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Now that Ubuntu GNOME is an official flavor, I'd like to switch my Ubuntu/Xubuntu/Kubuntu system to that. I came across an old answer that suggested the following:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gnome3-team/gnome3
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gnome-shell

However, this is back when Ubuntu GNOME wasn't an official release. Has the method changed to one without having to add third-party PPAs? Perhaps something to the tune of sudo apt-get install ubuntu-gnome?

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  • sudo apt-get install ubuntu-gnome-desktop and eventually sudo apt-get install ubuntu-gnome-default-settings ubuntu-gnome-wallpapers
    – ridgy
    Dec 13, 2016 at 11:35
  • @ridgy E: Unable to locate package ubuntu-gnome-desktop
    – aalaap
    Dec 13, 2016 at 11:42
  • @ridgy Just noticed that my apt-get update is failing too. BTW, you should post that as an answer!
    – aalaap
    Dec 13, 2016 at 11:48
  • ubuntu-gnome-desktop is a metapackage and, according to apt-cache: Section: universe/metapackages, be in universe. I'm talking about Xenial here; don't know about older versions.
    – ridgy
    Dec 13, 2016 at 11:55
  • @ridgy I let it update and re-ran the command. It's now working. You can add your comments as an answer and I will accept it.
    – aalaap
    Dec 13, 2016 at 11:59

1 Answer 1

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Although I have read in your comments that you are already satisfied - the only real solution for your explicit question "How do I install the official Ubuntu GNOME distribution over an existing Ubuntu?" is that you have to perform a clean installation of Ubuntu GNOME, because this is the only way to get the official distribution.

Adding a "3rd party repository" and installing the GNOME desktop just adds another desktop environment to those ones you already have installed - not less, not more. So, to replace your current edition with Ubuntu GNOME you need to download the ISO file, create an installation media and install it to your disk. Here you find all available ISO files : Ubuntu GNOME releases

You can get close to Ubuntu GNOME by installing the meta-package ubuntu-gnome-desktop, which includes everything installed by Ubuntu GNOME and then uninstall your current desktop environment, but well, that is quite a lot of work where many things might go wrong ... again, this answers the original question how to install the official Ubuntu GNOME distribution.

Update and some clarification - because now the question was changed to how do I convert ...
It seems to be a matter of wording, so : you can not convert one distribution to another, but you can add and remove desktop environments to an existing distribution.

Conclusion : It is up to you to decide - if you want to just use the GNOME DE, you can install it, if you want to have the official Ubuntu GNOME distribution, you have to install Ubuntu GNOME.

Please bear in mind that working with different desktop environments needs some advanced knowledge how to fix possible issues such as that one you described in your other question. :)

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  • What I meant to ask was how to "convert" one official Ubuntu distribution to the official Ubuntu GNOME.
    – aalaap
    Dec 13, 2016 at 16:04
  • 3
    @aalaap : You can not convert one distribution to another - you indeed have to install Ubuntu GNOME. :)
    – cl-netbox
    Dec 13, 2016 at 16:07
  • That's not entirely true. Maybe the choice of words was wrong, but it's possible to, for eg., do sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop over an existing normal Ubuntu and have it switch over to Kubuntu, giving you official apps and updates and effectively converting your installation from one Ubuntu to another.
    – aalaap
    Dec 14, 2016 at 6:46
  • The correct metapackge for Ubuntu GNOME is named ubuntu-gnome-desktop. gnome is the Debian metapackage. Dec 21, 2016 at 0:04
  • @JeremyBicha : Thanks for your contribution. Well, both versions will achieve more or less the same -> packages.ubuntu.com/yakkety/gnome | packages.ubuntu.com/yakkety/ubuntu-gnome-desktop ! :)
    – cl-netbox
    Dec 21, 2016 at 7:23

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