These instructions are for Ubuntu 12.04 running the Unity desktop on which the Lubuntu Core Desktop 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 the Xubuntu Core Desktop is installed in Ubuntu 12.04, it installs several packages and libraries it requires as well as some optional packages. Not all these packages and libraries are uninstalled when you uninstall Xubuntu Core Desktop. Several packages (like thunar) do not get uninstalled.

Quick Uninstall

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 remove --auto-remove --purge desktop-base exo-utils fonts-droid gtk2-engines-xfce libexo-1-0 libexo-common libexo-helpers libgarcon-1-0 libgarcon-common libglade2-0 libjpeg-progs libjpeg-turbo-progs libkeybinder0 libthunarx-2-0 libtumbler-1-0 liburi-perl libxfce4ui-1-0 libxfce4util-bin libxfce4util-common libxfce4util4 libxfconf-0-2 lightdm-gtk-greeter miscfiles orage plymouth-theme-xubuntu-logo plymouth-theme-xubuntu-text shimmer-themes tango-icon-theme thunar thunar-data thunar-volman ttf-droid tumbler tumbler-common xfce-keyboard-shortcuts xfce4 xfce4-appfinder xfce4-mixer xfce4-notifyd xfce4-panel xfce4-session xfce4-settings xfce4-utils xfce4-volumed xfconf xfdesktop4 xfdesktop4-data xfwm4 xscreensaver xscreensaver-data xubuntu-artwork xubuntu-default-settings xubuntu-icon-theme xubuntu-wallpapers

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 Xubuntu Core Desktop was installed. The instructions are generic and work for any installed package.

It involves:

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

It leaves intact any packages you may have installed (like thunar) or that were installed as dependencies for other programs instead of blindly assuming that they were installed along with Xubuntu Core Desktop.

The post Ubuntu 12.04 – How to Completely Remove / Uninstall Xubuntu Core Desktop appeared first on Complete, Concrete, Concise.

These instructions are for Ubuntu 12.04 running the Unity desktop on which the Xubuntu Desktop 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 the Xubuntu Desktop is installed in Ubuntu 12.04, it installs several packages and libraries it requires as well as some optional packages. Not all these packages and libraries are uninstalled when you uninstall Xubuntu Desktop. Several packages (like abiword and thunar) do not get uninstalled.

Quick Uninstall

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 abiword abiword-common abiword-plugin-grammar abiword-plugin-mathview alacarte  bison blueman brltty-x11 catfish exo-utils flex fonts-droid gigolo gimp  gimp-data gmusicbrowser gnome-system-tools gnome-time-admin gnumeric  gnumeric-common gnumeric-doc gstreamer0.10-gnomevfs gthumb gthumb-data  gtk2-engines-pixbuf indicator-application-gtk2 indicator-messages-gtk2  indicator-sound-gtk2 indicator-status-provider-pidgin leafpad libabiword-2.9  libao-common libao4 libaudio-scrobbler-perl libbabl-0.0-0 libbison-dev  libconfig-inifiles-perl libdigest-crc-perl libencode-locale-perl libept1.4.12  libexo-1-0 libexo-common libexo-helpers libfile-listing-perl libfl-dev  libfont-afm-perl libgarcon-1-0 libgarcon-common libgdome2-0  libgdome2-cpp-smart0c2a libgegl-0.0-0 libgimp2.0 libglade2-0 libgnomevfs2-extra  libgoffice-0.8-8 libgoffice-0.8-8-common libgsf-1-114 libgsf-1-common  libgstreamer-perl libgtk2-notify-perl libgtk2-trayicon-perl libgtkmathview0c2a  libhtml-form-perl libhtml-format-perl libhtml-parser-perl libhtml-tagset-perl  libhtml-tree-perl libhttp-cookies-perl libhttp-daemon-perl libhttp-date-perl  libhttp-message-perl libhttp-negotiate-perl libid3tag0 libido-0.1-0 libilmbase6  libio-socket-inet6-perl libio-socket-ssl-perl libjpeg-progs libjpeg-turbo-progs  libkeybinder0 liblink-grammar4 libloudmouth1-0 liblwp-mediatypes-perl  liblwp-protocol-https-perl libmailtools-perl libnet-dbus-perl libnet-http-perl  libnet-ssleay-perl liboobs-1-5 libopenexr6 libotr2 libots0 libsexy2  libsocket6-perl libtagc0 libthunarx-2-0 libtidy-0.99-0 libtie-ixhash-perl  libtimedate-perl libtumbler-1-0 liburi-perl libwv-1.2-4 libwww-perl  libwww-robotrules-perl libxfce4ui-1-0 libxfce4util-bin libxfce4util-common  libxfce4util4 libxfcegui4-4 libxfconf-0-2 libxml-parser-perl libxml-twig-perl  libxml-xpath-perl libxss1 lightdm-gtk-greeter link-grammar-dictionaries-en m4  mpg321 orage parole pastebinit pavucontrol pidgin pidgin-data pidgin-libnotify  pidgin-microblog pidgin-otr plymouth-theme-xubuntu-logo  plymouth-theme-xubuntu-text python-configobj python-glade2 python-gmenu  ristretto screensaver-default-images shimmer-themes synaptic  system-tools-backends tcl8.5 thunar thunar-archive-plugin thunar-data  thunar-media-tags-plugin thunar-volman ttf-droid ttf-lyx tumbler tumbler-common  xchat xchat-common xfburn xfce-keyboard-shortcuts xfce4-appfinder  xfce4-cpugraph-plugin xfce4-datetime-plugin xfce4-dict xfce4-indicator-plugin  xfce4-mailwatch-plugin xfce4-netload-plugin xfce4-notes xfce4-notes-plugin  xfce4-notifyd xfce4-panel xfce4-places-plugin xfce4-power-manager  xfce4-power-manager-data xfce4-quicklauncher-plugin xfce4-screenshooter  xfce4-session xfce4-settings xfce4-systemload-plugin xfce4-taskmanager  xfce4-terminal xfce4-utils xfce4-verve-plugin xfce4-volumed xfce4-weather-plugin  xfce4-xkb-plugin xfconf xfdesktop4 xfdesktop4-data xfwm4 xscreensaver  xscreensaver-data xscreensaver-gl xubuntu-artwork xubuntu-default-settings  xubuntu-desktop xubuntu-docs xubuntu-icon-theme xubuntu-wallpapers

