Former SparkyLinux user revisiting

[jhsu802701]

I was a SparkyLinux user back in the LXDE era.  Then the smooth-running LXDE was replaced with the buggy and clearly not-ready-for-primetime LXQt, which sent me to MX Linux.

I recently have tried out SparkyLinux with Xfce in VirtualBox, and it's winning me over, because it's just as smooth and intuitive as the old LXDE setup was.  The SparkyLinux development team has done a great job of providing an alternative to LXQt.

I see that SparkyLinux just released a new stable version based on Debian's new stable version, so I'll give it a try.  I see on the SourceForge site that the Xfce release has been downloaded 1495 times so far, compared to just 679 times for the LXQt release.  The MATE release isn't that far behind at 622 downloads.  The KDE release has had 526 downloads so far, and the Minimal GUI release has had 542.  So it looks like the Xfce release is now the "main" DE and has more than double the popularity of the LXQt release.  The MATE, KDE, and Minimal GUI releases aren't that far behind the LXQt release.

I can clearly feel myself getting pulled back to SparkyLinux.  MX Linux and antiX Linux are great, but their Debian Bookworm releases are currently in beta.  I'm glad that SparkyLinux offers releases based on Debian Testing even though I don't use them.  All that experience means that the SparkyLinux development team has up to a 2-year head start over the MX/antiX Linux team in making releases.

I see that SparkyLinux isn't the only distro that has had problems with LXQt.  The history of GNOME repeated itself.  The switch from GNOME 2 to GNOME 3 was controversial and chaotic (which led to MATE and Cinnamon), and the switch from LXDE to LXQt was similarly controversial and chaotic.  Zorin OS replaced its LXDE edition with an Xfce edition.  PeppermintOS originally was LXDE-only but has since switched to Xfce-only.  Lubuntu has lost much of its popularity.  (Unlike other distros, it's obligated to use LXQt.  It cannot switch to Xfce, because that's Xubuntu's territory.)  LXLE is STILL sticking with LXDE even though this DE was defunct several years ago.

I'm pleased to see that SparkyLinux is hedging its bets by providing releases based on a variety of different DEs.  I'm hoping that the Xfce never becomes the new GNOME 3 or the new LXQt.  But if that ever happens, SparkyLinux will be ready.

If Xfce ever jumps the shark, I nominate MATE as the replacement, because it's lightweight and has the same development team as Linux Mint.  They're the people who started Cinnamon and took over the once-flagging MATE project.