Desktop Environments

Full GNOME Shell desktop with Abora extensions pre-configured: Dash-to-Dock, Blur My Shell, App Indicators, Caffeine. Dark Adwaita theme, Papirus-Dark icons, Konsole as default terminal. Full GSettings overrides applied on first session.

Best for: Best all-around experience. Most tested Abora DE.

Full Plasma 6 desktop session on Wayland via SDDM. Qt6 dark theme configured. Full Qt/GTK theming applied.

Best for: Power users who want full desktop customization.

System76 COSMIC compositor (1.0.0 release). Uses its own greeter. Note: COSMIC manages its own auto-login, so the standard Abora auto-login mechanism does not apply.

Best for: Modern tiling + floating hybrid on Wayland.

Hyprland with UWSM (systemd session management). XWayland enabled. xdg-desktop-portal-hyprland + xdg-desktop-portal-gtk configured for screensharing.

Best for: Animated tiling WM. Popular with enthusiasts.

Sway WM with xdg-desktop-portal-wlr for screensharing. Minimal default config.

Best for: i3 users moving to Wayland.

Scrollable-window Wayland compositor. xdg-desktop-portal-gtk configured.

Best for: Novel scrolling tiling workflow.

Dynamic tiling WM. xdg-desktop-portal-wlr for screensharing.

Best for: Minimal Wayland tiling compositor.

Abora's own Wayland compositor, a dwm-style tiling WM built on wlroots. Ships with foot terminal, waybar, wofi launcher. Config at /etc/abora/mango/config.conf. Package built from source via the mango Nix derivation.

Best for: Native Abora WM experience. Keyboard-driven.

Lightweight XFCE desktop. Wallpaper set via xfconf-query. Dark theme via xfconf.

Best for: Low RAM usage, older or weaker hardware.

Cinnamon desktop. Dark mode via GSettings.

Best for: Familiar GNOME 2-style layout.

MATE desktop. Dark mode via GSettings and mate-specific settings.

Best for: Stable, traditional desktop feel.

Lightweight Qt desktop. pcmanfm-qt for file management and wallpaper.

Best for: Very low memory use, Qt-native look.

Budgie desktop (Solus-style panel). Dark mode via GSettings.

Best for: Clean panel-based layout, easy to use.

Elementary OS Pantheon shell. GTK4 settings overridden to Elementary defaults.

Best for: macOS-adjacent look and feel.

i3 tiling WM. Wallpaper via feh. Dark theme via ~/.config/gtk-3.0/.

Best for: Classic keyboard-driven X11 tiling.

Binary space partitioning WM. Ships with sxhkd hotkey daemon (required for BSPWM to be usable). Wallpaper via feh.

Best for: Scriptable, precise window placement.

Openbox 3.6 stacking WM. Right-click menu for app launching.

Best for: Minimal stacking WM, extremely low overhead.

AwesomeWM dynamic tiling WM. Lua-configured.

Best for: Lua scripting for deep customization.

Fluxbox stacking WM with built-in toolbar.

Best for: Very fast, minimal resources.

IceWM stacking WM with taskbar.

Best for: Extremely fast startup, looks like old Windows.

Manual tiling WM controlled entirely via herbstclient commands.

Best for: Full control over every aspect of tiling.

Python-configured tiling WM. Can run on X11 or Wayland.

Best for: Python scripting, flexible layouts.