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 Xubuntu Desktop was installed. The instructions are generic and work for any installed package.

It involves:

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

It leaves intact any packages you may have installed (like abiword or thunar) or that were installed as necessary parts of other packages instead of blindly assuming that they were installed along with Xubuntu Desktop.

The post Ubuntu 12.04 – How to Completely Uninstall / Remove Xubuntu Desktop appeared first on Complete, Concrete, Concise.

These instructions are for Ubuntu 11.10 on which the Xubuntu Desktop 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, but no guarantee is made.

When the Xubuntu Desktop is installed in Ubuntu 11.10, it installs several additional packages and libraries. Not all these packages and libraries are uninstalled when you uninstall the Xubuntu Desktop – several packages (like Abiword) do not get uninstalled.

Quick Uninstall

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 remove --auto-remove abiword abiword-common abiword-plugin-grammar abiword-plugin-mathview bison blueman brltty-x11 catfish elementary-icon-theme exo-utils flex gigolo gimp gimp-data gmusicbrowser gnome-icon-theme-full gnome-system-tools gnome-time-admin gnumeric gnumeric-common gnumeric-doc gstreamer0.10-gnomevfs gthumb gthumb-data gtk2-engines-pixbuf gtk2-engines-xfce indicator-application-gtk2 indicator-messages-gtk2 indicator-sound-gtk2 indicator-status-provider-pidgin leafpad libabiword-2.8 libaiksaurus-1.2-0c2a libaiksaurus-1.2-data libaiksaurusgtk-1.2-0c2a libao-common libao4 libaudio-scrobbler-perl libbabl-0.0-0 libclutter-1.0-0 libclutter-1.0-common libclutter-gtk-1.0-0 libcogl-common libcogl5 libconfig-inifiles-perl libencode-locale-perl libept1 libexo-1-0 libexo-common libexo-helpers libfile-listing-perl libfont-afm-perl libgarcon-1-0 libgarcon-common libgdome2-0 libgdome2-cpp-smart0c2a libgegl-0.0-0 libgimp2.0 libglade2-0 libgnomevfs2-extra libgoffice-0.8-8 libgoffice-0.8-8-common libgsf-1-114 libgsf-1-common libgstreamer-perl libgtk2-notify-perl libgtk2-trayicon-perl libgtkmathview0c2a libhtml-form-perl libhtml-format-perl libhtml-parser-perl libhtml-tagset-perl libhtml-tree-perl libhttp-cookies-perl libhttp-daemon-perl libhttp-date-perl libhttp-message-perl libhttp-negotiate-perl libido-0.1-0 libilmbase6 libio-socket-ssl-perl libjpeg-progs libkeybinder0 liblink-grammar4 libloudmouth1-0 liblwp-mediatypes-perl liblwp-protocol-https-perl libmailtools-perl libnet-dbus-perl libnet-http-perl libnet-ssleay-perl liboobs-1-5 libopenexr6 libotr2 libots0 libpolkit-gtk-1-0 libsexy2 libtagc0 libthunarx-2-0 libtie-ixhash-perl libtimedate-perl libtumbler-1-0 liburi-perl libwv-1.2-3 libwww-perl libwww-robotrules-perl libxfce4ui-1-0 libxfce4util-bin libxfce4util-common libxfce4util4 libxfcegui4-4 libxfconf-0-2 libxml-parser-perl libxml-twig-perl libxml-xpath-perl libxss1 lightdm-gtk-greeter link-grammar-dictionaries-en m4 mpg321 murrine-themes orage parole pastebinit pidgin pidgin-data pidgin-libnotify pidgin-microblog pidgin-otr plymouth-theme-xubuntu-logo plymouth-theme-xubuntu-text python-configobj python-glade2 quadrapassel ristretto screensaver-default-images synaptic system-tools-backends tango-icon-theme tango-icon-theme-common tcl8.5 thunar thunar-archive-plugin thunar-data thunar-media-tags-plugin thunar-volman ttf-droid ttf-lyx tumbler tumbler-common xchat xchat-common xfburn xfce-keyboard-shortcuts xfce4-appfinder xfce4-cpugraph-plugin xfce4-dict xfce4-fsguard-plugin xfce4-indicator-plugin xfce4-mailwatch-plugin xfce4-mixer xfce4-mount-plugin xfce4-netload-plugin xfce4-notes xfce4-notes-plugin xfce4-notifyd xfce4-panel xfce4-places-plugin xfce4-power-manager xfce4-power-manager-data xfce4-quicklauncher-plugin xfce4-screenshooter xfce4-session xfce4-settings xfce4-smartbookmark-plugin xfce4-systemload-plugin xfce4-taskmanager xfce4-terminal xfce4-utils xfce4-verve-plugin xfce4-volumed xfce4-weather-plugin xfconf xfdesktop4 xfdesktop4-data xfwm4 xfwm4-themes xscreensaver xscreensaver-data xscreensaver-gl xubuntu-artwork xubuntu-default-settings xubuntu-desktop xubuntu-docs xubuntu-icon-theme xubuntu-wallpapers

