Installing desktop collections (KDE/Gnome/etc) command line

General system Newbie
1

Hey all,

I’m new to EndeavourOS. When installing I selected XFCE, but I noticed that there are options for other desktops (KDE/Gnome/etc). I did not select them at the time and I was wondering if there is a way to install them in my already running system.

Is there a list somehwer of “meta-packages” which would pull in everything the installer would have? Something like “endevouros-kde-desktop, endevouros-gnome-desktop, etc” which you install and it pulls in everything immediately?

Also, once installed how do I switch between desktops?

2

This is a good place to start:
https://discovery.endeavouros.com/general-system-settings/how-to-install-desktop-environments-next-to-your-existing-ones/2021/03/

Once you have multiple sessions installed there will be the option to choose between them on the login screen.

However, I will warn you that running multiple is no panacea. Having multiple DEs installed can definitely cause minor conflicts here and there.

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3

Welcome!

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4

That is a very useful resource. Thank you.

I guess I could use VMs to try some out, but I prefer native in order to have fluid/fast interaction. Virtual machines have always given me a slow experience with modern effects.

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5

I just came across a hurdle: in a fresh EndeavourOS with NO desktop installed (so one that boots into text console) I ran “pacman -Sy gnome”. Now that is installed, but I can’t log in using a GUI.

So I understand I need a login manager that will detect the installed desktop. What should I install to get that? Is there a login manager that will detect installed desktops and not need me configuring them?

6

Arch Wiki is your friend:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Display_manager

If you are using Gnome, you probably want GDM as your display manager.

Also, just installing gnome will not get you everything that EndeavourOS Gnome ships with. If you want that:

git clone https://github.com/endeavouros-team/EndeavourOS-packages-lists.git
cd EndeavourOS-packages-lists
sudo pacman -S --needed - < gnome
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So answering to myself: I installed lightdm and lightdm-gtk-greeter and ran “systemctl enable lightdm” and that works for me.

8

If you installed gnome group then gdm should have been installed already. You just need to start system service. See here:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/GNOME

https://archlinux.org/groups/x86_64/gnome/

Of course if you installed lightdm you can use that instead. Its your choice.

Edit: and you can switch between one or the other by starting the corresponding system service via terminal

9

Yes, I guess ideally I need the matching greeter to the desktop I want to try… GDM would have been a better fit for Gnome.

Thanks for the link.