Gnome and KDE are Desktop Managers. They require a Window Manager to display windows. Window Managers do not require a Desktop Manager to run, however. If you want to run a Window Manager by itself,. I suggest IceWM (as it has the ability to look like a Desktop Manger), Sawfish, or Enlightenment. WindowMaker is pretty good, too. Desktop Managers... I prefer Gnome over KDE, but it's really a matter of preference. If you choose Gnome, use Sawfish instead of Enlightenment. It was designed with Gnome integration in mind. Hope this helps.
Happy Hacking
