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VERDICT

Should I use LXDE?

Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment - lxde.sourceforge.net

Worth it. Use it if you're reviving an old PC or running a Raspberry Pi — it's free and extremely light. Skip it if you want modern polish, active development, or any vendor support.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 14 public sources; most reviews date from 2012–2020, matching a stalled project.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support quality
  • Security posture

Pricing

$0

Free

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareRaspberry Pi
Free tierYes

Best for

  • Reviving old or low-RAM PCs
  • Raspberry Pi and single-board computers
  • Users wanting a minimal Linux desktop
  • Distro builders needing low resource use

Not for

  • Anyone wanting modern visuals — users call the icons dated
  • Windows/macOS users; Linux/Unix only
  • Teams needing vendor support or SLAs
  • Users expecting frequent updates — openSUSE lists it as legacy

Gotchas - check before you buy

medium

No official security policy or advisories — patches depend on distro maintainers

medium

SourceForge-hosted site is neglected; the security page has been returning 404s

medium

openSUSE marks its LXDE documentation as archived/legacy — expect little movement upstream

low

No vendor support of any kind; help means community wikis and forums

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Free and open source with low resource requirements
  • Runs on anything from Raspberry Pi to junkyard computers
  • Reviewers describe it as blisteringly fast
  • Fully modular — remove or swap components freely
  • Called convenient, fast and reliable by reviewers

Cons

  • Reviewers call it profoundly average; hard to get excited about
  • Default menu icon and artwork criticized as ugly and dated
  • Project web presence is stale; security page returns 404
  • No published security policy on its GitHub repos

Sources & method

Analyzed 10/01/2026 - 10 sources - No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

official x4review x4security x2

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • $0

    Starting price

  • 10

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Completely free and open source.
  • Ease of use: 3/5. Called convenient, but reviewers note profound averageness.
  • Feature depth: 2/5. Minimal by design; reviewer struggled to find things to say.
  • Support quality: 2/5. Community-only; stale SourceForge pages return 404s.
  • Security posture: 3/5. No known issues, but no security policy or advisories.
  • $0 Price Free, open-source desktop environment
  • Yes Free tier The entire product is free
  • Raspberry Pi Hardware floor Claims to run on 'junkyard computers' too

Pricing

Free

$0

  • Full desktop environment
  • Open source, community maintained

Security

No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

What users say

Reviewers consistently praise its speed and light memory usage but describe it as plain and unremarkable.

“It's fast, blisteringly fast. And it's damned lightweight too.”
NetworkWorld, Linux desktop-a-week review
“I think the artwork of Lubuntu is beautiful but that menu icon is just out of place and it needs a renewal.”
Reddit, r/Lubuntu
“LXDE is convenient, fast and reliable. It offers a near perfect alternative to navigating the Linux desktop.”
LinuxInsider review
Full analysis

Based on 14 public sources; most reviews date from 2012–2020, matching a stalled project.

Free, blazing-fast Linux desktop for old PCs and Pis — but the project looks stale and support is community-only.

Methodology

Based on 14 public sources; most reviews date from 2012–2020, matching a stalled project.

Sources

  1. LXDE official sitelxde.org
    official
  2. LXDE — Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
    official
  3. The Linux desktop-a-week review: LXDEnetworkworld.com
    review
  4. LXDE Review: Light as a Feathermaketecheasier.com
    review
  5. LXDE: This Lightweight Distro Isn't Missing Muchlinuxinsider.com
    review
  6. Please renew the ugly LXDE menu iconreddit.com
    review
  7. lxde-icon-theme security overviewgithub.com
    security
  8. LXDE SourceForge security page (404)lxde.sourceforge.net
    security
  9. Archive: LXDE (Legacy Page) — openSUSEen.opensuse.org
    official
  10. LXDE — Gentoo Wikiwiki.gentoo.org
    official

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