{"slug": "enlightenment-e16", "name": "Enlightenment E16", "category": "os", "category_name": "Operating systems and desktop", "description": "", "recommenders": 3, "commenters": 6, "warners": 0, "score": 3.438, "rising": -0.98, "first": "2026-04-14", "latest": "2026-04-15", "why": "", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 3, "neutral": 3, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "", "kind": "", "icon": false, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://www.enlightenment.org/", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Enlightenment E16"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 764509536, "item_id": 47781846, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47781846", "by": "BeetleB", "date": "2026-04-15", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "E16 was definitely awesome in those days.", "excerpt": "Back in the early 2000's, I used Enlightenment. I wouldn't have called it \"lightweight\", but it definitely was not heavy. It ran smoothly on my not-so-great-hardware. And definitely lighter than DEs like KDE/Gnome. I stopped using it for other WMs. I remember how it was taking forever to release E17 and totally forgot about it. E16 was definitely awesome in those days.", "context": "", "use_case": "lightweight window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "Fixing a 20-year-old bug in Enlightenment E16"}, {"id": 764497648, "item_id": 47781103, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47781103", "by": "kdhaskjdhadjk", "date": "2026-04-15", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it's snappy and responsive everywhere", "excerpt": "But it is light weight. Fabulously so. The \"bling\" just comes from the ability to write theme files to customize the appearance of window decorations and menus. IIRC it was a fork of fvwm from way back in the day, and similarities can still be seen in the config files. I use it on everything including old 32-bit systems, and it's snappy and responsive everywhere.", "context": "", "use_case": "Lightweight window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "Fixing a 20-year-old bug in Enlightenment E16"}, {"id": 764403552, "item_id": 47775222, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47775222", "by": "_3u10", "date": "2026-04-14", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Makes me want to reinstall E16", "excerpt": "I used that same theme back in 2003. Makes me want to reinstall E16", "context": "", "use_case": "Desktop environment", "switched_from": "", "story": "Fixing a 20-year-old bug in Enlightenment E16"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["lightweight window manager", "daily desktop use", "desktop environment"], "compared": [{"slug": "gnome", "name": "GNOME", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "kde", "name": "KDE", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47774789", "title": "Fixing a 20-year-old bug in Enlightenment E16", "mentions": 6}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 3, "neutral": 3}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 764546576, "item_id": 47784161, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47784161", "by": "Ixander", "date": "2026-04-15", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "She uses the 1997 window manager, Enlightenment E16, daily.", "excerpt": "From her \"Short CV\" \"Hello! I\u2019m Kamila Szewczyk (iczelia). I am 21 years old. I\u2019m an expert programmer and aspiring mathematician, primarily interested in compiler construction, data compression, esoteric languages, statistics and numerical algorithms. ... Currently I am a full-time student based in Germany.\" [1] And the start of the post: \"The editor in chief of this blog was born in 2004. She uses the 1997 window m", "context": "", "use_case": "Daily desktop use", "switched_from": "", "story": "Fixing a 20-year-old bug in Enlightenment E16"}, {"id": 764509536, "item_id": 47781846, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47781846", "by": "BeetleB", "date": "2026-04-15", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "E16 was definitely awesome in those days.", "excerpt": "Back in the early 2000's, I used Enlightenment. I wouldn't have called it \"lightweight\", but it definitely was not heavy. It ran smoothly on my not-so-great-hardware. And definitely lighter than DEs like KDE/Gnome. I stopped using it for other WMs. I remember how it was taking forever to release E17 and totally forgot about it. E16 was definitely awesome in those days.", "context": "", "use_case": "lightweight window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "Fixing a 20-year-old bug in Enlightenment E16"}, {"id": 764501744, "item_id": 47781359, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47781359", "by": "badsectoracula", "date": "2026-04-15", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "", "excerpt": "> At the time I had no idea it resembled NeXTStep, but it was great. I used (and still use) Window Maker for almost a decade before learning what NeXTSTEP actually was (i heard about the name occasionally but never looked into it), then for several years before even trying one. I remember having a heavy sense of uncanny valley because the thing in front of me looked almost exactly like what i was using for years but ", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Fixing a 20-year-old bug in Enlightenment E16"}, {"id": 764497648, "item_id": 47781103, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47781103", "by": "kdhaskjdhadjk", "date": "2026-04-15", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it's snappy and responsive everywhere", "excerpt": "But it is light weight. Fabulously so. The \"bling\" just comes from the ability to write theme files to customize the appearance of window decorations and menus. IIRC it was a fork of fvwm from way back in the day, and similarities can still be seen in the config files. I use it on everything including old 32-bit systems, and it's snappy and responsive everywhere.", "context": "", "use_case": "Lightweight window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "Fixing a 20-year-old bug in Enlightenment E16"}, {"id": 764465872, "item_id": 47779117, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47779117", "by": "pino83", "date": "2026-04-15", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "", "excerpt": "Well, I explicitly said that I dislike Gnome for that. Sure, there are switches that are fine for actual customization, in order to actually adapt to personal preferences instead of work around technical weaknesses. I love how configurable Plasma is. When I read further, about your scrollbar example, I wasn't sure if I would consider that a good example for your point or for my point... ^^ Anyways... Maybe it's a cor", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Fixing a 20-year-old bug in Enlightenment E16"}, {"id": 764403552, "item_id": 47775222, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47775222", "by": "_3u10", "date": "2026-04-14", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Makes me want to reinstall E16", "excerpt": "I used that same theme back in 2003. Makes me want to reinstall E16", "context": "", "use_case": "Desktop environment", "switched_from": "", "story": "Fixing a 20-year-old bug in Enlightenment E16"}]}