Install GNOME Desktop On Ubuntu Full, Minimal, And Vanilla

Hey there, Ubuntu enthusiasts! Ever wondered how to get the latest and greatest GNOME Desktop Environment up and running on your Ubuntu system? Well, you're in the right place! Ubuntu has come a long way, switching from the classic Unity Desktop to the sleek and modern GNOME. Whether you're a seasoned Linux pro or just dipping your toes into the open-source world, this guide will walk you through everything you need to know about installing GNOME on Ubuntu. We'll cover the full installation, a minimal setup, and even how to achieve a vanilla GNOME experience. So, let's dive in and get your desktop looking and feeling fantastic!

Why GNOME on Ubuntu?

Before we jump into the how-to, let's chat about why you might want to choose GNOME for your Ubuntu system. GNOME is renowned for its user-friendly interface, its focus on simplicity and elegance, and its extensive customization options. It's a powerful and versatile desktop environment that can be tailored to fit your specific needs and preferences. The GNOME desktop environment provides a smooth, intuitive, and visually appealing experience. It emphasizes usability and offers a clean interface that doesn't overwhelm new users, while still providing the depth and customization options that experienced users crave. One of the key reasons many users prefer GNOME is its consistent design language and focus on workflow efficiency. The Activities Overview, for example, makes it incredibly easy to switch between tasks, manage windows, and launch applications. The integrated search functionality allows you to quickly find files, applications, and settings without digging through menus.

GNOME's emphasis on extensions is another major draw. Extensions allow you to add functionality and customize the desktop environment to your exact specifications. Want a different dock? There's an extension for that. Need a better way to manage your windows? There's an extension for that too. The possibilities are virtually endless. Plus, GNOME is actively developed and maintained by a large and dedicated community. This means you can expect regular updates, bug fixes, and new features. The GNOME community is also very welcoming and supportive, so you'll find plenty of resources and help if you ever get stuck. If you're coming from another desktop environment, such as Unity or even Windows or macOS, you'll find that GNOME offers a familiar yet fresh experience. It strikes a great balance between ease of use and advanced functionality, making it an excellent choice for a wide range of users. So, whether you're looking to boost your productivity, customize your desktop, or simply enjoy a modern and elegant user interface, GNOME on Ubuntu is a winning combination. Let's move on to how you can get it installed on your system!

Preparing Your System

Alright, before we get into the nitty-gritty of installation, let's make sure your system is prepped and ready to go. This step is crucial to ensure a smooth and hassle-free installation process. First things first, you'll want to update your system's package lists and upgrade any existing packages. Think of this as giving your system a good cleaning and ensuring everything is up-to-date. Open up your terminal – that trusty command-line interface – and type the following commands, one at a time:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

The sudo apt update command refreshes your package lists, ensuring you have the latest information about available software. The sudo apt upgrade command then upgrades all installed packages to their newest versions. This process might take a little while, depending on how many updates are available, so grab a cup of coffee and let it do its thing. Once the upgrade is complete, it's a good idea to reboot your system. This ensures that all the updated components are loaded correctly and that you're starting with a clean slate. Just type sudo reboot in the terminal, and your system will restart.

Now, before installing GNOME, you might want to consider your current desktop environment. If you're already running a different desktop environment, such as XFCE or KDE, you have a couple of options. You can either install GNOME alongside your existing desktop environment, or you can choose to remove the old environment. Installing GNOME alongside your current desktop environment allows you to switch between them at the login screen. This can be handy if you want to try out GNOME without committing to it fully, or if you occasionally need to use software that works better with a different environment. However, having multiple desktop environments installed can sometimes lead to conflicts or inconsistencies, so it's something to keep in mind. If you're planning to switch to GNOME permanently, it might be cleaner to remove your old desktop environment. This will free up some disk space and reduce the potential for conflicts. We'll cover how to remove a desktop environment later in this guide. For now, let's assume you're ready to install GNOME, and we'll move on to the different installation options available to you.

Installing the Full GNOME Desktop

Okay, let's get down to business and install the full GNOME Desktop Environment on your Ubuntu system. This option will give you the complete GNOME experience, with all the bells and whistles. You'll get the core GNOME desktop, along with a suite of GNOME applications, utilities, and tools. This is the way to go if you want the classic, out-of-the-box GNOME experience, similar to what you'd find on a fresh installation of Ubuntu GNOME. To install the full GNOME desktop, you'll need to use the apt package manager, which is Ubuntu's go-to tool for installing software. Open up your terminal, and type the following command:

sudo apt install ubuntu-gnome-desktop

This command tells apt to install the ubuntu-gnome-desktop package, which is a meta-package that pulls in all the necessary components for the full GNOME experience. You'll be prompted to enter your password, as sudo requires administrative privileges. Once you've entered your password, apt will start downloading and installing the required packages. This process can take a while, depending on your internet connection speed and the speed of your system. You'll see a lot of text scrolling by in the terminal as packages are downloaded and installed. Don't worry, this is perfectly normal! Just let the process run its course. During the installation, you might be prompted to choose a display manager. A display manager is the program that handles the graphical login screen. Ubuntu uses GDM3 (GNOME Display Manager) by default, which is a good choice if you're installing the full GNOME desktop. If you're prompted, select GDM3 and press Enter.

