Someone in 2015: "Pablo: what is the most beautiful desktop that can be used in Linux?"; Paul in 2015: "Budgie." Someone in 2023: "Pablo, what is the..."; Pablo in 2023, without letting the question finish: «Deepin». The truth is that both came out in 2013, but I know Budgie better and sooner because it has been the official flavor of Ubuntu since 2016. If now I know more about Deepin it's because the desktop is gaining popularity, to the point that there is a Remix called UbuntuDDE.
Looking for Deepin we can find what would be two meanings: the best known is perhaps that of graphic environment or desktop, and I think it's best known because the environments can be used on any Linux distribution. We may also find it with the acronym DDE for Deepin Desktop Environment. On the other hand, although a little less known for coming from China, it is an operating system based on Debian
Install Deepin on Ubuntu
Deepin (DDE), as a graphical environment that it is, can be installed on any distribution. It may be available in the official repositories of some distributions, and there are even those that offer their own flavor with Deepin. But in Ubunlog We have a certain weakness for Ubuntu, and luckily we can install it on the Canonical system, although right now not from an official repository.
UbuntuDDE it has at the time of writing the Remix label, and this "surname" means that it is working towards becoming an official flavor. If we want to install DDE on Ubuntu, the best we can do is add its repository and install the desktop, for which we have to open a terminal and type these commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntudde-dev/stable sudo apt install ubuntudde-dde
At a certain moment it will ask us which session manager to use, and we must choose according to our preferences (lightdm for Deepin's and gdm3 -in Ubuntu- to leave it as is). Once installed, you have to log out and choose the Deepin option from the login window.
Better: full experience with UbuntuDDE
Although I have done it once, if I have to be completely honest I must admit that I am not a big fan of installing graphical environments at haphazard. For everything to work correctly you have to install a whole desktop, with its libraries, and all this will be added to what we already had by default. It is possible to configure everything and leave it perfect, but the best way to take advantage of all that a desktop has to offer is by using a distribution that uses it by default.
Ubuntu DDE is Ubuntu with DDE, which is nothing more than Deepin Desktop Environment. Its developers are the ones in charge of taking the Ubuntu base, adding the desktop to it and making the customizations that they think are best for it. For example, they have put the application launcher out of the middle, instead of to the left as in Deepin Linux and DDE. Another thing that I like less is that we can access our applications from the "normal" menu (KDE or Windows type) and from a GNOME-type app drawer, but not from the full screen option ordered by categories. What I don't like is that there are fewer options.
Deepin with its own touch
But it is the price to pay to enjoy the best experience with the minimum effort. Other changes introduced by UbuntuDDE can be found in a narrower dock, with rounded edges and that separates what would be the dock itself with the system tray.
For everything else, we will have Deepin well mounted about Ubuntu, with all that this means. For example, the applications will be more modern than those of Deepin, since they come from the Ubuntu repositories and not from the Debian ones. That we have any questions about how to do something in Linux? Almost everything that is published in the blogosphere is about how to do things in Ubuntu, so there is a lot of documentation.
Let's talk about the design
Deepin's design, and even more so that of UbuntuDDE as can be seen in the previous screenshot, takes some inspiration from macOS or iOS/iPadOS (Manzana). Those windows with transparencies, those applications like the music one... Remember what we see on an iPad. It is true that there are themes, especially for KDE, that show similar interfaces, but in China, Deepin's country of origin, Apple is very fond of, and that is evident in the design of this desktop.
The design of the applications is a little less Apple and more Deepin. Although a certain smell of apple is still noticeable, there is also a smell of its own or even that of GNOME. But, in any case, they have very good aesthetics.
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- Text editor
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- Calendar
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- Music
Deepin Performance
When a large part of the Linux community, more than one in three, uses GNOME, it is because the average team can move it without major problems. There are lighter desktops, like LXQt, Xfce or even KDE, but GNOME is used more even though it is a bit more demanding. Deepin is prettier than GNOME, and aesthetics usually comes at a price. In the case of this graphic environment, it is not very high, but it is noticeable that performs a little worse what a gnome.
So, if you're looking for something fast, it might be better to stick with "from GNOME on down". But if the team allows it, another possibility is to use Deepin. There are software developers, which I will not mention here because it is irrelevant, who claim that their intention is to offer something functional and even beautiful, not fast. This type of software is for those who want it all and have a computer that can support it, and the same can be said of Deepin: although it is not heavy enough to worry about, or not on my main computer, it is more demanding than many environments. graphics, but why his intention is to offer us everything, among which we find functions such as those of an average desktop, and also the best design we could wish for.
Although the only thing that is written about colors is that there is nothing written, and what some people like is horrible for others. I don't think it's the case with Deepin, and that's why she's so popular lately.