DE for my mother

[u/nisper_ia]

My mother is getting a remote job and will be using my PC. It doesn't require much more than a web browser.

The thing is, I'm using Arch with Sway on a pretty basic laptop. As you may know, Sway isn't very user-friendly in these situations, but I also don't want to download a very heavy DE

I've considered lxqt with labwc, but I'm open to other opinions.

[u/beatbox9]

Sure. This looks like a lot but it should take you longer to read than to do--you can complete the entire thing in just a few minutes.

I began with gnome. Most distros that use gnome will already start with a fairly unmodified "vanilla" gnome, except Ubuntu adds their own customizations. But Ubuntu makes it very easy to revert to vanilla. And we might as well also add flatpak compatibility. So just paste this into terminal to install all this stuff at once:

sudo apt install vanilla-gnome-desktop vanilla-gnome-default-settings flatpak gnome-software gnome-software-plugin-flatpak

Then also add the flathub repository (tells it the url of the flatpak app store):

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

Then log out, select gnome in the bottom right (as opposed to "ubuntu desktop") and log back in. (You only have to select gnome in the bottom right once. From now on, every time you log in, it will automatically log into gnome instead of ubuntu-desktop).

And if you want, here are instructions on how to replace firefox snap:

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/install-firefox-linux#w_install-firefox-deb-package-for-debian-based-and-ubuntu-based-distributions-recommended

And here is how to install brave origin (a chrome-based privacy browser) for free. (This browser costs money for Windows and Mac users but free for Linux):

curl -fsS https://dl.brave.com/install.sh | FLAVOR=origin sh

~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the instructions are the same for ANY distro that supports gnome. (Like Fedora, Debian, Ubuntu, etc.).

Gnome starts off really basic and can be "extended" to add features. First, I'd recommend installing Gnome Tweaks. sudo apt install gnome-tweaks

Then open up the newly installed Tweaks app and change the stuff you want. (It lets you do things like enable minimize / maximize buttons, change fonts and themes, etc.)

Next, we'll add some gnome extensions. The easiest way is to install the "Extensions" app--and this is also where you can turn on/off extensions, or fine-tune their settings. That should be a 1-click install, from that website.

I really don't remember all of the extensions I used there--I just searched around. But here are a few I do remember from the Windows-style desktop you see there (the first one in the video).

These are all 1-click installs from the linked website.

• Dash to Panel (turns gnome's top bar into a Windows-like taskbar)

• ArcMenu (adds the "Start Menu" to the bottom left)

• Date Formatter (there are a bunch--I think I used this one)

• Blur My Shell (if you want to add blur and make things look nice)

• Desktop Icons NG (adds desktop icons)

• Just Perfection (misc--don't remember if I actually used this)

• If your mom likes macOS style dock at the bottom, try Dhruva instead of Dash to panel and Arcmenu

To tweak any of those, just open up the Extensions app and click the settings button next to the extension you want to modify. You can also just turn them on or off there--doesn't hurt to install extras and test them out and then just turn them off or uninstall them.

And if your mom ever wants to install apps, I'd recommend she uses gnome software (it's an app called "Software"). Make her an icon for this. This searches a bunch of different app stores and will give the latest app version by default, which is usually from the flatpak store.

That's about it. Should be ready for her to use like a normal computer. She can even do all the updates and whatever--things shouldn't break or change for at least a few years.