Perfect your desktop

Mayank Sharma says it’s time to shake up those factory settings! Refashion and replace your default Linux desktop now!

If you have strong aversions for factory settings, join

Mayank Sharma as he sets about reshaping his default desktop

W e’re big fans of the distribution development process. The effort that goes into collating the myriad pieces of software and libraries into a functional operating system deserves a lot of praise. Yet in their effort to ship with a product that’s good enough to please the majority of users, the out-of-the-box experience of virtually all distributions leaves a lot to be desired.

Unlike proprietary operating systems, Linux users have greater control over their installations and don’t have to stick with the default options. In fact, the first thing you probably do post-installation is swap out the default applications with ones you’re more comfortable with. But you can just as easily replace your desktop environment (DE) without having to install a different Linux distro. Simply install a pre-defined group of packages and select your preferred desktop on the login screen.

Switching desktops is just one way to make your installation wear a new look. The mainstream DEs are all just shells that ship as a collection of components, which users can customise and tweak. However, a more involved and hands-on approach is to swap out the individual components, or even move to a new DE.

In this feature we’ll familiarise you with the available avenues for modifying the mainstream DEs and use them to help you personalise your Linux installations. We’ll also look at some of the other DEs on offer and guide you to pick one that suits your workflow and minimise any learning curve.

And if your displeasure at the default DE setup can’t be cured by the tweaks, we’ll also help you pick the different components and tie them together to create your own custom desktop.