Question

65

What is KDE, GTK, GTK+, QT, and/or GNOME?

rated 0 times [ 65] [ 0] / answers: 1 / hits: 66050 / 3 Years ago, fri, may 21, 2021, 12:39:22

I'm new to Ubuntu (and Linux in general). Sometimes when looking at programs in the Ubuntu Software Center, I see things about the programs being 'for the GTK+ environment', or 'for GNOME', or a whole lot of other things. All I know is that I've got Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, and what I'm seeing through my monitor appears to be the controversial Unity interface.

What are these other things I see mentioned in the descriptions of programs (such as KDE, GTK, QT, GNOME, GNOME 'shell', etc.)? Are they Linux GUIs that are alternatives to Unity? Are they dependencies that I need to have?

I've spent the last several months getting used to Ubuntu in its present form (though I confess, I have played around with Compiz, which is fun as hell). Will these other things completely turn my world upside down if I use them?

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kroapathe

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3 Years ago

answered 3 Years ago sigtestim · Accepted Answer

GTK, GTK+, and Qt are GUI toolkits. These are libraries that developers use to design graphical interfaces, all running on top of the X Server or Wayland. These are things that you need to install as dependencies. They're the Linux "equivalent" to Windows' GDI/GDI+. When an application uses any of these, it will usually have a general "look and feel".

GNOME and KDE are Desktop Environments. GNOME primarily uses the GTK+ toolkit, while KDE primarily uses the Qt toolkit. There are applications designed for GNOME or KDE, such as a settings menu or a default music player, usually in the appropriate toolkit. These Desktop Environments have a set of utilities/window managers/design specification to create a more unified desktop. You can mix the two if you feel like it, but you may run into issues with colliding standards and applications (which is a bit more common on systems like Arch).

Unity uses many of the GNOME utilities and backends (Nautilus, Rhythmbox, gvfs, etc.), so Unity is more GNOME than KDE.