Seeing that many desktop environments exist, you may ask, why do we need another?
Well, the answer is simple. It is good to have options.
Having various user experiences enables you to experiment with different setups until you find the perfect one. If you are new to the Linux world, you may want to check out some of the best desktop environments available:
Ankush Das
So, what does PaperDE bring to the table?
PaperDE: A Minimal Desktop Environment
PaperDE aims to be a simple, lightweight desktop environment with a touchscreen-friendly user interface.
Yes, it is not a wildly different idea. But, as per the official screenshots, it looks pretty.
When closely examined, PaperDE looks similar to a mix of desktop environments such as GNOME and Budgie.
It is being made from the ground up, with Qt/Wayland and Wayfire at its core, and features PipeWire as the default audio/video stack.
Furthermore, the DE will feature a dock bar for easy access to pinned apps and support adding various widgets from the C-Suite apps to the main screen.
When asked about its touchscreen and gesture support on Reddit, one of the developers (rahmanshaber) mentioned:
No, gestures doesn't work in real life, as you may use it in a tablet where it didn't came with linux installed. We used UI/ UX design approach that makes it easier to navigate the DE using finger and touch.
Codeanywhere
Can You Try PaperDE Now?
The short answer is yes.
The long answer is that it is still in the early stages of development.
The developers say it is only possible to test it out using Arch, and no Flatpak or Snap packages are available to install.
I did try using the AUR package, but it failed to build on Arch Linux.
The developers have said that PaperDE will also be made available in the official repository of Alpine Linux soon. But, for other packages, maintainers and contributors will have to help.
If you are looking for an experiment to test, you can try it out.
💬 Are you excited to see a new desktop environment in the works? Or do you think you do not need another project like this?
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