Rick Moen [2017-08-16 19:34]:

> The part you didn't address is where a DE is even helpful for this.
> It's not.
>
> You've argued for a novice-friendly assemblage of good grapical
> applications (in such use-cases), not for a DE.
>
> In any event, your concern appears irrelevant to the original querent,
> who appears not to be such a user.

>From a not quite novice:

I started with Slackware in 1993, have used Linux more or less
exclusively (for my private work) since then. In the beginning with
FVWM2, later with IceWM, now with XFCE4, which increased productivity a
lot for me.

I will not use a desktop without what you call a Desktop Environment -
and XFCE4 is the only one that I've tried (Gnome, KDE, LXDE, CDE,
Enlightenment) which I can massage to be both user-friendly and somewhat
estetically pleasing.
--
Hilsen Harald