Is running Cinnamon on Lubuntu a good idea?

Question

I dont really want to use linux mint 14 cinnamon, but I love the interface. Is it a good idea to stick to Ubuntu and run cinnamon on it? Does it work 100% fine?

Another thing: is it a good idea to put cinnamon interface on top of Lubuntu? Is it still going to be a fast, reliable system?

Thanks a lot and sorry for the newbie question.

Solution 1

You should be able to install Cinnamon just fine in Ubuntu. You can install it with these commands.

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

After installing you need to select it at the login screen to use it.

Running Cinnamon on Lubuntu defeats the purpose of Lubuntu. The LXDE desktop enviroment is what makes Lubuntu so fast. Installing and using Cinnamon defeats that purpose as you would be using Cinnamon and not LXDE. It will work, just not be as fast as LXDE. However from my experience Cinnamon is a pretty fast environment.

Removing Cinnamon

To remove Cinnamon, first purge the Cinnamon package.

sudo apt-get purge cinnamon  

Then see these instructions on removing a PPA.

Resources:

Is it possible to use multiple desktop environments on same system?

Removing PPAs

How do I install the Cinnamon Desktop?

Solution 2

Lubuntu is Ubuntu with the LXDE desktop environment instead of GNOME/Unity.

Lubuntu also contains some different default programs, like AbiWord and Gnumeric instead of LibreOffice Writer and LibreOffice Calc, and Chromium instead of Firefox.

Whatever flavor of Ubuntu you start out with (Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, Edubuntu, Ubuntu Studio, Mythbuntu), you can always install a different desktop environment to get the interfaces and applications associated with another one. So if you started with Ubuntu and installed lubuntu-desktop , you'd get the Lubuntu interface and applications installed, and could select Lubuntu Desktop as your session type on the login screen (while still being able to use Ubuntu's regular interface and apps).

Cinnamon and MATE are two other desktop environments, originating in Linux Mint but not specific to that OS. There's no special Ubuntu derivative based on them, but you can install them in Ubuntu. The following situations are therefore basically equivalent in terms of functionality and performance:

• Installing Cinnamon (or MATE) on Ubuntu and selecting Cinnamon (or MATE) as your session type.
• Installing Cinnamon (or MATE) on a combined Ubuntu/Lubuntu system (i.e., Ubuntu with lubuntu-desktop installed or Lubuntu with ubuntu-desktop installed) and selecting Cinnamon (or MATE) as your session type.
• Installing Cinnamon (or MATE) on Lubuntu and selecting Cinnamon (or MATE) as your session type.

Whatever interfaces you start with, Cinnamon (or MATE) will run the same way when selected (barring any bugs). It should perform the same on Lubuntu as Ubuntu--no better, no worse.

If you use different apps with it--for example, if you use Chromium on Cinnamon (or MATE) instead of Firefox--then of course those applications may perform or function differently.

Cinnamon and MATE will not perform or behave the same as each other of course; they are two separate desktop environments.