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 allow you to uninstall only the packages that were installed when Xubuntu Desktop was installed. The instructions are generic and work for any installed package.

This involves (1) identifying which packages were installed and (2) creating a command to uninstall only those packages.

This leaves intact any packages you may have installed (like Abiword) instead of blindly assuming that they were installed as part of Xubuntu Desktop.

The post Ubuntu 11.10 – How to Completely Uninstall / Remove the Xubuntu Desktop appeared first on Complete, Concrete, Concise.

After a while, you start to see how similar they all are. In fact, they are just custom tailored versions of Ubuntu (which itself is a custom version of Debian). They come with a customized GUI, have their own look and feel (and pretty background picture), but ultimately rely on the Ubuntu Software Center and Software Updates to keep running. One I tried out, Elementary OS, even prompted me to upgrade to Ubuntu 11.04.

Two days ago, Linux Mint, released version 12 of its OS. I thought that was a bad idea. Not because I think there is anything wrong with Linux Mint – it’s a fine distro, just like many other Linux distros.

I thought it was a bad idea because the average person isn’t interested in installing a particular Linux distribution. They are interested in installing an Operating System (OS), applications and using that combination to do work. If they already have a Linux distro installed, then then they aren’t interested in replacing it, but upgrading it.

This is why Ubuntu was nice. When a new version came along, you could upgrade to it and keep all your data and applications.

When a new Linux distro comes out, you don’t have the option of upgrading, you have to delete your old installation (along with applications and data), install the new Linux distro, reinstall all the applications you were using and, finally, restore all your data. whew! That is way too much work for the average user.

When Ubuntu 11.10 came out, a lot of people were unhappy that Unity was the default interface (sure, you can change it, I even wrote instructions for it here). It was not possible to roll back the upgrade. This has caused Ubuntu to drop in popularity and other distros (like Linux Mint) to rise in popularity. Unfortunately, if Ubuntu is your main work computer, it has YOUR apps installed, it has YOUR data, it is configured to work the way YOU like it, why in the world would you want to destroy all that just so you can install a different Linux distro? It doesn’t make sense.

A better option, and one I haven’t seen exploited, would be to provide “upgrades” from one distro to another. If you are unhappy with Ubuntu 11.10 and Unity, then why not be able to “upgrade” to Linux Mint 12?

The reason is simple, each distro reflects a different approach or philosophy. Some focus on being lean, others focus on being cutting edge, others focus on being “pure” (in the sense of no proprietary software). Being able to install a “lean” distro over one considered “bloated” would kind of negate the reason for the lean distro to exist.

It could be argued that what I’m really going on about is just installing a new Window Manager or desktop (like GNOME or KDE or LXDE or XFCE) – which is pretty much true. Most users don’t care what’s under the hood, they care about how they interact with it – the look and feel.

Is Linux Mint interested in releasing a Linux Mint Desktop package for Ubuntu? Or Elementary OS in releasing an Elementary OS Desktop for Ubuntu? Or any other Ubuntu derivative interested in releasing their desktop to run on Ubuntu? Probably not – why would they want to position themselves as nothing more than an add-on to Ubuntu? The only Ubuntu derivative desktops you can install on Ubuntu are Edubuntu, Kubuntu, Lubuntu, and Xubuntu (which are all official Ubuntu derivatives).

The post Why aren't there Linux Upgrades? appeared first on Complete, Concrete, Concise.