Just to clarify about "default" desktop environment and what that actually
means.

The "default" desktop environment is the one that gets squeezed onto the
first CD/DVD of a set of installation media, as well as the one that's
installed if you just click "desktop environment" in tasksel without
specifying. As far as Debian has been concerned, that's all it means. It
provides a strong suggestion to live CD/DVD creators of what desktop to
include, but no guarantee anyone will follow that suggestion. I'm assuming
the same thing will hold true for Devuan.

The constraint of "what fits on the first installation disk" may not matter
to the bulk of users, but it's an important one for people with metered
internet, intermittent internet connectivity, or no internet connectivity
at all. This means the first disk should be able to produce a working,
fully functional desktop or server installation for as many users and
situations as possible, with or without internet connectivity.

Now, as to criteria for a default desktop environment, that's a bit more
subjective, but I personally believe in the following

- an interface that is instantly familiar to the broadest possible number
of users - that means a start/applications menu, taskbar, and system tray,
icons on the desktop, maximize/minimize/close buttons on windows, etc
- compact enough to not squeeze out other things that we really want on the
first installation disc
- should not pull in unwanted or bulky dependencies
- does it pass the "phone support test" - how hard will it be to walk your
90 year old technophobe hard of hearing grandmother through fixing wifi
over a phone line with heavy static?

It's very important to remember that criteria for a default desktop
environment are not necessarily criteria for *your* preferred desktop
environment. A "least common denominator" choice here is probably the best
choice, because whatever we choose as default needs to work for ALL users,
not just technical ones.







On Mon, Feb 29, 2016 at 10:04 AM hellekin <hellekin@???> wrote:

> On 02/28/2016 07:38 PM, Hendrik Boom wrote:
> >
> > I suggest we use this mailing list for communication, and label each
> > post with the word DE in capital letters on the subject line.
> > Thus they'll end up arriving as [DNG] DE ...
> >
>
> We can do that, or use Mailman topics: so if you put [DE] in your
> Subject, you are filtered. That way people who want can subscribe to a
> subset of the list. The main issue with this process is that it forces
> you to include the tag in the Subject every time.
>
> Anyway a month or two from now, Discourse will be ready to surpass
> Mailman as a mailing list manager, thanks to a grant the Discourse team
> received for that purpose [0]. This is great news for people allergic
> to Web forum, as you will be able to do everything without ever opening
> a Web browser.
>
> On the Gitlab there's no group yet for Desktop. If enough people are
> interested in configuring, customizing, and finding commonalities
> between Desktop Environments that could be interesting.
>
> ==
> hk
>
> [0]:
>
> https://blog.discourse.org/2015/12/discourse-selected-for-mozilla-open-source-support-program/
>

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