Re: Is "Debian desktop environment" identical to "GNOME" upon installation?

[Richard Owlett <rowlett@cloud85.net>]

On 05/14/2018 06:42 AM, dft wrote:
> When clean-installing Debian 9.4 from "debian-9.4.0-amd64-DVD-1.iso" using the text-based interface, the following dialog appears.
>
> | Software selection
> |
> | At the moment, only the core of the system is installed.
> | To tune the system to your needs, you can choose to install
> | one or more of the following predefined collections of software.
> |
> | [*]  Debian desktop environment
> | [ ]    GNOME
> | [ ]    Xfce
> | [ ]    KDE
> | [ ]    Cinnamon
> | [ ]    MATE
> | [ ]    LXDE
> | [ ]  web server
> | [*]  print server
> | [ ]  SSH server
> | [*]  standard system utilities
>
> After the installation was performed with "Debian desktop environment" checked and "GNOME" unchecked, I found GNOME installed.
>
> It seems that the following three combinations have exactly the same effect, but I am not sure.  Please confirm whether the following three combinations have exactly the same effect.
>
> | [*]  Debian desktop environment
> | [ ]    GNOME
>
> | [ ]  Debian desktop environment
> | [*]    GNOME
>
> | [*]  Debian desktop environment
> | [*]    GNOME
>
> Does checking "Debian desktop environment" have exactly the same effect as checking "GNOME"?

Yes.
I think the goal of the menu design was to accommodate a first time user 
who has no experiential  background to chose a specific desktop.
If you chose "Debian desktop environment" AND a specific desktop, the 
specific choice overrides.