I have no clue where to start...
I have no clue where to start...
All of this ricing looks amazing, I am just overwhelmed by the sheer number of everything. Where is it recommended that I start? Right now I have GNOME on Debian 12 (I hate it)
Ricing Gnome is both easier and harder than what you see here.
Gnome is very limiting in terms of customization - compared to other DE / WM atleast. That means lesser people actually make cool projects / designs for GNOME, that limits your selection.
But then GNOME is actually quite straight forward when you find something. You can just google GTK4 themes and you should find something on https://www.gnome-look.org/browse?cat=135
Other than that you might start to browse all the extensions. There are many that will alter your layout, give you additional bar, widgets
I dont know if my reasoning for wanting to use linux is common, I just want the customization aspect
I started of just wanting customization but eventually I just liked using package managers, cli and a more minimal setup
Don't overthink it, it's a natural long term process, you don't need to create a complete rice in one go.
Personally I'd recommend Arch since it's a good way to "disillusion" yourself from what your system comprises of, because you have to consciously choose many components at installation, especially if you choose a simple WM instead of a full DE.
It's easy to be overwhelmed but you shouldn't, it's very enjoyable to just tweak things now and then and keep improving everything over time.
I dont understand exactly how WM's work with things like browsers. Does it all work fine?
It does, and depending on your workflow it might be easier. For example, I often need to be able to look at 2 tabs simultaneously, so I can just "pull" one of them out to make it a separate window and they automatically arrange themselves to each take up half the screen. That's a very specific example, but it's convenient for me. Other than that, yes, they work fine. My suggestion is to install the one you want to try out in parallel to your existing DE, so you can continue using your computer when you actually need to be productive, and work on ricing the TWM in your free time when you feel like tinkering. Eventually, you should reach a point where it is usable and actually preferableto use the TWM. Good luck :)
I’d think about it at a high level and then get more granular. What are your favorite riced screenshots? What parts of them particularly appeal to you? On the other hand, are there things about your setup that bother you? Then, take what you like and don’t like and let that guide you in customization.
I am pretty opinionated, so I care about changing little things. Examples of little things I tweaked when installing KDE recently:
- made the digital clock display on one line instead of two
- removed blur from lockscreen
- hid user info + switch user options from lockscreen
For me the rest of the visual adjustments came from picking color schemes, fonts, icons, and wallpapers I like.
FWIW, I wrote the following about 3 years ago. You might find it helpful.