On Friday, September 18, 2020 09:21:21 AM Brian wrote: > On Fri 18 Sep 2020 at 07:32:46 -0400, Greg Wooledge wrote: > > Right now, if you un-check GNOME, but leave "Debian desktop" checked, > > you get a mystery desktop, which usually but not always turns out to > > be GNOME, which is the thing that you just un-checked.
... > The default desktop is determined by the Recommends: of task-desktop. > The DEs are installed based on the Depends: of the various packages. > Is there a better way of doing it? > > > How you don't find that confusing is a mystery to me. > ... > Regarding new users: they are just as likely to be mystified by "lxde" > and "lxqt" as by "Debian desktop environment". I don't know for sure, but one suggestion I'd make is to move that first option (whatever it said, something like Default debian desktop) to be the last option and change the wording, something like: "[for advanced users:] [can be used to] install X only (with no desktop)" (I guess if you want X only you have select that in the other place you mentioned.) I suspect many of the newbies to Linux will have heard about GNOME, KDE, along with the suggestion to consider one of the other much simpler desktops. (When I encounter a newbie, I recommend either KDE or one of the lightweight desktops, I'm a "never GNOMEr"