# LXDE

8 Hacker News commenters recommended LXDE and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend LXDE as a lightweight Linux desktop that suits old machines and stays simpler than KDE. Some find it bland.

## Why people recommend it

- Lightweight, runs well on old machines (4 comments): "which are very good lightweight out of the box user friendly DEs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46488007)) "Also try LXDE and LXQT if you would like a 'lighter KDE' vibe" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46584447)) "my favourite environments for lightweight use" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47452821))
- Simpler than KDE (2 comments): "Moved to lxde because kde got too complex and hard to deal with" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46184951)) "Also try LXDE and LXQT if you would like a 'lighter KDE' vibe" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46584447))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [KDE Plasma](https://hackerapproved.com/p/kde-plasma.md): 650 recommend
- [GNOME](https://hackerapproved.com/p/gnome.md): 340 recommend
- [Xfce](https://hackerapproved.com/p/xfce.md): 183 recommend
- [COSMIC desktop](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cosmic-desktop-environment.md): 75 recommend
- [Cinnamon desktop environment](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cinnamon.md): 57 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "LXDE", https://hackerapproved.com/p/lxde/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).