So, I was told you can take any distro, pair it with any desktop environment, and badda bing, badda boom, unique linux in the room!

And a few years ago I tried getting into linux, and it didn’t work. I didn’t like ubuntu. I want something that’s basically like Windows 98.

Closest thing I found was TwisterOS. Well, I had some issue with one program, and I’m an idiot on linux. Have no clue what I’m doing. So the guides tell me to update the thing. So I do that, and the fan in my case stops working. Aye-yi-yi!

I never got it to start working again, and I just said screw it, I’m not dealing with this. Put it in a drawer, and haven’t touched it in about a year.

Well, now I’m think I’ll just start fresh. Install a new distro, and since Ubuntu seems to be the one with the most support, I’ll use that. Then I find out that LXDE visually is more in line with what I want.

So I figure I’ll slap on ubuntu, slap on LXDE, and then install retropie. And hopefully the fan will work again. So I start researching this LXDE, and the home page wants you to download the desktop environment already baked into a DIFFERENT distro! Wait, hold on. Am I wrong in thinging you can just download a desktop environment, and slap it on any distro? Because it might be me. I have no clue what I’m doing. And even though this is lemmy, when I searched for “Ubuntu Help”, there’s no community named that. There’s also no community named “Linux help”. Which I find very very odd. Lemmy of all places you’d think would have a linux help community! This place loves linux. Does everyone just always know what they’re doing at all all times? Or am I just going crazy? I feel like I’m walking blind into a forest and bear traps line the ground. I have no idea how to even start this process…

  • @Hawk
    1•1 day ago

    Pick a rolling release distribution with a limited number of opinionated choices. Arch is a good one. Void is another (although far less main stream).

    Ubuntu is very non-modular and highly opinionated, probably avoid that.

    I recommend XFCE over LXDE, it’s probably a better compromise in terms of what you’re looking for.

    So, my advice:

    1. Install endeavourOS (or arch directly if so inclined)
    2. Choose xfce at install time
      • you may install gnome and then xfce over the top of you like
      • you may also like KDE plasma, but try to avoid a mix and match with gnome/xfce and KDE, you’ll find some theming etc will be a nuisance
    3. Keep it up to date.
    • Björn Tantau
      3•1 day ago

      Bullshit. Ubuntu is perfectly capable of doing what OP wants. They just didn’t know that LXDE was already available in Ubuntu itself. I don’t use Ubuntu at the moment but I bet it’s just

      sudo apt install lxde

      and then selecting LXDE on login. Done.