Once the installation is complete, you'll need to reboot your system to apply the changes. Type sudo reboot in the terminal, and your system will restart. When your system comes back up, you should see the GNOME login screen. If you had another desktop environment installed previously, you might need to select GNOME from the session menu (usually a gear icon) before logging in. Log in with your usual username and password, and you should be greeted by the beautiful GNOME desktop! Congratulations, you've successfully installed the full GNOME experience on your Ubuntu system. Now, let's explore some other installation options, such as the minimal installation.

Installing the Minimal GNOME Desktop

Maybe you're not looking for the full GNOME experience. Perhaps you prefer a leaner, more streamlined setup, or you want to build your desktop environment from the ground up. In that case, the minimal GNOME installation is the perfect choice for you. A minimal GNOME installation gives you the core GNOME desktop components, without all the extra applications and utilities that come with the full installation. This is ideal for users who want a clean base to start from and prefer to install only the applications they need. It's also a great option for systems with limited resources, as it consumes less disk space and memory. To install the minimal GNOME desktop, you'll use a slightly different package name than the full installation. Open up your terminal, and type the following command:

sudo apt install gnome-session

This command tells apt to install the gnome-session package, which provides the core GNOME session management and desktop environment. It will install the essential components needed to run GNOME, but it won't include the additional applications and utilities that come with the ubuntu-gnome-desktop package. Just like with the full installation, you'll be prompted to enter your password. Once you've done that, apt will start downloading and installing the packages. The minimal installation is typically much faster than the full installation, as it involves fewer packages. You might still be prompted to choose a display manager during the installation. Again, GDM3 is a good choice for GNOME, so select it if prompted.

After the installation is complete, reboot your system using the sudo reboot command. When your system restarts, you should see the GNOME login screen. Log in, and you'll be greeted by a minimal GNOME desktop. You'll notice that it looks quite different from the full GNOME installation. There won't be as many applications pre-installed, and the desktop might feel a bit bare. But that's the beauty of the minimal installation! It gives you a clean slate to work with, allowing you to customize your desktop exactly the way you want it. From here, you can install the specific applications you need, choose your favorite themes and extensions, and create a desktop environment that's perfectly tailored to your workflow. Now that we've covered the full and minimal GNOME installations, let's take a look at another option: installing a vanilla GNOME experience.

Installing Vanilla GNOME

For the purists out there, nothing beats a vanilla GNOME experience. Vanilla GNOME refers to the GNOME desktop environment in its purest form, without any customizations or modifications applied by the distribution maintainers. It's the way GNOME is intended to be used by its developers, and it offers a clean, consistent, and up-to-date experience. If you're someone who values the original GNOME vision and wants to avoid any distribution-specific tweaks, installing vanilla GNOME is the way to go. Achieving a true vanilla GNOME experience on Ubuntu requires a bit more effort than the full or minimal installations. Ubuntu, like many other distributions, applies some customizations to GNOME to better integrate it with the system and provide a more cohesive user experience. To get vanilla GNOME, we need to install the necessary packages and then remove or disable any conflicting packages or settings. First, let's install the core GNOME packages. Open your terminal, and type the following command:

sudo apt install gnome-session gnome-shell

This command installs the gnome-session package, which we used for the minimal installation, and the gnome-shell package, which is the core user interface of GNOME. This will give you the basic GNOME desktop environment. After you enter your password, apt will download and install the packages. Once the installation is complete, we need to remove any Ubuntu-specific GNOME packages that might interfere with the vanilla experience. One such package is ubuntu-desktop, which is a meta-package that pulls in the default Ubuntu desktop environment. Removing this package will help ensure that we're using the vanilla GNOME components. Use the following command:

sudo apt remove ubuntu-desktop

Be careful when removing meta-packages like ubuntu-desktop, as it can potentially remove other packages that you might need. apt will usually warn you about any dependencies that will be removed, so pay attention to the output and make sure you're not removing anything critical. After removing the Ubuntu-specific packages, you might also want to disable any Ubuntu-specific GNOME extensions that are enabled by default. GNOME extensions can add functionality and customize the desktop environment, but they can also deviate from the vanilla GNOME experience. You can disable extensions using the GNOME Tweaks tool, which can be installed with the following command:

sudo apt install gnome-tweaks

Once installed, open GNOME Tweaks, go to the