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Ubuntu 13.04 – How to Completely Uninstall / Remove the Cinnamon Desktop

richardsplanet — Wed, 08 May 2013 10:34:15 +0000

These instructions are for Ubuntu 13.04 running the Unity desktop on which Cinnamon was installed using either the Ubuntu Software Center or sudo apt-get on the command line.

The instructions may be the same for other versions of Ubuntu, but no guarantee is made.

When Cinnamon is installed in Ubuntu 13.04, it installs several packages and libraries it requires. Not all these packages and libraries are uninstalled when you uninstall Cinnamon. Several packages do not get uninstalled.

Quick Uninstall

This is not recommended because it will remove all packages normally installed with Cinnamon. This may include packages you previously installed or packages previously installed by other applications.

Note: this uninstall command assumes Cinnamon was installed on a fresh Ubuntu 13.04.

1) Open a terminal (instructions can be found here).

2) Enter the following command (it is very long and a single line):

sudo apt-get purge --auto-remove cinnamon cinnamon-common gir1.2-accountsservice-1.0 gir1.2-caribou-1.0 gir1.2-clutter-1.0 gir1.2-cogl-1.0 gir1.2-coglpango-1.0 gir1.2-gconf-2.0 gir1.2-gdesktopenums-3.0 gir1.2-gkbd-3.0 gir1.2-gnomedesktop-3.0 gir1.2-json-1.0 gir1.2-muffin-3.0 gir1.2-polkit-1.0 gir1.2-upowerglib-1.0 gir1.2-xkl-1.0 gjs libcaribou-common libcaribou0 libgjs0c libjs-jquery libmozjs185-1.0 libmuffin0 mesa-utils muffin-common

It is easiest to copy the line and paste it into the terminal (right-click on the terminal and select Paste from the popup menu).

Preferred Uninstall

The better way to uninstall it is to follow the directions on this page.

This will show you on how to uninstall only the packages that were installed when Cinnamon was installed. The instructions are generic and work for any installed package.

It involves:

identifying which packages were installed and
creating a command to uninstall only those packages

It leaves intact any packages you may have installed or that were installed by other packages instead of blindly assuming that they were installed along with Cinnamon.

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Ubuntu 13.04 – Installing the Cinnamon Desktop / Interface

richardsplanet — Wed, 08 May 2013 10:24:35 +0000

These instructions are for Ubuntu 13.04 running the Unity Desktop.

They may be the same or similar for other versions, but no guarantee is made.

Installing the Cinnamon Desktop will use up about 21.4MB of hard disk space.

Note: Cinnamon once completely locked up on me. Not sure what happened or whether it was Ubuntu, Cinnamon, or GNOME 3 at fault. I was playing around with some of the experimental stuff, though.

What is it?

Like Unity, Cinnamon is a customized version of GNOME 3.

Unlike Unity, Cinnamon tries to preserve the look and feel of the traditional desktop by having a more or less traditional Start menu (boxed in green) and does not have a HUD like interface for application, so programs have the traditional menu bar (boxed in red) at the top.

The image below shows the Start menu open, as well as an open application (Firefox):

As in Unity or the GNOME 3 Desktops, you can type the name of the application or document you want to open in the Search field (boxed in yellow).

From the Command Line

If you are comfortable with Linux and know how to use the command line and apt-get then the command is:

sudo apt-get install cinnamon

Detailed instructions for accessing a command line can be found here.

Afterwards, you need to restart your system.

From the Ubuntu Software Center

1) Tap the Windows / Super key to open the Dash panel:

Note: tapping the Windows keys means pressing it as though you intend to type it. It does not mean holding down the key (holding down the key does something else).

Ubuntu calls this the Super key

2) Type Ubuntu Software Center into the Dash query field:

3) Press Enter to launch the Ubuntu Software Center:

Note: pressing the Enter key will select the first Dash entry. If Ubuntu Software Center is not the first entry, then use the keyboard arrow keys or mouse to navigate to the appropriate icon.

If pressing Enter does not launch the Ubuntu Software Center, then click on the Ubuntu Software Center icon.

4) Type cinnamon in the Ubuntu Software Center search field:

5) Click on Cinnamon (this will highlight the selection in orange):

6) Click on Install:

7) Enter your password and click on Authenticate:

8) Restart Ubuntu by selecting Shut Down… from the System menu:

Note: it should be enough to just log out and log back in, but I have sometimes experienced things not working quite 100% until I actually restart.

9) Click on the desktop selection icon:

10) Select Cinnamon:

Note: Cinnamon 2D is not (as the name might imply) an alternative to the 3D rendered Cinnamon. It is still pretty much regular Cinnamon, but using the CPU instead of the GPU to perform 3D rendering.

What this means is that (in most cases) Cinnamon 2D will be slower and more sluggish than the regular Cinnamon desktop.

11) Login as normal:

Notice that the desktop icon in the upper right corner has changed to an open circle. Cinnamon does not (at least not yet) have any sort of identifying icon.

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Ubuntu 12.04 – Installing the Cinnamon Desktop

richardsplanet — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 16:32:12 +0000

NOTE: For Cinnamon to work, your system must provide 3D hardware acceleration. If your system does not have 3D hardware acceleration, you will only see the “traditional” GNOME desktop.

This is a limitation of GNOME 3 (on which Cinnamon is built). According to gnome.org:

GNOME Shell uses relatively primitive 3D capabilities that have been available from essentially all computing devices made in the last four or five years.

This seems to imply that the if your video card is pre-2007, there is a good chance Cinnamon (and GNOME) will not display as expected.

These instructions are for installing the Cinnamon Desktop v.1.4 on Ubuntu 12.04 running the Unity interface.

Installation instructions may be the same or similar for other version combinations or for other Linux distros, but no guarantee is made.

The latest information about the Cinnamon Desktop can be found here.

The Cinnamon Desktop is one of the desktops provided with Linux Mint.

Linux Mint is derived from Ubuntu and it is possible to install Cinnamon under Ubuntu instead of installing Linux Mint. This is the closest we come to being able to upgrade from one distro of Linux to another.

The Cinnamon desktop is similar to the traditional Windows type of desktop, with a Start menu in the lower left hand corner (the same is true of LXDE). It opens up a rather nice large panel divided in 4 parts: (1) quick launch icons (red), (2) menu categories (green) and (3) applications (blue), (4) search (yellow):

If you are changing desktops because you are totally lost / confused by Unity, I suggest reading this tutorial and giving Unity a chance.

Of course, if you really hate Unity, then Cinnamon Desktop is an alternative desktop.

Cinnamon Desktop will install 63MB of files and data to your hard disk.

Some images may be clicked for full sized versions.

What it Looks Like

The basic, straight-out-of-the-box, look of the desktop is:

Quick Instructions

If you are comfortable using a terminal entering commands then open a terminal and enter the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gwendal-lebihan-dev/cinnamon-stable
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install cinnamon

Restart your system.

Note: it may be sufficient to simply logout and log back in, but I don’t think it hurts to restart.

Detailed Instructions

If you are not comfortable opening a terminal and entering commands, or have never done so before, these step by step directions should guide you through the process:

Opening a Terminal

Press Ctrl+Alt+T to open a terminal. (Detailed instructions for opening a terminal can be found here.)

Pressing Ctrl+Alt+T means “While holding down the Ctrl and Alt keys, press the T key as though you intend to type it”. Do not press or hold down the Shift key. It does not matter if the Caps Lock key is on or off.

You should now have something that looks like this:

Adding Software Sources

Cinnamon Desktop is not part of the regular software sources used by Ubuntu, so you have to add the sources for Cinnamon.

1) Enter the following line exactly in the terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gwendal-lebihan-dev/cinnamon-stable

You can type it or cut and paste it.

To cut and paste the line into the terminal:

1) Select the line and press Ctrl+C.

2) Right-click on the terminal. This will pop up a menu. Select Paste from the menu:

Note: the traditional keyboard shortcut Ctrl+V will not work in the terminal.

It should look something like this when you are done:

2) Press the Enter key.

3) Enter your password (this is the password you use to log into Ubuntu) and press the Enter key:

Note: when you type your password, nothing will happen in the terminal. It gives no feedback as the password is typed in. This is normal.

When you are done, it will look like this:

Updating the Software Sources

Before Cinnamon can be installed it is necessary to update the software sources so Ubuntu knows where to fetch the required packages from.

1) Enter the following exactly:

sudo apt-get update

2) Press the Enter key.

3) Enter your password and press the Enter key.

Ubuntu will then spend several minutes updating your software sources. The amount of time will depend on the speed of your Internet connection.

When it is done, it should look something like this:

Installing the Cinnamon Desktop

1) Enter the following exactly:

sudo apt-get install cinnamon

2) Press the Enter key.

Some text will scroll across the screen showing exactly what is going to be installed. You will be prompted to continue with the installation:

3) Press the Enter key to proceed with installation. (You can also type y followed by Enter.) If you don’t want to install it, then press n followed by the Enter key.

Installation time will depend on your Internet connection speed (how quickly you can download the code) and computer speed (how quickly you can compile everything).

4) After installation is finished, click on the System icon in the upper right corner of the desktop and select Shut Down… from the drop down menu:

5) Click on Restart:

Selecting the Desktop

After the system has restarted, it is necessary to select the new desktop from the login screen.

It is only necessary to select the desktop the first time after installation. Ubuntu will remember your your desktop for future logins.

You can even install multiple desktops and switch between them.

1) Click the icon in the top right of the Login box:

2) Select Cinnamon:

3) Login:

Notice the icon in the upper right hand corner has changed to a blank circle. Some, not all, desktop environments will present an icon there.

If an icon is present, this provides a quick way to see which desktop environment you are logging into.

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