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View Full Version : Going back to ubuntu from linux mint



lanig
April 6th, 2016, 11:07 PM
I moved to linux mint a few years ago because I liked cinnamon and because I didn't want to have Ubuntu spyware on my computer.
Since then, I started to use only XMonad and for 16.04 Ubuntu has decided to drop the spyware so I would like to de-mintize first my system and then upgrade to 16.04.
dpkg -l |grep mint gives me a list of packages. Would it be sufficient to remove them and the linuxmint repositories to get back to a vanilla Ubuntu ?
I am concerned by configurations files that could stay on my HD.

Thanks for your help.

sudodus
April 7th, 2016, 08:17 AM
I think it would be very difficult to convert a Linux Mint system to an Ubuntu system.

Instead I suggest that you create a fresh Ubuntu system, copy your personal files and install the extra program packages you want. One good idea is to keep your data files (documents, pictures, music, video clips ...) in a separate data partition. This will keep your operating system rather small, and it will make it easier to make fresh installations in the future.

Backup: It is also easier, when you can separate the backup of your personal files from the backup of the operating system.

RobGoss
April 7th, 2016, 01:47 PM
Hello and welcome, I don't even know if it's possible to go from Mint to Ubuntu. I would also just do a fresh install to avoid any headaches. You might even risk loosing a lot of important data.

sammiev
April 7th, 2016, 04:19 PM
I found keeping a separate /home partition on the HDD makes it easy to install or test other OS without loosing any data.

Remember that Backups are your best friend!