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removing gnome and installa kde in etch

Hi, i´m really newbie in Etch, so last night I installed it but by default Gnome is my desktop, can i have the option to choose between gnome and kde for example? is there a kind of switchdesk?

To uninstall gnome do i have to log in console mode?

is there a way to init the session in a console mode and the use startx?

Thanks for all

Quote:

Originally Posted by htamayo

Hi, i´m really newbie in Etch, so last night I installed it but by default Gnome is my desktop, can i have the option to choose between gnome and kde for example? is there a kind of switchdesk?

Usually you do this at the login manager, gdm. There should be a button that says "Session" and you can pick KDE if it's there. If it is not there, you can open a terminal (command prompt), su to root and then type aptitude install kde (or kdebase if you want kde without all the extras).

Quote:

To uninstall gnome do i have to log in console mode?

To uninstall gnome after you install KDE, just login to a KDE session instead of gnome. Then open a terminal, su to root and type aptitude purge gnome-core. If you want to uninstall it before you install kde, you can go to a console (CTRL+Alt+F1) and then su to root and type aptitude purge gnome-core.

Quote:

is there a way to init the session in a console mode and the use startx?

Yes, but I don't recall how. I think you basically need to edit the init scripts so that gdm is not started by default. I typically use sysv-rc-conf (aptitude install sysv-rc-conf as root) to edit the init scripts.

Quote:

Originally Posted by htamayo

is there a way to init the session in a console mode and the use startx?

Check out the man page for telinit.

Quote:

is there a way to init the session in a console mode and the use startx?

permanently:
remove gdm, xdm, kdm
aptitude purge ...

for one occasion, customize runlevel 3 to remove gdm xdm kdm:
cd /etc/rc3.d/
rm *gdm* *kdm* *xdm*

and then at grub, append 3 at the end of line
and press b to boot

You will arrive in runlevel 3

Runlevel 2 is the default, you shouldn't play with it.

edit:
actually the clean way would be to use update-rc.d but I don't really know how to use it and I never understand really how to do what I want with it

you can install KDE instead of Gnome by default, purportedly. I will try this when I next do a fresh install, but I'm hoping that won't be for a while.

http://d-i.alioth.debian.org/manual/...6/ch06s03.html

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chapter 6. Using the Debian Installer

It is possible to get the installer to install KDE by ... adding tasks="standard, kde-desktop" at the boot prompt when starting the installer. However, this will only work if the packages needed for KDE are actually available. If you are installing using a full CD image, they will need to be downloaded from a mirror as KDE packages are not included on the first full CD; installing KDE this way should work fine if you are using a DVD image or any other installation method.

Here's an article that covers a few more options for the Debian-Installer.

I am not suggesting anyone reinstall Debian instead of just using Apt to get rid of Gnome mind, but if you want KDE and are about to install Debian, that's the way. Actually, that's the way for a netinstall - there are now alternate, non-Gnome CD-1's in the weekly and daily ISO builds for Etch, debian-testing-i386-kde-CD-1.iso and debian-testing-i386-xfce-CD-1.iso (obviously they are named slightly differently for other arches). So if you want KDE or Xfce by default, grab those.