What packages to install for Xfce4 without Xubuntu-related packages on Ubuntu 16.04?

Question

Ubuntu 16.04 works like a gem for me, beside Unity which I find inefficient.

So when trying Xubuntu 16.04, I found that my VPN "Private Internet Access" application didn't work with it, while it worked perfectly on Ubuntu 16.04.

I assumed it's because Xfce on Xubuntu might use different packages that have ill effect on the VPN application.

And yes, I do need the actual VPN application, it gives more security options then the OpenVPN application. Besides I tried to use OpenVPN instead of PIA on Xubuntu 16.04. It also didn't work. Searched for it on the net, no useful solutions found.

So my question is:

If I want Xfce4 on Ubuntu 16.04, but without any of the "XFCE4 Desktop Package" applications that aren't strictly necessary to run XFCE4 GUI as it would normally on Xubuntu.

Which packages would I need to install from the console?

Answer 1

You can run this command to install xfce4 without the extra applications -- sudo apt-get install xfce. This was also asked in another post that I found: How to install Xfce desktop environment?

Answer 2

sudo apt-get install xfce worked. However, after just installing the Xfce4, I was still missing a few GUI plugins I used on Xubuntu. So, instead of installing Xfce4 vanilla, I installed the whole thing, which didn't install as much rubbish as I expected.

For this I used sudo apt install xfce4*.