Hi, I need some advice. I have used Linux for my desktop during several periods in the past. About 6 years ago I needed to run Windows for my desktop for business reasons. I am now free of those requirements. I have a Dell i5 that I think has 4 cores and 4 threads. I upgraded it to 16Gb of RAM years ago... maybe 7 or 8. I think the box might be 8 years old. This box has been setting under my desk since I switched over to Win 10. I bought an SSD drive for it sometime ago and have yet to install it. I think it has a 1Tb spinner in it. My plan is to make the SSD the primary drive and the spinner a backup drive for holding files. For the last few months the monitors on my Win 10 box would occasionally turn black and I would have to reset the computer to get it operational. It should be noted that these two Dells have after market video cards since Dell only allows one monitor even thought the CPU provides for 3 monitors... Yikes. So this morning both my monitors turned black and when I cycled the computer only one monitor would work. I am running two monitors. After setting the correct resolution for that one monitor and restarting it several times I now have two monitors functioning. Where am I going with this? I need your help. I am a PHP developer. I started using Linux in 1998... While I know a few things about Linux I have gaping holes in my knowledge. I've been able to accomplish a lot with Linux to include using it as my desktop for long periods of time and ultimately creating a Ubuntu home web server. That included the entire LAMP stack, BIND, PostFix, Devcot, and Let's Encrypt. For the PostFix, Devcot, and Let's Encrypt I just got it to work without really understanding how they work. So here we are Sunday morning October 23rd, 2022 and I need to move back to Linux on my desktop. AND I need your help because I do not know what I do not know. I figure it is a good time to "start fresh". I want to get a Linux box up and running and only pull in from my backups what I will actually use. My Win box has 6 or 7 years of clutter. I apologize in advance for all my future questions. My first question has to do with what desktop KDE or GNOME? We have had this discussion in the past and I'm thinking KDE was the winner. Please no flame wars. This is for my education and maybe for those who are lurking. I want to use Ubuntu. Ubuntu desktop used GNOME. Kubuntu uses KDE and has the Plasma desktop. Not sure what the Plasma desktop is. I will look into that once I have sent this email. I eventually would like to edit videos on Linux. According to what I hear and read, Kdenlive is said to be the best free Linux editor. I need to do a handful of things with this Linux box. Mail, Internet surfing, virtualization using oracle VirtualBox, programming using Visual Studio Code, and video editing using Kdenlive. I hope I did not leave anything out. List of initial questions: 1) Is it GNOME or KDE? 2) What mail client should I use? I have been using Thunderbird for years and am not married to it. 3) For FTP I have been using FileZilla. 4) For watching DVD videos I have been using VCL media player - any thoughts? 5) For SSH I have been using the Win 10, I think it called the Linux subsystem. This new box will have command line access so that should not be an issue. 6) I will be using a wired non-routable static IP. 7) Eventually I will need to configure my printer/scanner. From a quick search it looks like KDE makes it simple compared to the old days... I apologize in advance for all my future questions. I'm sure I will drive you crazy over the next few months while I try to understand and learn. Please give me your feedback. I appreciate it!! Keith --------------------------------------------------- PLUG-discuss mailing list: PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: https://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss