<p> I have recently been trying to figure this out. I know KDE is more bloated and has more eyecandy than Gnome, but I am sure there is more to it than that, so I've done a bit of digging. The best statement I have found so far is as follows: </p> <div style="background:#eee;font-style:italic;padding:1em;"> <p> <strong>''</strong>The initial differences were over licensing. Qt, upon which KDE is based, was not Free, so the more GNU-type people refused to build anything with it, starting GNOME. </p> <p> In the mean time, Qt can now be used for GPL projects I believe (though it is not as free as Gtk?) so that difference is gone. </p> <p> On the surface, Gnome tries to be more minimalist, while KDE likes to let you know that it has all these cool features by putting lots and lots of stuff on the toolbars. Gnome has a more consistent human interface. KDE does a few things better (bundled apps, burning CDs).<strong>''</strong> </p> <p><div style="text-align:right;"> -<a href="http://www.oreillynet.com/onlamp/blog/2005/03/gnome_vs_kde_in_45_words_or_le.html#comment-15912">phil602</a>, March 3, 2005 </div> </p> </div>