How to Run Linux Without a Desktop Environment? – Guide
Although modern Linux systems have attractive desktop interfaces, you may be wondering if you can use Linux without them. The direct answer is “yes”.
What is a desktop environment?
While desktop environments on Windows and macOS are fully integrated and integrated into the system, on Linux, desktop environments like GNOME, KDE and Xfce are just collections of programs that you can install beyond the base operating system. A desktop environment consists of a window manager, a toolkit that defines its appearance and behavior, and various applications. You can swap any of them, an effect of the modularity that Unix and Linux developers value.
Replacing DE with a window manager?
It is possible to run a window manager instead of a full desktop environment on Linux, and many users already do. You might want to use Fluxbox instead of one of the desktop environments that came with your distribution. All you need to do is install the window manager you want using your package manager. When you want to switch, you can select your new window manager in the display manager login menu. This is useful if you like to change environments more often.
Running without a GUI?
It is also possible to run Linux without a GUI. Many servers already do this, being managed by serial and SSH consoles, without keyboards and monitors connected to them. This is known as “headless” execution. This is because Linux derives its roots from Unix, and Unix was developed at a time when there was no GUI. You can run your desktop system without a screen manager and rely on text-based applications if you wish. You can run the same commands as you would in a terminal, as well as text editors and even web browsers. Some more advanced distros, like Arch Linux, come without a GUI by default. The only practical limit may be that modern websites expect users to run graphical distributions and may refuse to display their content in text browsers like Lynx. If you want to completely disable your graphical interface, you can disable the display manager. If you are running LightDM, you can use the systemctl command: sudo systemctl disable lightdm After restarting the system, you will find yourself in the text console. To choose your preferred window manager or desktop environment, add the following line to the .xinitrc file: executive window manager where window manager is your preferred window manager. Then type startx at the shell prompt to start the GUI.
Linux offers a choice in the user interface
The big advantage of Linux is that you can choose how you want to interact with the system. You can have a traditional desktop interface or dig into the command line. The best choice of a Linux desktop depends on your personal taste. Your personality and working style have the greatest influence on the user interface you choose.
Final note
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