The Linux Desktop: The Same, but Different
Linux has no single look. Two computers with Linux can look completely different, yet their parts are the same. Today you will learn to find the familiar in the unfamiliar.
For parents: a one-page guide — dinner questions, a printable table and safety.
01Remember
A little while ago you were learning to set things up and to ask. Think first, then open the answer.
What do you do first, before changing settings for another person?
I ask what is hard for them and get their permission. Then I make only one change, together with an adult.
Why do we write “how to go back” on paper?
So that we can undo the setting if it does not help. That way nobody gets scared.
Have you ever changed how the screen of a phone or computer looks? Which things stayed in their place?
Usually the same parts stay: a place for programs, windows, a clock, Wi-Fi and settings. Their place can be different. That is what today's lesson is about.
02Story
This is an invented story. Lily goes to a computer club. The computers there run Linux, and at home she has a different computer.
Lily sits down and looks for the “Start” button. It is not there. The teacher smiles: “There is no Start at the bottom left here. Try the top left — there is an ‘Overview’.”
Lily presses “Overview” and sees all the programs. Then she notices that at the top right there are Wi-Fi and sound, and the settings hide in the menu next to them.
The next day Lily sits at another computer with Linux. This time the bar is at the bottom and there is a “Start” menu. Lily is not alarmed. She looks for the familiar parts: a place for programs, files, settings, status.
“It is different,” she thinks, “but it is the same.” And she finds everything in a minute.
03Worked example
You sit in front of an unfamiliar desktop and look for the settings. Here is how to search:
Look around
Where are the bars — top, bottom or left? Is there a button named something like “Start”, “Overview” or “Programs”?
Find the place for programs
Press the button at one end of the bar. Often a list or a grid of programs opens, and sometimes a search box — you type the name.
Find the status area
At the other end of the bar there is usually a clock, Wi-Fi and sound. Press there — the settings are often close by.
Ask or search
If you still cannot find it, ask an adult or type “settings” into the search. Do not touch anything you do not understand.
What is a desktop environment?
Linux is the base of the system. The desktop environment is the program that shows you the bars, menus and windows. It can be swapped without swapping the base. That is why two computers with Linux can look different.
What some real desktops look like (checked 2 October 2026 on the official websites)
- GNOME: there is a bar at the top. First you see the Activities overview. It opens with the button at the top left or with the Super key — on most keyboards it has the Windows logo. In the overview you can type to search, and a button with nine dots shows all the programs. Settings are in the system menu at the top right.
- KDE Plasma: it has a Launcher, a System Tray and a System Settings app. The bars (panels) can be moved and changed.
- Xfce: a lightweight desktop with a panel, an application finder, a file manager and a settings manager.
- Linux Mint comes with three desktops: Cinnamon, Xfce and MATE. MATE continues GNOME 2, which was the default desktop of Linux Mint between 2006 and 2011.
⚠ Versions change, and names may differ in other languages. The drawings below are not copies of any of these desktops. They are our own and show only the idea.
Who chooses the desktop?
Different “flavours” of Linux (distributions) can come with different desktops. The official Ubuntu flavors, for example, are community variants with other default desktop environments — among them KDE, Xfce, LXQt and MATE. That is why “Linux” has no single look.
04Try it
Everything here is a drawing and a simulation. It changes nothing on your computer. The drawings are ours — they are not copies of a real desktop.
1 · Predict
If you know how one desktop works, will you be able to manage on another?
2 · Run: find it
Choose a drawing and do the four tasks. Nothing is installed and nothing is changed.
3 · Change: common parts and a movable bar
Press to see which parts both drawings have. Then move the bar on drawing B and find everything again.
- 1a place to start programs
- 2a window with a title and a close button
- 3files — hidden in the menu or the overview
- 4settings — hidden in the menu
- 5status: Wi-Fi, sound, clock
| Part | Drawing A | Drawing B |
|---|---|---|
| Programs | top left: “Overview” | bottom left: “Start” → “Programs” |
| Files | a tile in “Overview” | in the “Start” menu |
| Settings | in the status menu (top right) | in the “Start” menu |
| Wi-Fi and sound | top right | bottom right |
Did you notice? The ideas are the same. Only the place of each one is different.
05No screen: compare two drawings
You need: a sheet of paper, pencils in two colours and a screen at home — a phone, a computer or a TV. An adult can be with you.
Draw a frame and inside it draw drawing A or B from the lesson — only the bars and buttons.
Next to it draw a second frame — the screen you have at home. You only look at it; you do not touch the settings.
With one colour, colour in each frame the place for programs, and with another colour — the settings. If you cannot find something, ask an adult.
Write in one word what is the same and what is different.
06Make your own
Invent your own desktop and draw it on paper.
- Where will you put the place for programs? Where — the settings and the clock?
- Why did you arrange them that way?
- Show the drawing to someone else and ask them to find the “settings”. How quickly do they find them?
07What I learned
- The desktop environment is a program that shows bars, menus and windows.
- Linux has no single look — different desktops look different.
- The parts are the same: programs, windows, files, settings, status.
- On an unfamiliar desktop I look first, then search for the familiar parts, and ask if I need to.
A new desktop is like a new school: the parts are the same, but where are they? How do you work out where things are in a new place?
Check yourself
1. What is a desktop environment?
2. You cannot find the settings on an unfamiliar desktop. What do you do first?
3. Can two computers with Linux look different?
It is yours when you can explain why two desktops look different but have the same parts, and find programs and settings on an unfamiliar drawing. No points and no rankings — just a skill.
08I have a question
Do you still have a question? Write it here. It goes to your parent, not to strangers. Your parent confirms their e-mail first.
The form is loading… If it does not appear, write your question on paper and show it to a parent or teacher.
·Sources
- Title: The Linux Desktop: The Same, but Different (DB-RK-16) · Author: Children's Library, East Accelerator Foundation · Source: original content, 2026 · Rights: CC BY-SA 4.0.
- The facts were checked on 2 October 2026 in official sources. GNOME Help: Visual overview of GNOME · Start applications · What is the Super key? (their texts are under CC BY-SA 3.0; we only paraphrase them and link).
- Also: KDE Plasma · Xfce About · Linux Mint Download · Ubuntu Ubuntu flavors.
- The names GNOME, KDE, Plasma, Xfce, Ubuntu, Linux Mint and Linux belong to their owners. Linux® is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. We use them only to name things. The drawings in the lesson are our own — no screenshots, logos, mascots or copied icons.
- Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Children's Library, East Accelerator Foundation, 2026. You may share and adapt this lesson if you credit the author and keep the same licence. Learning is free forever.