Install desktop environments in Linux (Arch and arch-based distros, mainly)

[Tolkem]

I was reading an article about a new DE which is already available in Arch, Manjaro(spin) and probably other arch-based distros too, that eventually led me to this other article from the Manjaro wiki https://wiki.manjaro.org/index.php/Install_Desktop_Environments though instructions are for Manjaro mainly and likely applicable to arch and the different arch-based distros out there, I think it is possible too to adapt them, so they can be used in any non arch-based distros as well. Also, the article contains a few good tips, tricks as well as some valuable dos and don'ts about using different DEs.

 

[f33dm3bits]

That looks like a cute desktop environment! It reminds me of MacOS though

 

[captain-sensible]

cheers will have a read of that i was a long time user of slackware and always went for xfce;really my knowledge of graphics display is limited and outdated to Desktop manager & display manager/greeter on top of X system.

I had a dual boot of slackware and vanilla Arch, but recently gave Arch the whole hd space . Still finding my way around - so far so good. The approach being if it doesn't suit I do a full install of Slackware 15 when it comes out.

My choice on boot is gnome on xorg , another choice of gnome (on who knows what ?) budgie and xfce session . That article will be on my reading list

 

[Tolkem]

My choice on boot is gnome on xorg , another choice of gnome (on who knows what ?)

Actually, Gnome in Wayland behaves pretty well, and in fact, you'll get an X11 and a W session to choose from by default in GDM.

That looks like a cute desktop environment! It reminds me of MacOS though

Yeah, it does. I even feel a bit temped to download and play a bit with the Manjaro spin and maybe I do Yes, it does resemble macOS.

https://fossbytes.com/meet-cutefishos-new-manjaro-community-spin/

Design-wise, the OS resembles macOS and iPad OS a lot. Heck! Even the PulseAudio sound control app has the Apple Music logo on it, with the only difference being a gear embedded in the logo. Well, it’s in the beta unstable state, and I think it’s too early to comment on anything at this point as everything is very unpolished.

 

[captain-sensible]

Actually, Gnome in Wayland behaves pretty well, and in fact, you'll get an X11 and a W session to choose from by default in GDM.

cheers i'll look into that and see what really suits me - kde was available slackware but haven't touched gnome since i used early ubuntu some years back.

Still playing with Arch - apache php, httpd.conf, httpd-vhosts.conf /etc/hosts thats now working for html and php pages and config files backed up. Still have to test CodeIgniter4 again - intial glich earlier. and of course there are new variations http and http are the owners listed httpd.conf whereas slackware it was apache:apache then there are new quirks for me such : sudo systemctl restart httpd (or sudo systemctl restart httpd.service)

 

[KGIII]

For folks with apt, and I'm assuming this is true upstream at Debian, you can install a new DE with little pain.

Example:

sudo apt-get install lxqt openbox

Or something like:

sudo apt install ubuntu-budgie-desktop

You can even still install LXDE that way.

sudo apt install lxde

 

[captain-sensible]

for me on Arch i think its a choice between budgie and xfc

 

[Tolkem]

For folks with apt, and I'm assuming this is true upstream at Debian, you can install a new DE with little pain.

If from within a DE, which I guess is what you mean with "install a new DE" then yes, that's probably all that is needed, as most of the pkgs such as xorg and a display manager, amongst others necessary for a DE to function properly have already been installed, but I was thinking more in a situation where someone installed Debian or Ubuntu via a netinstall.iso, with not even one of those, i.e. xorg. Then these pkgs will need to be installed, and that's why I said "though instructions are for Manjaro mainly and likely applicable to arch and the different arch-based distros out there, I think it is possible too to adapt them, so they can be used in any non arch-based distros as well." Since Arch doesn't ship with any DE by default, thus users are free to decide whether they want to install one, and this is also true when installing Debian or Ubuntu using a netinstall.iso, which I've done many times, here's what I usually install for a basic xfce4 desktop:

sudo apt-get install lightdm slick-greeter xfce4 xfce4-power-manager xfce4-power-manager-plugins xfce4-taskmanager pulseaudio pavucontrol gvfs gvfs-backends light-locker lightdm-gtk-greeter-settings lxpolkit desktop-profiles catfish xfce4-whiskermenu-plugin xfce4-terminal thunar-volman thunar-media-tags-plugin thunar-archive-plugin tumbler tumbler-common tumbler-plugins-extra xfce4-places-plugin xfce4-xkb-plugin xserver-xorg xserver-xorg-core xserver-xorg-legacy