Adding Gnome to XFCE for booting into either

Support
1

So after using XFCE since the Dead Sea was just sick, I decided I would like to alternatively boot into Gnome as well as XFCE.
I made sure everything for Gnome was installed on the computer, and then I did this.

systemctl enable gdm --force
systemctl disable lightdm
reboot

This bricked the Linux system with a blank screen.
I had to chroot from Manjaro liveusb and reverse the changes

systemctl enable lightdm --force
systemctl disable gdm
reboot

So now I’m stuck without understanding how, why, or what to do next.

This is not a critical thing, because I’m eighty-three years old and would like to spend some time learning more about Linux in my waning years. Alas, some of my marbles have rolled away after over 25 years with Linux.

Any help would be appreciated! :roll_eyes:

2

For starters, gnome is wayland, xfce is x11. Those do not mix…at all.
Wait another year so that xfce releases its wayland version and try again to break the system, maybe it will not happen then :). Not that i would risk if it was my PC.

p.s. that is just on the top of my head, pretty sure a gazillion of other things are incompatible

3

That is very risky. It might be a better idea, if the computer is capable,to install Gnome in a virtual machine and learn and maybe make some mistakes there.

4

The name of the display manager gdm vs lightdm will both refer to the same target display-manager.service.

systemctl enable gdm --force

So when you enable another display manager using the --force argument, you are effectively disabling the existing display manager.

My experience with the gdm goes back many years and I am no longer up-to-date with it.

6

@linux-aarhus

Well, surprise, surprise! I now have a alternative to XFCE, GNOME, without using gdm. gdm not needed to run GNOME ~ good to find out.

Setting lightdm to add a GNOME login to the login screen, plus:
Making some changes to my nvidia drivers (for NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060) and forcing gdm out.

Plus I have all my apps from XFCE available in GNOME..!!

The selector is a tiny little icon at the bottom right of the lightdm login screen. Once selected the it will remain selected until changed again.

I had to forego the auto login feature, and logins now require more time but I am still a Big-Boy.

Thanks to all for the assistance :smiley:

Hmmmmm ~ KDE next?

@jrichard326

Good idea, but alas all my stuff under XFCE would not be there.

Mod edit: Consecutive posts merged and @mentions added.
If there are no intervening replies, please edit your previous post instead to add further information. Cheers! :wink:

7

Let me know how that pan out :slight_smile:

Xfce and Gnome at both GTK base but Xfce is GTK3 and Gnome is GTK4, you will still see some strangies.

Back when I was settling on a desktop environment I also tried the various desktops and the two that caused most friction was KDE and Gnome. They do not play nice together.

Gnome Keyring and Plasma Wallet collide. Various services in /etc/xdg are duplicated. Inconsistent theming GTK4 and Plasma is like oil and water.

A kitchen comparison - try whipping oliveoil with water - even it you can create a somewhat coherent mass - you will never eat it.

But it is your system - have fun - be sure to backup your dot-files before you start the experiment.

I ditched Gnome many years ago and went pure Window Manager - Openbox - KDE 5 was by far, too unstable for my taste. when Plasma 6 was beta I switch to KDE and that has been more painless that anticipated.

8

Indeed. :thinking: :laughing:

9

I don’t think Popeye would like that. :stuck_out_tongue: