[elihu]

Part of the problem about KDE vs GTK is that it comes down to C++ vs C, which is a pretty big dividing line in the Linux programmer community. (You can have API wrappers, but the "native" language of the desktop environment influences the core abstractions, and so it'll probably seem more "natural" to use the same language the DE was written in.)

Maybe someone will come along and write a new desktop environment in Rust or something that's better than the other two. My fear that then we'll have three desktop environments.

Another option is to accept that these old debates will never be resolved and to start over with something new that isn't Linux. I've had a feeling like that's the best option that's been growing for the last few years. It's an enormous amount of work, though.