How to I change from Ubuntu to Xubuntu?

Question

I've read this Q&A and I'm ready to try it with Xubuntu. That is, I'll go from Ubuntu to Xubuntu.

At this moment, my laptop is slow, even after the various optimizations. My question is whether this is the correct way to proceed.

sudo apt-get upgrade           # upgrade all existing packages to newest version
sudo do-release-upgrade        # upgrade system (takes some hours)   

sudo apt-get xubuntu-desktop   # switch to Gnome on login

Remove the ubuntu-desktop package (Which command should I use?)

Solution

Sort of, there's a typo (you need install in your installation line). You also don't need to remove ubuntu-desktop and I certainly wouldn't do this until you're happy with what you've got. Here's what I would do:

1. Install Xubuntu task

   sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop^
   

2. Log out, log back in, selecting Xubuntu/Xfce as my interface

3. Chill out for a few days. See that things still work. There will be too many applications (eg there will be both GNOME's and Xfce's default applications available but you want to make sure you'll have everything you need when you remove GNOME/Unity/Whatever.

4. Clean up.

   sudo apt-get remove ubuntu-desktop
   sudo apt-get autoremove # removes dependencies of ubuntu-desktop
   

---

Note: we need to install Xubuntu task (xubuntu-desktop^) to avoid bug 1754872 with meta-package.

Comments

[Admin]

Do I need to change my software sources to Xubuntu 13?

[Arto Bendiken]

A tutorial that worked for me with 14.04.2: sites.google.com/site/easylinuxtipsproject/alternative

[GUI Junkie]

I did give it a try, but will revert to ubuntu. It's not so much faster than ubuntu.

[Stann]

speed? you're not doing it right. Install xubuntu from scratch and disable extra services. It'll be faster. even better - get minimal ubuntu cd and install xfce. ther is really not much more in xubuntu. ohh - you'll get it faster.

[nkvnkv]

Wish i could kiss you, hate how resource hungry unity and ubuntu-desktop have become

[Peter Ford]

A few days ago I was on my Ubuntu (15.10) and tried "sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop", but next time I logged in, I did NOT have a choice of interface. It just took me in to a slightly faulty version of Unity. Perhaps this is because I hadn't MERELY logged out; I had actually rebooted (because some security updates had arrived at the same time). I later read a page that explicity says "don't shut down": sites.google.com/site/easylinuxtipsproject/alternative To even get to try Xfce I ended up seemingly needing to remove Unity altogether (as per the "Cleanup") section of that page

[Jonathan E. Landrum]

+1 for "Chill out for a few days". Seriously, don't do anything rash. You wouldn't want an unstable machine just because something in your current desktop manager irks you.

[phil294]

so I removed ubuntu-desktop, but ubuntu-session is still in existance (it's possible to choose it from lightdm and half-way still IS ubuntus interface). The exec of that session is gnome-session --session=ubuntu. Any idea how I can effectively REMOVE ubuntu desktop?

[phil294]

nevermind, you have to remove unity as well (& unity-greeter)

[Gabriel Staples]

Here's another useful answer with some more details, and pictures: askubuntu.com/a/64242/327339

[Ufos]

Will there be any conflicts if I do not perform the clean-up? IMO, it's better to keep the original utilities along xubuntu (a lot of them would be also installed if you'd do a "clean" xubuntu installation).

[Wildcard]

Does this answer need any updating now that GNOME is Ubuntu's default?

[fdk1342]

Don't install xubuntu-dekstop but xubuntu-desktop^. You'll thank your self later when you don't install an extra 110 packages that in my experience mess up the installation.