Re: can I safelly remove gnome ?

[Jerome BENOIT <g6299304p@rezozer.net>]

Hello List:

On 14/11/11 12:08, Lorenzo Sutton wrote:
> On 14/11/11 11:19, Joao Ferreira Gmail wrote:
> > Hello all,
> >
> > I'm going to start using xfce4.
> >
> > Can I safelly "apt-get remove/purge gnome"
> >
> > Or should I expect any side impacts ?
>
> Depends on what you call 'safely' and on what you are going to remove (gnome is actually dozens of pakcages). Side effects will be all of those not-so-evidetlty-related-to-gnome packages which you might remove and which are doing important stuff on your system, for example gdm3, network manager, gedit etc. Policykit stuff probably
> > Has anyone done this before ?
>
> Yes I did it. Although I don't think just purging gnome tout-court has any motive if not experimental/learning. The best option would probably be fresh install with xfce4.
> Anyway after removing most gnome-related packages I installed xdm and slim as replacement to gdm, had to fiddle wit various low-level system files to get gui shutdown/reboot working and mount usb disks as users. I am still currently unable to manage network-manager through the nm-applet as user. Lots of information is available on-line and in other community supported channels (email, IRC), you just have to be patient enough to search for it and experiment.

concerning the wireless network connect:
with wpasupplicant running in roam mode applets are not needed:
This last week-end I migrated from Gnome 2/3 to Xfce (I wonder why),
this approach allowed a smooth migration.


> IMHO only do this if:
> - you have a backup of your important files
> - you are confident enough to work from console only (i.e. desktop environment un-bootable, possibly wifi not working so maybe better with fixed network connection)
> - are not in the middle of the most important project of your life :)
>
> Lorenzo.
> > thank you
> > Joao


hth,
Jerome
> >