Re: [Evolution] Evolution setup

[Pete Biggs <pete biggs org uk>]

On Mon, 2020-08-17 at 06:52 +1000, Alex Evans wrote:
> Hi Pete,

As I said to someone else on the list today, please don't top post
here.

> Thanks for your comments, yes - you are right. I use only POP accounts.

POP is increasingly less used, so it is unwise to extrapolate
generalities from a small subset.

> KDE - can I install it ontop of GNOME? 

No. KDE and Gnome are separate desktop environments - they can both be
installed on a system and you use one or the other. In general people
don't switch between them because they prefer one of them.  There are
many more environments other than Gnome and KDE - this Wikipedia page: 

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_environment

has links to over 30 of them. 

> If I don't like it, can I go back? 

Yes, you select which desktop you use when you login. The desktop
environment provides the look and feel of the interface, but you can
run Gnome apps in KDE and vice-versa; although sometimes there are
issues if you don't have some parts of the infrastructure available.
(For instance with Evolution you need gnome-keyring available to store
passwords, that's not normally started in a kde environment and it
causes some confusion.)

The desktop environment is fundamental to how you interact with a Linux
system: the distro you use determines what's available and the layout
and configuration of the underlying system; the desktop is what you see
and use day-to-day and it's important to use one you are happy with. 

> Is there a list of extra's i provides? 

Each desktop environment has it's "extras" - personally I don't think
KDE is pleasing to use, some people absolutely hate the minimilisation
in Gnome Shell (but it's what I like), some people want the small
footprint of Xfce because they don't like the bloating in the two major
heavyweights. Horses for courses and all that. If you search on the net
you will find plenty of comparisons between desktops - but be aware
that many of them are written from the point of view of someone who has
already judged which they think is the best.

> How to install? 

That depends on the distro you use. 

This list is actually for discussion of and help with Evolution -
desktop environments and installation on particular distros is way off
topic here. A simple search of "install kde on ubuntu" (replacing with
whatever distro you use) will almost certainly come up with lots of
hits.

P.