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I'd like to install KDE alongside Unity. I know that installing KDE just needs the following command

sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop

then log-out and log-in again, choosing the desktop-environment.

I read in other posts and articles (see footnotes and comments) that there are some little drawbacks in doing so, among which:

  1. GNOME software running in KDE with wrong themes and viceversa;
  2. conflicting config files may happen for some software;
  3. KDE default theme, icons and panels being superseded by the Unity ones and viceversa;
  4. cluttered menus with both GNOME and KDE software;
  5. performance on the new DE not being as good as it was installed alone, maybe due to more RAM consumption or more background services/daemons.

I'd like to prevent all these problems from happening as much as possible. A solution (Solution_A) may involve the following steps:

  1. create a new user "B". It only creates the following files: .bash_logout, .bashrc, .profile in the "B"'s home folder.
  2. boot in complete non-gui mode (command line), log-in as the new user and install kubuntu-desktop
  3. reboot and login with {B, KDE}.

In this way Unity does not create any config file in the "B" home folder.

Diplay Manager. Are there any related problems to Solution_A, i.e. with display managers conflicts (lightdm vs. KDM vs. ...)? At installation time Kubuntu should ask for a display manager and choosing the same shipped with Ubuntu (LightDM) should avoid any problem. Right, uh?

Software. Every time I run, say, Firefox in any of the two {user, DE}, it should run with a theme coherent with the DE it is running upon, right? If I run a GTK+ software in {B, KDE}, how can I fix the look? I read that gtk3-engines-oxygen is no more a viable solution. If I go back to {A, Unity} and run the same GTK+ software, do I need to re-fix the look? Do I need to fix the look every time I switch from {A, Unity} to {B, KDE} and viceversa?

Themes, icons. Does Solution_A solve the problems of KDE default theme, icons and panels being superseded by the Unity ones and viceversa?

Concerning possibly conflicting config files of different version of the same software, is this really a problem if one installs Kubuntu from the repository? Shouldn't any software be coherent (e.g. same Firefox or VLC versions shipped with both Ubuntu and Kubuntu)?

Privileges and permissions. How to handle file permissions if I have two accounts "A" and "B"? I want both to have the same privileges, own the same files and being in the same groups. I'd like them to be as equivalent as possible.

Menus. How to remove items from one menu or the other?

Performace. Any suggestions on how to keep performance as good as possible in the two scenarios {A, Unity} and {B, KDE}?

Anyone wishing to contribute to this comphrehensive recap with solutions to any of above steps with commands, links or other issues or whatever is welcomed. I know this is a long post with many related questions and topics, but I thought that having a comphrehensive recap may help many.

Thanks, Luca


https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/309975/why-does-installing-different-desktop-environments-break-things Is it possible to use multiple desktop environments on same system?

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