minimal install, still want gnome!

Question

I'm at the stage of the install of Fedora 15 where I choose what software to install. I want less so I'm going for "minimal" and "Customize now".

What do I need to tick to get the machine to boot gnome at startup? Last time I chose minimal gnome did not load and I got stuck at terminal (or whatever you wizards call it).

Answer 1

Having a gnome desktop in no way qualifies a system as a "minimal" install. It's possible you should could find all the right things to add, but your system is more likely to run smoothly for your needs if you pick a more appropriate base package set.

Answer 2

"Minimal" Does not install X window / Gnome. Dont select Minimal then. But you can go ahead with Customize now. From the custom settings you can check off several Gnome applications that you wont be using. PS . you better start accepting some answers.

Answer 3

Yum has a feature called 'groupinstall' that will help you here. What you can do is perform the minimal install, and then after booting to the console perform the actions described on this page:

http://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/Fedora/15/html/Installation_Guide/sn-switching-to-gui-login.html

The short story is that you'll be installing the "X Window System" and "GNOME Desktop Environment" groups of packages via yum groupinstall.

The instructions on that page also walk you through changing the "default run level" from 3 to 5, this will make your system boot in to a graphical system rather than to the console. However, I noticed a small problem with those instructions. They walk you through the process of editing the text file by using vi, however they don't specify that you need to hit Esc to switch from insert mode to command mode. You can follow the instructions on that page, but be sure to hit the Esc key before doing what is described in step 6.