Does installing desktop on Ubuntu Server turn it into the desktop? version?

[Stuart McGraw]

On 11/21/21 1:12 PM, Bo Berglund wrote:
> On Sun, 21 Nov 2021 14:00:17 -0500 (EST), Robert Heller <heller at deepsoft.com> wrote:
>> There really isn't anything like a "server" or "desktop" version of Linux.
>> All that makes a server distro is just that just does not include the GUI
>> packages.  It is possible to install some or all of the GUI infrastructure
>> packages on a server distro, which makes it possible to run GUI applications,
>> either on a local screen or via something like ssh X11 tunneling on a "remote"
>> screen.  It is *also* possible to install server deamon packages on a desktop
>> system and run these in background, turning your desktop (or laptop even) as a
>> "server".
> 
> So what this really means is that if I create a new Ubuntu machine intended as a
> "desktop" I could start by installing the "server" version and then follow up by
> installing the Cinnamon desktop environment, rather than installing from the
> desktop distro ISO.
> This would get me a usable Ubuntu 20.04.3 Desktop machine with a sensible
> desktop rather than the very strange one they have now put into the distro...
> [..]

For a couple of LTS releases now I have installed my desktop machine from
the server ISO and added a desktop package (in my case XFCE) afterwards.
I think this was necessary because I've automated most of the install and
that was only possible with the server version.

These are some minor differences though: in the server version networking
is configured with netplan but (I think) installing from the desktop
distribution you will get network manager.  That is easily reconfigured
after the fact or so I am led to believe (I am happy with netplan so I
didn't try to.)

-- 
-- Stuart