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I've successfully installed LXDE (not LXQT) on an upgraded Ubuntu distribution that began as the Lubuntu 18.04 Alternative iso's command line option system (18.04 to 20.04 - Alternative Iso Page For Limited RAM Systems) This is my family's preference for our limited RAM machines. I've tried just about every other option, but we like this setup (customized LXDE on Ubuntu LTS). My issue is that building my light system of choice has become less than intuitive, and may include some unnecessary packages, as the current repositories seem to force quite a bit of unwanted software. For example, sudo apt install lxde or sudo install lxsession and other similar tactics install LXQT or Gnome. To install LXDE --

I had to install openbox (while avoiding gnome):

sudo apt install xserver-xorg-core
sudo apt install openbox
sudo apt install xinit

I then had to install several packages in a row:[update: 2020-11-02 - I've identified the key packages necessary for installing the old LXDE]

sudo apt install --no-install-recommends --no-install-suggests xdg-utils libnotify4
sudo apt install lxsession

At this point, LXDE properly installs and runs on a virtual machine, but I'm wondering if there's a better way to install LXDE on Ubuntu 20.04? Should I move to Debian?

-P.S. This installation method does not boot well on my AMD Phenom II X4 810, Nvidia GeForce 210 machine. The system hangs after GRUB, and eventually stops at the normal message concerning memory blocks on the system drive, but I have to type alt-F2 to enter CLI. Just a quirk I believe is worth mentioning.

Thank you, everyone.

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  • 3
    You may find this link interesting. Those all have LXDE as an option. I'm also an LXDE fan, but not because of low RAM. I've yet to decide what path I'll take from here. 18.04 has some support left.
    – KGIII
    Nov 2, 2020 at 19:22
  • 2
    Thank you, @kgiii
    – dp415
    Nov 2, 2020 at 21:21
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    My family loves LXDE, and they have rejected fluxbox. I assume that they have already learned how to configure LXDE, and they like most of the defaults, but would not like to learn how to configure/customize another desktop/window manager. More importantly, I have a temporary fix for the boot issues I mentioned as a post script comment in the original post, which is to install another 20.04 OS on the same disk.
    – dp415
    Nov 2, 2020 at 21:44
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    It sounds like many folks are assuming that LXDE is dead, but it's still getting updates, and has active developers: LXDE Github It seems like the Ubuntu repositories are not as friendly as they once were with custom x.org installations (e.g. sudo apt install xorg no longer behaves as expected). I'm just wondering if anyone has found a better way to do this on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. Also, 4K support is not an issue for me. And @OrganicMarble, I'm definitely going to play with Mate, thank you.
    – dp415
    Nov 3, 2020 at 6:03
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    Lightweight environments like OpenBox by itself (at least one Lubuntu dev prefers that), IceWM, Awesome, etc (even i3). There is\ a long list that maybe little more than window managers (not desktops) but can be used as a desktop (and are super light!). By default many are rather bare on installation as a team didn't set it up, but are highly configurable; most users already have their own configs and prefer to setup setup their own, which does detract them getting newbie users who go for per-configured standard desktops. (I'm using Lubuntu LXQt here, but I've an IceWM running nearby)
    – guiverc
    Nov 3, 2020 at 22:34

4 Answers 4

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Install LXDE on Ubuntu 20.04

Using the terminal, type the commands below:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install lxde

When installing the display manager options will appear:

gdm

lightdm

select = lightdm

sudo apt purge gdm3 gnome-shell

sudo apt autoremove

sudo apt install xorg file-roller

sudo reboot

You will get the LXDE Desktop Environment, not Lubuntu or LXQT

1

If you prefer lightweight DE, Ubuntu is not the best choice. Debian is good, except for systemd. I moved to Devuan based Star Linux with LXDE. Devuan and Star use sysvinit instead of systemd in Debian and Ubuntu. SysVinit is lighter and easier to configure. Use netinstall ISO (star-3.1.0-spock_2021.03-netinst_amd64.iso) and during installation choose LXDE. My Star LXDE system uses 159 MB RAM on boot and around 3 GB disk space. The ISO is less than 300 MB in size and can be downloaded here: https://sourceforge.net/projects/linnix/files/star-3.1.0-spock_2021.03-netinst_amd64.iso/download

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  • Please refer askubuntu.com/help/on-topic, Ubuntu and official flavors of Ubuntu (ubuntu.com/download/flavours) are on-topic on this site. The on-topic link provides alternate SE sites for non-Ubuntu OSes.
    – guiverc
    Apr 22, 2022 at 6:40
  • Dear sir, you provide useless answers. Please do not answer my questions anymore. I don't like where Ubuntu is going and so far I did not get any useful answers on this forum. Ubuntu is just like Windows 10 full of bloat and useless software. The original question has an excellent point - moving to Debian. Yes, move away from Ubuntu. With snap forced on user it becomes unacceptable and goes against FOSS and Linux principles!
    – Zen99
    Apr 22, 2022 at 6:50
  • This is a Ubuntu Q&A site (not a forum; ubuntuforums.org is the Ubuntu Forum(s) which allows greater non-Ubuntu systems than this allows). I personally love Debian, & disliked systemd when it first came out but no longer care (it's another tool for our toolbox), but you should attempt to remain within site rules. You can still use Ubuntu without snapd if you don't want it.
    – guiverc
    Apr 22, 2022 at 7:06
  • Thank you, but as I gain more experience with Linux, I moved away from all the popular distros for beginners that include all the software that an average user may or may not need. The list includes Ubuntu, Mint, PCLinuxOS, Zorin OS, etc. I find much easier to add the packages I need to a base system than removing unwanted packages after installation. Ubuntu 22.04 ISO is 3.4 GB! Star ISO is 298 MB! I prefer Debian base without systemd, so Devuan, AntiX and Star are my choices. LXDE is my only choice of desktop environment. It is a shame that it is not actively developed, because it is great.
    – Zen99
    May 2, 2022 at 6:13
  • A Ubuntu jammy or 22.04 ISO is 1.4GB which includes the live system it can be installed on; 3.4GB? If you look there are many ISOs with differing options for main Ubuntu, as well as flavors. I'm listed jammy-live-server-amd64.iso 2022-04-21 06:14 1.4G for amd64 but it's available in other formats as well as for different architectures - if you're not happy with one, use another that's closer to your needs (and not all of what's included on the manifest/ISO is actually installed depending on the options you select!)
    – guiverc
    May 2, 2022 at 6:22
0

I will show you how to install LXDE (not LXQT) on Ubuntu.

1. Update packages

sudo apt update

2. Install LXDE

sudo apt install lxde

3. Reboot the system

sudo reboot

After rebooting, please log in and run as LXDE session.

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-1

I have moved away from Ubuntu to Debian. With Debian a full LXDE install is as simple as:

sudo apt-get install task-lxde-desktop

From there just configure as normal.

3
  • How is this on-topic; please refer askubuntu.com/help/on-topic, Ubuntu and official flavors of Ubuntu (ubuntu.com/download/flavours) are on-topic on this site. The on-topic link provides alternate SE sites for non-Ubuntu OSes.
    – guiverc
    Sep 18, 2021 at 3:13
  • Installing a different OS (albeit related), isn't really an answer. Sep 18, 2021 at 3:34
  • task-lxde-desktop is not an Ubuntu package.
    – karel
    Sep 18, 2021 at 13:07

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