Re: [orca-list] Ubuntu, Mint and there flavors. What's the difference between all of them?

[Mewtamer <mewtamer gmail com>]

If you're familiar with the history of MS-DOS and Windows, installing
a Linux system without a GUI is kind of like running MS-DOS, and the
various Desktop Environments are kind of like how Microsoft likes to
overhaul the Windows interface every few versions, except it's like if
they gave you the option of using any of them instead of forcing you
to use the latest interface and occasionally giving you the option of
using the interface one version older.

E.g. when I first switched from Windows XP to Ubuntu, the choice
between Knome and KDE was kind of like the choice between running
Windows with Classic Taskbar and Start Menu or the XP-style Start Menu
and Taskbar... and when the Gnome 2.x line was discontinued in favor
of Gnome 3.x, it was kind of like when Microsoft introduced Aero, and
Mate came about as an attempt to keep the Gnome 2.x look and feel
alive in a maintained desktop environment if memory serves.

That said, the options on Linux are more numerous than a hypothetical
version of Windows 10 that gave you the option between the Win 9x
desktop, XP Desktop, Aero, and Metro, and most Desktop Environments
don't just include their own version of the taskbar and start menu,
but often have their own file manager, suite of configuration tools,
media player, text editor, etc.