@ricklinux ok, I want to swith DE from Gnome to KDE, but I don’t want to reinstall. Possible?
Gnome is so hard to customize, and as I recall on Manjaro with KDE, I was floating freely as you said.
Michael
I agree, except this is a 2016 laptop.
Try this:
sudo pacman -S eos-packagelist
eos-packagelist --install KDE-Desktop
1 Like
Is there such a thing as a lean KDE install?
Downloading KDE as I type. Thank you once again @dalto
Does sudo pacman -Rns gnome-desktop remove everything including its remnant packages?
Michael
You can try the below but carefully review the packages to be removed and ensure there is nothing you want to keep on the list. There is sometimes overlap
sudo pacman -Rc $(eos-packagelist GNOME-Desktop | grep -v -E "(icon|theme)")
Then you can remove any orphans.
The only one I want to keep is deja-dup.
Guess I can always reinstall and configure it again afterward, but how to exclude that package from the deletion?
Thanks.
Michael
Try this:
eos-packagelist GNOME-Desktop | grep -v -E "(icon|theme|^gvfs$)"
its funny isn’t it? I was getting to the point where I’d want to be sub 1000, and anything over was just getting fat! But it doesn’t make a difference, just 'cause there’s a few extras that don’t take up much space and certainly aren’t generally taking cpu/ram 'cause they’re not loaded unless you need them. So don’t sweat it. If this was deb, you’d probably be over 2000 for a functioning sys., and i’m just happy to be on 989.
2 Likes
Now I see it is only using 4% of my hard disk with no performance issues, I can live with it.
Maybe KDE
I put Gnome on because of the promised integration with Evolution mail, but I could not see it. Now I don’t use Evolution due to it’s lack of basic features, I am leaning towards KDE Plasma, if I can replace it cleanly.
It’s bloaty
[derek@t480s ~]$ pfetch
/\ derek@t480s
/ \ os Arch Linux
/\ \ host 20L7002AUS ThinkPad T480s
/ \ kernel 5.15.28-1-lts
/ ,, \ uptime 3d 18h 21m
/ | | -\ pkgs 1412
/_-'' ''-_\ memory 5115M / 39880M
[derek@t480s ~]$
UNGEHEUER64 ➜ ~ » pfetch
/\ joekamprad@UNGEHEUER64
// \\ os EndeavourOS Linux
// \ \ host Precision Tower 5810
/ / _) ) kernel 5.16.15-arch1-1
/_/___-- __- uptime 1h 9m
/____-- pkgs 1531
memory 2725M / 32022M
i can top that 
(not the uptime)
1 Like
I don’t know if that number of installed packages could be considered as bloat or normal, I’m a noob and the experts has already said what they think about.
As you can se, my laptop is similar to yours, both little old. I’ve tested almost all desktop environments and I really liked Cinnamon, is lightweight and doesn’t has too much apps. In fact, I’m surprised that I have only 1083 packages after installing all that I need:
- Bluetooth, CUPS
- Apache, PHP 7.4
- LibreOffice fresh + spanish language
- Opera browser, Filezilla, Evolution
- Gimp, Krita, Kdenlive, Obs Studio
- Gnome 2048, Gnome Mahjongg
- Virtualbox
I know that this doesn’t count, but I’ve installed manually Mysql server and PhpMyAdmin. And Timeshift, some editors and browsers from AUR.
My first Linux OS was Linux Mint Cinnamon 20.2 and it was a really good experience, but I’ve discovered EOS and it’s prettier, runs faster and, at a fresh boot, uses about 300MiB less RAM than Linux Mint.
Maybe you can give Cinnamon a try, it’s not the best looking DE but it works fine on an old laptop.
_________________ fh@tiger
< does it matter? > --------
----------------- Host: 30CY006WGE ThinkStation P330
\ ^__^ Uptime: 1 hour, 18 mins
\ (**)\_______ Packages: 882 (pacman)
(__)\ )\/\ Shell: bash 5.1.16
U ||----w | Resolution: 5120x1440
|| || DE: LXQt 1.0.1
WM: KWin
Theme: Breeze [GTK2], Breeze-Dark [GTK3]
Icons: breeze-dark [GTK2/3]
Terminal: konsole
CPU: Intel i9-9900K (16) @ 5.000GHz
GPU: AMD ATI Radeon Pro WX 7100
Memory: 2195MiB / 64183MiB
.---.` `.---. OS: Arch Linux x86_64
`/syhhhyso- -osyhhhys/` Kernel: 5.16.15-zen1-1-zen
.syNMdhNNhss/``.---.``/sshNNhdMNys. Uptime: 16 hours, 23 mins
+sdMh.`+MNsssssssssssssssNM+`.hMds+ Packages: 1401 (pacman)
:syNNdhNNhssssssssssssssshNNhdNNys: Shell: bash 5.1.16
/ssyhhhysssssssssssssssssyhhhyss/ Resolution: 2560x1440, 2560x1440
.ossssssssssssssssssssssssssssso. DE: Plasma 5.24.3
:sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss: WM: KWin
/sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss/ Theme: Breeze Dark [Plasma], Breeze [GTK2/3]
:sssssssssssssoosssssssoosssssssssssss: Icons: breeze-dark [Plasma], breeze-dark [GTK2/3]
osssssssssssssoosssssssoossssssssssssso Terminal: konsole
osssssssssssyyyyhhhhhhhyyyyssssssssssso Terminal Font: Hack 22
/yyyyyyhhdmmmmNNNNNNNNNNNmmmmdhhyyyyyy/ CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (24) @ 3.700GHz
smmmNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNmmms GPU: AMD ATI Radeon RX 6700/6700 XT / 6800M
/dNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNd/ Memory: 4263MiB / 32021MiB
`:sdNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNds:`
`-+shdNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNdhs+-`
`.-:///////:-.`
[xxx@arch ~]$ pacman -Qq | wc -l
1087
./o. scott@endeavourOS
./sssso- -----------------
`:osssssss+- OS: EndeavourOS Linux x86_64
`:+sssssssssso/. Host: Aspire E5-576G V1.32
`-/ossssssssssssso/. Kernel: 5.16.15-arch1-1
`-/+sssssssssssssssso+:` Uptime: 1 day, 33 mins
`-:/+sssssssssssssssssso+/. Packages: 1361 (pacman)
`.://osssssssssssssssssssso++- Shell: bash 5.1.16
.://+ssssssssssssssssssssssso++: Resolution: 1920x1080
.:///ossssssssssssssssssssssssso++: DE: GNOME 41.4
`:////ssssssssssssssssssssssssssso+++. WM: Mutter
`-////+ssssssssssssssssssssssssssso++++- WM Theme: Adwaita
`..-+oosssssssssssssssssssssssso+++++/` Theme: Adwaita-dark [GTK2/3]
./++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++/:. Icons: Papirus-Dark [GTK2/3]
`:::::::::::::::::::::::::------`` Terminal: tilix
CPU: Intel i5-8250U (8) @ 3.400GHz
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce MX150
GPU: Intel UHD Graphics 620
Memory: 3188MiB / 15877MiB
The number of packages one has is meaningless. How the hardware works is more important. You got crappy hardware you get a feeling of bloat! 
It’s not just a feeling of bloat - it is a result (inevitable) of the snacking you do while waiting on something to complete… 
EDIT: It’s one of the excuses I have for having a relatively quick machine - HEALTH REASONS!
3 Likes
Exactly …like being slow and lethargic. 
1 Like