless it gives you at least 32GB of DDR5 RAM.

Debian Education

Is completely different Distribution of Debian which is packed with education material.

It used to be a CD but now 8.1GB twice the standard of size Debian.

1. It is a server system and one can install minimal to large.

2. It is a must for an educational system.

3. After all, Google uses Debian which is probably called gDeb.

4. It let's you select a number desktop type and server types, which include audio servers.

5. I am installing it on my spare 67GB left over partition.

6. I installed Debian in two setting and  it ignores the older installation and boots only the last installation.

7. I want one system for regular use and the other one for testing.

8. I hope because Debian Education is a server edition it recognizes the other two distributions in it's GRUB file.

It is still installing and I have to wait for few minutes.

9. It has 3825 files and most I have used is about 2300 odd files in standard Debian.

10. Unfortunately Debian Education did not configure My GRUB File.

So I am giving up Debian Education.

11. In actual fact, I have 4 Debian Systems in my NUC now and all are working fine with tons of applications.

Finally I decided to install Devuan.

Devuan is a Debian Derivative which used different but simple a Init (? Init V5) system.

It has Live version and I could not get Desktop version downloaded.

I installed it but it is finicky.

It uses only 3 partitions.

/root

/boot

/home

I am going to erase it has limited packages.

I won't recommend it to newbie,

By the way, I decided to keep it and try Gnome Desktop on top of it.

It failed to install Gnome Desktop.

Synaptic Package Manager is enormous.

Annoying thing about is it says libraries are broken but even after, installing them an d the package running live, it keep say it.

The problem is it has a poor Internet Utility and does not wait for the file to download.

It has no SNAP or Flatpac.

Debian Linux Update-Live DVD Version

 Thursday, June 6, 2024
Debian Linux Update-Live DVD Version

I have been Using Debian from Version 8 on a regular basis, even though I have tested it from version 6 in the 32 bit time.

Version 12 is fantastic and there is no other distribution to rival it.

It comes in two year cycles and is stable.

One need not update it daily like Mint or Manjaro (sleek but finicky).

One need not save a copy or a Time-shift, fearing fragmentation.

Corporate guys like Redhat and Suse fear fragmentation and that is their nature and they are worried about their commercial outcome.

I say, use the useless Microsoft Windows or very expensive Apple.

Linux fragments only one fiddles with its original intentions.

That intention is FREE SOFTWARE for the WORLD and the human consumption from East to West and North to South.

Coming to Debian, I finally got two version of Debian in my NUC computer of 320GB.

It consumes little over 100GB with a handsomely large /home folder (with 10 partitions including Efi partition).

Of course it can reside on a single partition like Endless OS. and a boot partition, that is OK for a an old laptop, which I have. 

It is working fine.

I use two version for two reasons.

1. One is my workhorse which I do not fiddle with after getting my applications installed. 

I come to applications in a little while.

2. The other version is for fiddling round. 

Currently I am fiddling round with various Desktops, especially the light weight ones, including SUGAR for old computers which can be used productively.

I of course had a network of 14 to 16 IBM computers discarded from America in our home network and quickly disbanded them when our electricity bill went up. 

I was nearing retirement and and it came down to 3 one for the family and other two exclusively for me.

Currently two basic NUCs but only one is connected to the Internet.

Other is for my son who is not interested in computers now.

In the good old days, I had two versions of Debian, one running the older version and the other the latest version. 

I cannot remember whether Debian had a two year cycle, then.

3. I use only Gnome and said good bye to KDE and Plasma (consume lot of memory in the boot up itself, even before doing some work).

I tried PCLinux and erased it after 24 hours.

It is clunky.

Same thing with Devuan (probably an European version of Debian derivative), not worth trying.

4. Now to the applications

1. I do not use bulky LibreOffice.

Of course, LibreOffice has a database management system for storing films, videos, etc.

I have not tested this fully.

Instead, I download AbiWord my favorite Word Processor.

It used to be 28MB when mounted but has expanded to 250MB to accommodate various worldly formats.

2. Stacer

3. Notepadqq a new conversion

4. VLC as old as my Linux conversion

5. GIMP

6. Htop a terminal

7. Audacity as old as my Linux conversion.

8. Box Virtual Box (not proprietary Oracle Virtual Box)

New adventure to test new Linux distributions on a virtual machine

9. Xournal (not Vim or Emac ), my old favorite but haven't used for a long time!

Xouranl has both text editor and hand writing tool which are amazing

10.  Firefox and several other web browsers (Falkon, Opera, Dillo)

Firefox is my fovourite browser with Thunderbird as the Linux Email client.

11. Of course, Bluefish, just in case I need to do few lines of Code.

It has Python, PHP and Perl and lot of Code Breakers.

12. Gnumeric is for money matters

Joplin I believe is proprietary and Rednote is a worthy note taker.

Excuse my Typos and I am back to my writing mode and occasional testing of a new Linux Distribution,

Four books on various topics.

Box Utility of Gnome

 
Thursday, June 6, 2024
Box Utility of Gnome

I am testing Parrot OS and Endless on Box Utility.

Parrot OS has done a clever thing.

It has a Home edition and a Security edition.

Home edition has almost everything one needs to work.

Security edition is for penetration testing.

Endless OS has nothing (in a way it is good for a guy like me who wants nothing and would build up on the base) in its base iso.

It directs straight to SNAP application store which I do not like for many reasons.

I decided to download Debian testing image.

It is taking time.

Mind this all done not on root level but on a user level permission.

I have given root permission to download Debian Testing.

Box Utility wanted Express Install on my NUC Box  which I declined and decided to write on a USB.

Be aware of what one is doing.

Box would have destroyed my two Editions of Debian in my NUC!

Download speed of box utility is slow, it often breaks down if one is downloading torrent file simultaneously.

I prefer torrent downloads.

It is far better download the image separately to your download folder,

Each member of the Linux box has his or her own /home and a download folder.

That is the beauty of Linux.

I decided to download Debian Testing and I will Install it.

I have never done this before, since I use only the stable edition.

Installation failed.

I think it did not have the KDE multi-language package to install, so it stalled.

Without KDE, my installation went on smoothly.

MATE desktop booted up.

It had everything but Synaptic Package Manager wanted CD/DVD to install AbiWord.

More importantly GRUB file missed my Regular Gnome Edition.

The Testing Gnome was OK.

Well I have to Instal Debian Regular again.

In summary,

1. WiFi configuration was OK.

2. Clock configuration was OK.

3. It has introduced few more desktop types including Gnome X11.

4. My current Debian image is 6.1.-.....and the new image is 6.7......

5. It had nearly 3000 files at least 300 more than the stable versions.

6. I realize if I use Gnome, Gnome Flashback and MATE it saves me 1500 files (nearly half of the total installation).

7. KDE takes the most that is why I do not use KDE or Plasma.

Besides it takes shorter time to install.

8. I always make a point to be connected to home site and they have free permission to scan we hat I do and no virus attacks at all.

9. LibreOffice takes to the bulk due to its multi-lamguage support.

10. Testing guys should test one desktop at a time.

Then report to the Debian base instead of bashing in the YouTube for Patreon contributions.

11. Reporting on individual file may nelong to a specific group of people.

12. Please note Linux supports (voiced installation) visually handicapped and they do not need a Glossy Desktop.

MATE is a light weight desktop which Parrot Linux prefers.

By the way, I tried sddm (do not know what it is) instead of light gdm.

These new 300 odd packages have to be text edited line by line.

Kernel itself has of million lines.

This the answer to the Young Guys who wanted the latest but untested software.

Even for an Old Linux guy there is something to do for the first time.

That is the way, life is all about strange associations with reality.

I am going to Install it again but my gut feeling is it will fail again.

I have the two working Debian images not harmed.

List of Little Linux Utilities

 Thursday, June 6, 2024
List of Little Linux Utilities

This web site was created to promote Linux distributions when no one was interested in Linux.

There were only 32 PCs worldwide at that time and I was one of them in Ceylon, statistically insignificant number and India did not have any.

Currently only about 3% users but about 10% of the guys in YouTube talk about it, like people talking about Meiditation but never practice it.

Google uses gDeb and it is about to 6% the total.

Apple is a variant of Unix from which Linux started its origin.

Linux Torvalds had a little outing with his professor ?Thanabaum and outcome was Linux.

My aim is to promote Linux so that before I kick the bucket at least 10% of the PC users use it as a "Freedom Project".

1. Pidgin

Pidgin (formerly named Gaim) is a free and open-source multi-platform instant messaging client, based on a library named libpurple that has support for many instant messaging protocols, allowing the user to simultaneously log in to various services from a single application, with a single interface for both popular and obsolete protocols (from AIM to Discord), thus avoiding the hassle of having to deal with new software for each device and protocol.

As of 2007, the number of Pidgin users was estimated to be over three million.

Pidgin is widely used for its Off-the-Record Messaging(OTR) plugin, which offers end-to-end encryption.

For this reason it is included in the privacy and anonymity focused operating systemTails.
 

2. Ping

Ping (blogging), used for blogs, RSS, and related web services

Ping (networking utility), a computer network monitoring tool

Ping (video games), the network latency between computers used in online gaming

Ping.fm, a defunct microblog social networ

iTunes Ping, a social network for music that was once built into Apple iTunes

Ping Identity, an American software compan
 

3. Bluefish

Bluefish is a powerful editor targeted towards programmers and web developers, with many options to write websites, scripts and programming code. Bluefish supports many programming and markup languages. See features for an extensive overview, take a look at the screenshots, or download it right away. Bluefish is an open source development project, released under the GNU GPL licence.

Bluefish is a multi-platform application that runs on most desktop operating systems including Linux, Mac OSX, Windows, FreeBSD and OpenBSD.

4. Thunderbird

Mozilla Thunderbird is free and open-source email client software which also functions as a full personal information manager with a calendar and contact book, as well as an RSS feed reader, chat client (IRC/XMPP/Matrix), and news client.

Available cross-platform, it is operated by the Mozilla Foundation's subsidiary MZLA Technologies Corporation. Thunderbird is an independent, community-driven project that is managed and overseen by the Thunderbird Council, which is elected by the Thunderbird Community. The project strategy was originally modelled after that of Mozilla's Firefox Web browser and is an interface built on top of that Web browser.
 

5. Stacer

Stacer is an all-in-one solution for optimizing Linux.

It monitors system resources, cleans up disk space, and manages startup applications. Whether you're a seasoned Linux user or new to the platform, learn how Stacer can enhance your system's performance and usability.

6. Notepadqq

Notepadqq is text editor and is versatile enough to use on daily basis.

Notepad++ is a free and open-source text and source code editor for use with Microsoft Windows. It supports tabbed editing, which allows working with multiple open files in a single window. The product's name comes from the C postfix increment operator.

It is sometimes referred to as npp or NPP.

Notepad++ is distributed as free software.

At first, the project was hosted on SourceForge, from where it was downloaded over 28 million times and twice won the SourceForge Community Choice Award for Best Developer Tool.

The project was hosted on TuxFamily from 2010 to 2015.

Since 2015, Notepad++ has been hosted on GitHub.

Notepad++ uses the Scintilla editor component.

7. Jitsi

Jitsi  is a collection of free and open-source multi-platform voice (VoIP), video conferencing and instant messaging applications for the Web platform, Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS and Android.

The Jitsi project began with the Jitsi Desktop (previously known as SIP Communicator).

With the growth of WebRTC, the project team focus shifted to the Jitsi Videobridge for allowing web-based multi-party video calling. Later the team added Jitsi Meet, a full video conferencing application that includes web, Android, and iOS clients. Jitsi also operates meet.jit.si, a version of Jitsi Meet hosted by Jitsi for free community use. Other projects include: Jigasi, lib-jitsi-meet, Jidesha, and Jitsi.

Jitsi has received support from various institutions such as the NLnet Foundation, the University of Strasbourg and the Region of Alsace, the European Commission and it has also had multiple participations in the Google Summer of Code program.

8. Text Editors

There is a lot of them and I have highlighted a few of them above.

9. Ranger

Is a very good terminal with simple graphic features

Ranger is a free and open-source file manager with text-based user interface for Unix-like systems. It is developed by Roman Zimbelmann and licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License. The program can accomplish file management tasks with a few keystrokes and mouse input is optional.

In conjunction with extensions including the rifle file opener and scope.sh, ranger can be scripted to open files with pre-defined programs and to display a preview of the selected file by calling external programs.

10. Neofetch

Neofetch is a system information tool written in the Bash shell scripting language. By default, on the left side is a logo of the distribution, rendered in ASCII art. Unlike a system monitor, the tool only features a static display of the computer's basic hardware and software configurations and their versions, typically operating system, the host (namely the technical name of the machine), uptime, package managers, the shell, display resolution, desktop environment, window manager, themes and icons, the computer terminal, CPU, GPU, and RAM. Neofetch can also display images on the terminal with w3m-img in place of the ASCII logo art.

Neofetch development has been discontinued as of April 26, 2024.

MultiSystem USB

 Friday, June 7, 2024
MultiSystem USB

One has to go to SourceForge and download this CD and boot it. 

It is Ubuntu based distribution which I used to install number of Linux distribution on a USB. 

However, some distributions do not support MutiSystem booting.

I have several MultiSystem USBs which I use to display Linux distributions to new comers. 

It supports most of the Ubuntu Based Distributions except Ubuntu. 

I have installed Gparted as a default distribution.

It is there for "on the go" partitioning of new hard disk.

Tails do not support it now but it used to support it.

I am going to install Linux Mint cinnamon desktop today.

Arched based Manjero can be booted with MultiSystem but none of the Debian Live DVDs is supported. 

It needs Squash file (single hierarchical file) for live booting.

Almost all Puppy Linux distributions support squash file system. 

Instead of having several Puppy Linux USN sticks in my pocket several can be included  in a MultiSystem USB with 32GB storage.

Interestingly, Knoppix with a persistent store is included in my MultSystem USB stick.

Its booting CD is not freely available and it comes from France with English language support. 

However, I downloaded it from SorceForge today.

Mx Linux 23.3-Install

Monday, June 10, 2024
Mx Linux 23.3-Install

Since, I have given up on Ubuntu, I decided to use another Linux distribution on top of Debian, Gnome, with a Light Weight Desktop.
I am beginning to Love Light Weight Desktops where on can fiddle with icon and windows.
In Flushbox Windows can be taken out of the monitor screen but they do not disappear but come from the other end.
It reduces the clutter even on a giant monitor.
I have also decided to Install it on a USB, instead of writing on a USB to mount.

I want it to be persistent copy and not a Live session.

It has lot of options and it is finishing install with Efi partition and a SWAP partition, in case I mount it on a Windows Box.
I takes long time to install USB stick which is understandable.
 

It booted with a user password and root password for Synaptic Package Manager.
I am currently installing,
1. AbiWord.
2. Stacer.
3. Notepadqq
4. Ranger
There is no LibreOffice.
 

Efi
/root is just under 10GB.
/boot
SWAP
No additional partitions.

I have found a way to add additional partitions say /var or /tmp.

KDE Plasma in Debian Failed Again

 Saturday, June 8, 2024
KDE Plasma in Debian Failed Again
This in not the first time but for 3rd time KDE Plasma failed when installing Debian.
1. First with Debian Testing.
2. Second with Debian Gnome using Synaptic Package Manager.
3. Today with Debian 12.5.0, Starter CD1.
 

It seems it has nearly 1000 files and probably it uses 1200MB memory.
Last time I saw it failing with a Perl package at the end.
 
I even tried installing on only text mode to SEE on which package it get stuck.
 
KDE is the base for SuSe and Redhat and their community guys either deliberately or due to carelessness released a broken KDE system.
 

I just wanted to see how Plasma was getting on.
I use Gnome and did not bother testing it for over a decade.
I had a 67GB extra space in my NUC hard drive and tested KDE with MATE and Gnome.
It failed.

I think KDE tries to emulate Windows and that is their Failure.
 
Windows actually started in 1980s and I had an article on how window frames were developed in a computer journal of early days.
Windows was a late adoption.

What it means is Windows within Windows.

In early day RAM was the limiting factor and it could not handle Windows within Windows.
Whereas, Window Maker of Linux handled this to this day marvelously.
In fact there are several light weight Window Makers which I have under Gnome hood.
Blackbox
Flushbox
Pekwm
IceWarm
and many more.

Windows within Windows of KDE and Plasma are also failures of memory control.

That is why I do not use KDE.
 

Linux kernel has 23 million lines of code.
I bet KDE / Plasma probably has 100 million or trillion of coding, I believe.
What it should do is to cut it down to 50 million line of code.
 

Even then it cannot match original Window Maker of Linux.
 
By the way, I have three versions of Gnome in my hard disk of 320GN all are working fine.

Debian Install Images

Debian Install Images
 

Debian has vast array of Images.

1. My recommendation for newbie is to go and download a Live Image with different Desktops from Gnome to Cinnamon to Xfce to Mate and a few more.
 
One can write this to a USB.
 
On a Linux Desktop it automatically goes to the Image Writer Mode.
 
Alternatively, one can write this to a DVD and boot it from an old PC with a DVD Drive (that does not support USB booting).

2. Then there are Images for various platforms AMD and ARM, PPC and so on.

3. Then there are 20 odd DVDs in Source Code and DVD form.
The source code images do not boot from USBs.
 

If you write the first (1st) DVD of  series of 20 DVDS to a DVD one can install all the desktop types in one go.
Please do not try the Source Code DVDs and they do not boot from a USB.

Connection to the Internet is vital.

Image in my USB was 6.2.0.18 (an old image).

On installation with the WiFi connected it selected current 6.7.0....

The current Testing image is 6.7.0.....

Debian has 9 sub partitions.
I use 5 partition schedule.

I have never tried on a single partition.
/root
/ boot
/home
/tmp

/var
 
The above partition schedule with SWAP partition twice the size of RAM is ideal.

If dual booting backing up your data is an optional consideration (not for me) but mandatory for some.

Once installed one should run it several trial runs, so that Debian will automatically update its files.
 
Be patient when updating is going on.

Then one can install one's favorite applications either with SNAP store or Synaptic Package Manager.
 
I prefer Synaptic, it is really the Debian Package Manager.

The New Testing Debian does not support Synaptic Package Manager but one can install it as an application and use it to install applications.

Well I have 3 images installed in my NUC.
1. one for daily use.
2. One for testing.
3. The third is for the Testing Branch

Large DVD version has many types of desktops and one should not TRY KDE Plasma (some files missing during installation). Installation hang up at the last moment when KDE is selected during (the Testing Branch DVD).
 

Go and s visit the Debian page for specific information.