WM only or Desktop Environment?

Question

I am planning on installing Arch on my main desktop and debating over whether I should use just a window manager like openbox or a desktop environment like gnome.
Is there any reason for using a desktop environment like gnome over just a window manager?
I know that they come with panels/docks/menus to make the system easier to use, but those things can be added as needed. Is there anything that Gnome/LXDE etc can do that Openbox cannot?

Answer 1

arctor wrote:Essentially... is a DE just something that strictly adds ease of use to the system or does it add extra functionality?
That's the thing: what constitutes "ease of use" typically varies from person to person.  As jasonwryan mentioned above, one person can find a DE incredibly easy to use, whereas another could just see it as needless bloat getting in the way of their workflow/hogging system resources.
It's kind of like comparing apples and oranges here; one isn't necessarily superior to the other (i.e. doesn't necessarily "add" or "subtract" anything), they're just different ways of working with your system.
If you really want something more "objective", though: a DE (as far as I understand it) is designed to create a more "desktop metaphor"-like workflow, whereas a plain WM is just that, a WM; it manages windows, and that's it.  You can mix and match components, though, to get an experience that can seem more or less like a DE, but without installing any of the big packages (e.g. you can use something like openbox as your WM and install xfce4-panel by itself to provide a menu/window list area, without installing Xfce proper).