is it okay to have multiple DEs installed?

[dotw]

I was thinking about installing LXDE for periods when I want my PC to run even faster. But is it okay to have multiple DEs installed or i should rather multiboot?

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 6.1.0-16-amd64 [6.1.67-1] arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-16-amd64 root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash
  Desktop: Xfce v: 4.18.1 tk: Gtk v: 3.24.36 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm v: 4.18.0 vt: 7
    dm: LightDM v: 1.26.0 Distro: MX-23.1_x64 Libretto October 15  2023 base: Debian GNU/Linux 12
    (bookworm)
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: Hewlett-Packard product: HP Pro 3330 MT v: N/A serial: <superuser required>
    Chassis: type: 3 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Foxconn model: 17A0 v: 2.10 serial: <superuser required> UEFI: AMI v: 8.09
    date: 10/22/2013
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i3-3240 bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Ivy Bridge gen: core 3 level: v2
    built: 2012-15 process: Intel 22nm family: 6 model-id: 0x3A (58) stepping: 9 microcode: 0x21
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 2 tpc: 2 threads: 4 smt: enabled cache: L1: 128 KiB
    desc: d-2x32 KiB; i-2x32 KiB L2: 512 KiB desc: 2x256 KiB L3: 3 MiB desc: 1x3 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 2411 high: 2808 min/max: 1600/3400 scaling: driver: intel_cpufreq
    governor: ondemand cores: 1: 2484 2: 2808 3: 2316 4: 2037 bogomips: 27139
  Flags: avx ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX unsupported
  Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion
  Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Unknown: No mitigations
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines, IBPB: conditional, IBRS_FW, STIBP: conditional, RSB
    filling, PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Xeon E3-1200 v2/3rd Gen Core processor Graphics vendor: Hewlett-Packard
    driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-7 process: Intel 22nm built: 2012-13 ports: active: HDMI-A-1
    empty: DP-1,VGA-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0152 class-ID: 0300
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 compositor: xfwm v: 4.18.0 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa dri: crocus gpu: i915 display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x285mm (20.00x11.22") s-diag: 582mm (22.93")
  Monitor-1: HDMI-A-1 mapped: HDMI-1 model: Acer KA222Q H serial: <filter> built: 2023
    res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 102 gamma: 1.2 size: 478x260mm (18.82x10.24") diag: 544mm (21.4")
    ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 1920x1080 min: 720x400
  API: OpenGL v: 4.2 Mesa 22.3.6 renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 2500 (IVB GT1)
    direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 6 Series/C200 Series Family High Definition Audio vendor: Hewlett-Packard 6
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:1c20 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.1.0-16-amd64 status: kernel-api tools: alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 0.3.65 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse status: active
    2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin 4: pw-jack type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: Hewlett-Packard
    driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: e000 bus-ID: 05:00.0
    chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
  IF: eth0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 606.46 GiB used: 35.53 GiB (5.9%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Lexar model: SSD NS10LT 120GB size: 111.79 GiB block-size:
    physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 0.2 scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Seagate model: ST500DM002-1BD142 size: 465.76 GiB
    block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s type: HDD rpm: 7200 serial: <filter>
    rev: HP74 scheme: GPT
  ID-3: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 type: USB vendor: Lexar model: USB Flash Drive size: 28.91 GiB
    block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: PMAP scheme: MBR
  SMART Message: Unknown USB bridge. Flash drive/Unsupported enclosure?
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 66.38 GiB size: 64.79 GiB (97.60%) used: 35.53 GiB (54.8%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/sda8 maj-min: 8:8
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 1000 MiB size: 998 MiB (99.80%) used: 288 KiB (0.0%) fs: vfat
    dev: /dev/sda7 maj-min: 8:7
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 3.91 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 dev: /dev/sda6
    maj-min: 8:6
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 34.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Repos:
  Packages: 2499 pm: dpkg pkgs: 2472 libs: 1280 tools: apt,apt-get,aptitude,nala,synaptic pm: rpm
    pkgs: 0 pm: flatpak pkgs: 27
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/airvpn-stable.list
    1: deb http://eddie.website/repository/apt stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/brave-browser-release.list
    1: deb [arch=amd64] https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/ stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
    2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/librewolf.list
    1: deb [arch=amd64] http://deb.librewolf.net bookworm main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list
    1: deb http://mirrors.rit.edu/mxlinux/mx-packages/mx/repo/ bookworm main non-free
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/onlyoffice.list
    1: deb https://download.onlyoffice.com/repo/debian squeeze main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/spotify.list
    1: deb http://repository.spotify.com stable non-free
Info:
  Processes: 254 Uptime: 5m wakeups: 7 Memory: 3.71 GiB used: 1.72 GiB (46.3%) Init: SysVinit
  v: 3.06 runlevel: 5 default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 alt: 12
  Client: shell wrapper v: 5.2.15-release inxi: 3.3.26
Boot Mode: UEFI

[Adrian]

It's fine in general, you might get some duplication in the menus, like apps that are doing the same thing "Xfce-terminal" and let's say "Konsole".

[AVLinux]

It's usually no problem, there will be some things appearing in your menu that are from whichever DE you aren't using at a given time so that can get a little busy and messy but it doesn't hurt anything.. LXDE is actually not as light as MX Fluxbox and it's also no longer maintained and MX Fluxbox has a very active and enthusiastic community here..

*oops posted at the same time as @Adrian

[asqwerth]

LXDE is pretty minimal in the applications that accompany it, so pairing it with XFCE is fine and you will get some, but not a lot of, repetition of apps that do similar things. Maybe the terminal and text editor (lxterminal, leafpad??).

My Manjaro XFCE install has had LXDE as a second DE for years. It doesn't get in the way and I only use it if I mess something up in XFCE (eg, when something went wrong with compiz08 in Manjaro XFCE making it freeze whenever I logged in, I logged into LXDE instead so I could undo the compiz/window manager config settings and ultimately remove compiz08).

Note though that the LXDE in Manjaro is gtk3-based. Not sure about the one in Debian Stable.