Re:CDE – Common Desktop Environment – Release 2.5.3
by rhabarba on Thursday November 27, 2025 @10:46AM
(#46070321)
I agree.
CDE being heavier is probably mostly caused by its large functionality. After all, NsCDE is mostly an FVWM colour scheme, while CDE comes with all the bells and whistles.
https://www.theregister.com/2012/08/09/cde_goes_opensource/
... is still being maintained... while the very clever hand-crafted FOSS recreation, NsCDE, built on FVMW and things, lies slowly mouldering.
I compared them:
https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/28/battle_of_the_retro_d...
Actual CDE is heavier, on Linux, but I'm sure there's a good reason. This thing ran well in 32MB of RAM, 40 years ago.
I feel NetBSD should adopt it by default. It works, and it would be fitting.