Can I Uninstall GUI From Debian?

Question

I just did my first install of any Linux OS, and I accidentally selected "Desktop GUI" in the install, but I kind of wanted to build everything myself. Is there any way I can uninstall the GUI without completely re-doing the install?

Answer 1

Debian uses tasksel for installing software for a specific system. The command gives you some information:

> tasksel --list-tasks
i desktop       Graphical desktop environment
u web-server    Web server
u print-server  Print server
u dns-server    DNS server
u file-server   File server
u mail-server   Mail server
u database-server       SQL database
u ssh-server    SSH server
u laptop        Laptop
u manual        manual package selection

The command above lists all tasks known to tasksel. The line desktop should print an i in front. If that is the case you can have a look at all packages which this task usually installs:

> tasksel --task-packages desktop
twm
eject
openoffice.org
xserver-xorg-video-all
cups-client
…

On my system the command outputs 36 packages. You can uninstall them with the following command:

> apt-get purge $(tasksel --task-packages desktop)

This takes the list of packages (output of tasksel) and feeds it into the purge command of apt-get. Now apt-get tells you what it wants to deinstall. If you confirm it everything will be purged from your system.