Quoting Erik Christiansen (dvalin@???):

> GUI stuff, other than a browser and Eagle doesn't get run on my
> machines¹. But in my experience each distro has a DE, so it seems to be a
> matter of selecting the leanest, and fastest to come up and go down.
> Perhaps I'm not aware of what can be done with a paring knife.

Indeed you are not. I recommend investigating. The results are in my
experience rewarding.

Indeed, most distros default to a (at least one) DE -- but that doesn't
mean you need take the path of least resistance. It's your computer;
you get to decide what is installed on it.