How to revert to GNOME Classic?

Question

I'm used to GNOME Classic and personally don't want to change to anything else, but it seems there is no more GNOME Classic in the Oneiric release. After apt-get installed gnome-session and all, though there comes back the GNOME Classic option in the session listbox, however, after logged in, it seems not the expected one, see the screenshot:

There is no System menu in the top bar, and I couldn't customize panels at all. I want to change the appearance(theme), but I can't find Appearance menu at all. And much more differences to my previous experience of GNOME classic shell.

BTW, It also reports "gconf-sanity-check error" at the start.

Answer 1

For 11.10 and above

The older GNOME 2.x experience has been retired in GNOME, however you can use the GNOME 3.x classic mode to make an approximation of the older experience.

install prerequisites

In the software center you have the option to install Gnome Shell

Similarly - search for CompizConfig Settings Manager and install this package - we'll need that later.

Whilst you are there you can also install "Gnome Tweak Tool" to further customise your desktop.

enabling compiz

Now perhaps the tricky part - getting gnome classic to function with compiz:

In a terminal copy and paste the following:

gksudo gedit /usr/share/gnome-session/sessions/gnome-classic.session

Now edit the file shown to contain this line entry:

How to login to Gnome-Classic

Save, logout and in your session options choose Gnome Classic

Changing the theme

You'll notice that the default Ubuntu Ambiance theme doesn't look great in Gnome Classic. We can correct this by changing to a Gnome 3 friendly theme.

for 11.10 (oneiric)

for 12.04 (Precise)

for both

... and choosing Appearance

Change the theme to Adwaita...

Note - see the linked questions below for other theming options.

Changing Icons

Launch gnome-tweak-tool via the menu option:

• For 12.04 (Precise): Applications --> System Tools --> Preferences --> Advanced Settings
• For 11.10 (Oneiric): Applications --> Other --> Advanced Settings

Change the icon theme as shown:

Restructure the desktop layout

Now lets get back the panels to something that we are familiar with...

Press Win+Alt and right-click the top menu bar - N.B. Win is the Windows Symbol key

(If you are using Gnome Classic (No Effects) i.e. gnome fallback mode then to add to the panel use Alt and right-click)

Choose Add to Panel

Click the option shown and click the button Forward

Repeat the Win+Alt + Right Click the date and choose Delete to delete the clock.

Repeat this delete procedure for the other applets on the top-panel.

Note - if an error appears indicating that the Panel has reloaded you can safely ignore this.

Repeat the Win+Alt + Right Click the top panel - add the applet Accessibility.

Repeat the Win+Alt + Right Click on bottom panel - add the applet Show Desktop and move to the bottom left.

Repeat the Win+Alt + Right Click on bottom panel - add the applet Wastebasket and move to the bottom right.

Now we need to change the number of workspaces back to two.

Navigate to Applications - Other - CompizConfig Settings Manager - General Options - Desktop Size and change the Vertical Virtual Size value to 1

Install the indicator-applet

Now lets install the indicator-applet:

• For 11.10 - see this linked question to add a PPA containing the indicator-applet
• For 12.04 (Precise), you need to install the package indicator-applet-complete

To add to the panel:

Win+Alt+Right click the panel and choose Add To Panel and add the following indicator

Finish off by Win+Alt+Right click the indicator-applet and move it to the right side of the top panel.

Final Result...

Optional:

• You can install fonts-cantarell if you want to use the default upstream GNOME font

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Linked Questions:

1. Delete extra toolbar on top of the screen in GNOME fallback mode?
2. How do I revert Alt-tab behavior changed in 11.10?
3. How do I change the theme?
4. If you use autologin you need to do this: How do I set the GNOME Classic login to be the default with autologin?
5. GNOME 3.2 in 11.10 blog post from one of the maintainers
6. How to re-add indicator-applet for 11.10
7. How to customize the gnome classic panel
8. Warning: What are some of the issues with ccsm and why should I not use it?

Answer 2

For 11.04

1. Log in with the classic GNOME session by selecting your username and then selecting Ubuntu Classic:

   

From then on GDM will remember your setting. To permanently make the Classic Session be the default, run the Login Settings tool and select the classic desktop:

Answer 3

Fixing the look of the panel in 11.10

As far as just the look of the panel goes, see my answer to How to customize the gnome classic panel for how to get back quite close to the original look. This is accomplished by, amongst other things, reducing the top panel's height and its icon sizes.

GNOME Classic:

With fixes:

Answer 4

For 11.04 Ubuntu Classic

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I don't know why, but 'Ubuntu Classic Desktop' session disable any Compiz effects for me

So in order to get my personal "Classic" version (with Compiz) I've done the following

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How to disable Unity and start gnome-panel at each login:

• start a 'Ubuntu' session (with Unity)

• open a terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T)

• install ccsm

  sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager

• start ccsm

  ccsm

• disable Unity plugin

  

• start Startup Applications Preferences

  gnome-session-properties

• add a gnome-panel entry

  

• log out and log in

  gnome-session-save --kill

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Note 1: If you have a nvidia card and run some trouble starting Unity, you may want to

• install Additional Drivers NVIDIA accelerated driver (version 173)

• and force Unity start

  sudo sh -c "echo 'UNITY_FORCE_START=1' >> /etc/environment"

Note 2: If you want to restore default Unity settings run

unity --reset

Answer 5

There is another option. A small group of folks are working on a fork of Gnome 2 called Mate (pronounced MAH-tay, I think; could be wrong on the accent, but I'm reasonably certain it's meant to be two syllables). Its future is still uncertain, but the Linux Mint folks liked it enough to make it an option in their newest release. If you're willing to work outside the Ubuntu repositories, it's pretty easy to install. From the wiki:

Ubuntu Oneiric Ocelot:

Add the repo to /etc/apt/sources.list via the following command:

sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://tridex.net/repo/ubuntu oneiric main"

or using a text editor of your choice add the following line to /etc/apt/sources.list:

deb http://tridex.net/repo/ubuntu oneiric main

To install MATE:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install mate-archive-keyring
sudo apt-get install mate-core

Then simply log out and MATE should be a desktop option.

I tested it on Oneiric 32-bit, and it installs fine. Takes 310MB of storage, according to apt-get. Didn't require any packages to be removed or updated, so it should play well with others. Note that it's still a young project, though, so bugs and quirks are likely.

There's no Ubuntu branding/theming by default, but it takes the built-in themes (like Ambiance) reasonably well. And it includes the much-missed (for me, anyway) System menu!