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Comment by encryptluks2 | Hacker News Reader

The reliance on KDE components is a non-starter for me. It is just too bloated compared to some of the other options.

Bloated how? Disk size? API area? The default non-mobile buttons layout? The number of smaller packages that are designed this way because being monolithic made people call it bloated, triggering a major reorganization to what you see now?

Qt (and probably the KDE frameworks) resource usage is so optimized they made some lightweight DEs go "out of business".

I'm curious because I would stop using Linux if there was only GTK applications (I avoid Electron as well). I think the only exception that doesn't drive me mad is Inkscape but I don't need it. I'd rather have bloat than no features at all. GIMP has a manpage for manually drawing circles for christs sake.

Again, the reliance on KDE components. I don't use KDE, therefore relying on them for a package when they shouldn't be necessary for a simple Qt application, adds bloat and dependencies that I would not use otherwise. KDE is not a lightweight DE, especially when compared to Sway and other similar tiling window managers for Wayland.

So disk size is your concern? Because you can't possibly be worried about the kind of complexity I think you're hinting at. Not when just to boot your desktop you'll have to go "over" firmware, the OSes in your disks, the OSes hidden in your CPU, the OSes inside your GPU, a bloated kernel, so on and so forth.

If you use a modern computer you're living in pure bloat. Neofetch showing a small number of packages is placebo. "But I can make sense of everything that's installed in my machine" is placebo. Installing a 5mb window manager on top of that is placebo, and Wayfire feels lighter and faster than Sway in my tests. KDE Plasma is a full desktop environment and that's why it comes with bloat (features) included. Not using Krita because of dependencies doesn't feel like a good argument in the current state of desktop software. Security wise we have so many targets to attack that a few more packages would not make any difference.

I wish it wasn't like that too though. Let's just agree we have a very different definition to what bloat is and call it a day.

The KDE Frameworks 5 libraries we use are functional, useful and have nothing to do with the KDE Plasma desktop. In any case, the word "bloat" is a sure sign the person who uses the word has no clue what they are talking about.

What other options? Krita is basically first in it's class; I can't think of better painting software.

I don't know if it's in the same league as Krita, but AzPainter is a very light and fast one.

https://gitlab.com/azelpg/azpainter http://azsky2.html.xdomain.jp/soft/azpainter.html

Corel Painter, but it costs $400 rather than zero.

Don't worry, there are Electron apps you can use instead.

KDE has been the lightest DE (including over Mate, LXDE) for a while now.

Bloated is the very last way I'd describe KDE. I was surprised to learn even Subsurface uses Kirigami; knowing Linus' opinion on weight that's some endorsement!

Are you aware of Sway?

That made me feel kinda nostalgic. It's been years since someone made that claim... Especially the bit about "other options". I only consider Photoshop, Corel Painter and Clip Studio as "competition" for us.

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