How to Check Which Desktop Environment You’re Using on Linux – Guide
As you may know, Linux-based operating systems are heavily focused on the command line to perform operations. A minimal distro like Arch Linux will present you with a dark terminal after installation. What makes Linux distros interactive and easy to use often goes unnoticed – the desktop environment. Most beginning Linux users have no knowledge of desktop environments and don’t even know which one they’re using. Here’s How to check which desktop environment is currently installed on your Linux system.
What is a desktop environment?
A desktop environment is a collection of programs responsible for making the operating system interactive for users; a front-end to the base operating system, if you prefer. Most Linux desktop environments consist of a window manager and various applications that support other elements of the environment. For example, KDE, or the K Desktop Environment uses the KWin window manager and comes with additional applications such as Konsole and Ark, responsible for helping users to access the command line and manage files, respectively. A window manager usually runs on top of a window system. A window system consists of icons, windows, menus, and other elements that make up the graphical user interface. The desktop environment can also include widgets that bring additional functionality to the desktop. Some of the most used desktop environments are:
Check your current desktop environment on Linux
With so many desktop environments available for free, it becomes really difficult for users to choose the one that suits their tastes. And not knowing which DE they’re currently using doesn’t improve the situation. There are several ways to check which DE is installed on your Linux distribution, both in the command line and in graphical form.
Using Environment Variables
In Linux, environment variables store system-related data required by processes and applications to function properly. You can see the value of some specific environment variables that store information about your system’s desktop environment. Run the following command: echo $XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP The output will display the name of your desktop environment. You can also view the binary * -session file normally found in the /usr/bin directory to get similar results. ls / usr / bin / * – session A quick look at the displayed entries gives you an idea of the system’s desktop environment. As you can see, the xfce4-session file denotes that the system is using Xfce.
Using Neofetch
Neofetch is a command-line tool that displays system-related information in a presentable format. Neofetch is not part of the standard Linux packages, so you will have to manually install it on your system. Once installed, run the following command to start Neofetch: neofetch In addition to the desktop environment, Xfce 4.16, in this case Neofetch displays the operating system name, kernel version, host name, screen resolution, shell name and more.
Using the GUI
It will come as no surprise that you can also check the name of your desktop environment using the desktop environment itself, ie graphically. You can go to system settings to see the About section for details about your operating system. While not all desktops have this option, most of them do, and if yours does, count yourself lucky. For example, on the GNOME desktop, you can quickly check system details using the About section found in Settings. Still no joy? You can simply Google which desktop environment comes with your Linux distribution by default. Because in most cases, you’ll still have the default DE installed, unless you change it manually, of course.
Final note
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