Basic question: KDE apps on GNOME and vice versa

[jojuma]

So I have this very basic question:

Is it kind of "blasphemy" to run KDE apps in a GNOME environment and vice versa? Is there something like an unwritten law that says KDE apps belong to KDE only and GNOME apps to GNOME only?

I understand this is possible since everything ends up at the X server (or Wayland), but since I have to install large packages like e.g. "org.gnome.Platform" etc. to use GNOME apps in a KDE environment, I just wonder, if that is legit...?

Thanks for clarification for a non pro

[Kevin Kofler]

It is legit. You may find that native applications (i.e., ones written for the desktop environment you use) integrate better, both look&feel-wise and when it comes to interoperability features, but in principle, the applications should all work fine. (On Plasma Mobile prior to September 2022, there was a showstopper KWin bug that made many GTK applications not or not fully work, but that has been fixed in KWin 5.25.5 in September 2022.)

It is just that on desktops/notebooks (including the Pinebook series), it is often not necessary to use non-native applications, unless you need niche applications like, e.g., GIMP and/or Krita (those both operate on bitmap images, but with a very different focus, GIMP on photo editing vs. Krita on drawing artwork from scratch). The situation on mobile devices such as the PinePhone is different, because even basic applications can be available (as mobile- and touch-friendly applications) only for one of the desktop environments. E.g., Plasma Mobile does not ship with an e-mail client, so Geary (which comes from GNOME and was made mobile-friendly by Phosh) is the one that works best. Phosh, on the other hand, does not ship with a native web browser, so either you use the desktop version of Firefox with tweaked settings (what most Phosh distros ship, even though its mobile-friendliness is limited), or you can install Angelfish from the Plasma Mobile project.

[linmob]

Just do it - with Flatpak you'll have large runtimes, with native packages you will have to install a lot of extra packages.
There can be drawbacks though, as e.g., accounts set up in GNOME Settings/GNOME Online Accounts don't just show up in KDE world apps and vice versa. But overall it's totally worth to have great apps like Itinerary, PlasmaTube or Kasts on Phosh or Spot, Newsflash or Giara on Plasma Mobile.
Neither the mobile GNOME app ecosystem nor the Plasma Mobile app ecosystem are really complete, and mixing/joining the worlds helps with having a good experience.

I wrote about this a long time ago (please don't follow it to closely, it's quite outdated/I would do it differently these days).

[Kevin Kofler]

What is also outdated in the blog post is the keyboard issue with GTK applications on Plasma Mobile. These days, the Plasma Mobile virtual keyboard also works for GTK applications.

[jojuma]

Thanks for clarifiying!