Converting Between the Ubuntus

This topic was published by and viewed 6335 times since "". The last page revision was "".

Viewing 1 post (of 1 total)
  • Author
    Posts

  • DevynCJohnson
    Keymaster
    • Topics - 437
    • @devyncjohnson

    Many of you may know or have seen for yourself that the only difference between Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, and other *buntus is the software and appearance. You may have wondered "Can I just convert one *buntu to another?". Guess what, you can!

    For example, the only main differences between Ubuntu and Xubuntu is the software installed and the appearance of the system. To convert any form of Ubuntu to Xubuntu, type the command below in a terminal. (All of these commands require Root privileges)

    apt-get install xubuntu-desktop

    Then, uninstall any software that is not in an official installation of Xubuntu. For instance, when converting from Kubuntu to Xubuntu, uninstall KDE and related software (unless you wish to keep them).

    Some other conversion commands are below.

    • Ubuntu (Unity): apt-get install ubuntu-desktop
    • Kubuntu (KDE): apt-get install kubuntu-desktop
    • Xubuntu (XFCE): apt-get install xubuntu-desktop
    • Lubuntu (LXDE): apt-get install lubuntu-desktop
    • Ubuntu GNOME (GNOME3): apt-get install ubuntu-gnome-desktop
    • Ubuntu Cinnamon (Cinnamon): (This install may not work well; Cinnamon may have issues with Ubuntu; http://cinnamon-remix.sourceforge.net/) add-apt-repository ppa:lestcape/cinnamon; apt-get update; apt-get install cinnamon
    • Ubuntu Mate (Mate): http://ubuntu-mate.org/

    Basic Mate Install: apt-get install mate-desktop

    Advanced and Complete Mate Install:

    apt-get install --no-install-recommends mate-desktop-environment mate-desktop-environment-extra mate-archive-keyring caja-gksu caja-sendto mate-indicator-applet mate-media-gstreamer mate-icon-theme-faenza; apt-get remove gcalctool gnome-screenshot gedit file-roller eog gnome-system-monitor gnome-system-log baobab gnome-terminal gnome-applets gnome-media gnome-power-manager gnome-screensaver
    update-alternatives --install "$(which x-terminal-emulator)" x-terminal-emulator "$(which mate-terminal)" 30
    update-alternatives --set x-terminal-emulator "$(which mate-terminal)"

    To undo the distro conversion, reinstall the applications you may have installed and then type apt-get remove --purge *ubuntu-desktop

    Replace the "*" with the appropriate letter to uninstall the added software used to convert the system. Such software removal can be cleaned up the following way.

    apt-get autoremove --purge

    Here are some other examples. To remove KDE entirely, try this -

    apt-get remove --purge kde-plasma-desktop kde-workspace kubuntu* plymouth-theme-kubuntu-logo plymouth-theme-kubuntu-text
    apt-get autoremove --purge
    apt-get auto-clean

    Recently, I have noticed that after running "apt-get clean; apt-get update" that some packages are listed as "Autoremovable" in the Synaptic frontend for apt-get. So, you may want to run this command after purging packages.

Viewing 1 post (of 1 total)