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I am very new to Ubuntu. I've had 20.04 with Gnome 3 for a couple months. Well, I wanted to try kubuntu. I got kubuntu installed and it is up and running. I went to uninstall Gnome 3 (using directions from the internet), but halfway through uninstalling, I exited out, not knowing you couldn't just start over again.

When I put in the command

$ sudo dpkg-reconfigure lightdm

I get this:

debconf: DbDriver "config": /var/cache/debconf/config.dat is locked by another process: Resource temporarily unavailable

$ sudo fuser -v /var/cache/debconf/config.dat

USER        PID ACCESS COMMAND
/var/cache/debconf/config.dat:
                     root      32024 F.... frontend

$ sudo apt-get remove gnome-session

E: Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend. It is held by process 31127 (apt-get)
N: Be aware that removing the lock file is not a solution and may break your system.
E: Unable to acquire the dpkg frontend lock (/var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend), is another process using it?

$ ps aux | grep -i apt

root       31124  0.0  0.0  11732  4828 ?        S    07:49   0:00 sudo apt-get remove gnome-session gnome gnome-shell
root       31127  0.1  0.8  83060 69492 ?        S    07:49   0:01 apt-get remove gnome-session gnome gnome-shell
strawbe+   73729  0.0  0.0   9032   660 pts/2    S+   08:06   0:00 grep --color=auto -i apt

Can anyone help please? I don't want to break anything! Thank you! :)

karel
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StrawberryPunk
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    I'm very confused by this question. focal is the codename for version 20.04. It does not replace GNOME which is the desktop environment used by Ubuntu desktop. It's unclear what you are trying to do and it's also unclear what you have done so far. For example when you tell us "When I put in the command to start/continue uninstalling Gnome" - this is ambiguous. You should always provide the exact command and the whole output. You should edit your question and make sure it's clear what you are trying to do. – Nmath Sep 11 '21 at 18:21
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    If you already had 20.04, you were already using focal. If you remove GNOME, you remove the entire desktop environment which is going to be very bad if you don't want your whole system command line only. If you have already started to remove the DE, you're probably going to have to reinstall the OS. This would be easier than trying to repair all of the damage manually, especially if you are not already very proficient in solving problems. – Nmath Sep 11 '21 at 18:25
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    Since you don't know the different between 20.04 and focal, and 20.04 and gnome-session, you need to stop now, if you don't wish to break anything more. Trying to uninstall gnome-session is like trying to remove the motor in a running automobile while driving it. You just don't do it. Sorry for the harshness. Backup your important data, and reinstall the OS. – heynnema Sep 11 '21 at 18:44
  • Im sorry! Im seriously just learning. Okay so i have ubuntu 20.04 with gnome3. But i wanted a different look to the apps/layout so i installed kubuntu. The new look/layout displayed immediately. I want to uninstall the old look/layout (gnome3?). I dont have anything important on this computer. Im learning on this, so not the end of the world if it messed up, but still trying to prevent that if possible. – StrawberryPunk Sep 12 '21 at 05:06
  • I guess i figured you're supposed to uninstall the other (ubuntu/gnome3) but if its not going to hurt anything, should i just leave it? – StrawberryPunk Sep 12 '21 at 05:18
  • When i go to use my cleaner its wanting to get rid of "old kernal" but says "waiting for apt-get to exit". So i guess im asking where do i go from here? – StrawberryPunk Sep 12 '21 at 05:21
  • You can reboot to remove the lock file. If you want to use Kubuntu, rather download it and perform a fresh installation of Kubuntu. We don't know which all commands you had executed, and really cannot do anything. https://kubuntu.org/ – Archisman Panigrahi Sep 12 '21 at 05:27
  • If you want to try different desktop environments, use a live session (Try Ubuntu from installation media). Ubuntu comes in several flavours because trying to change the DE on an installed system is extremely messy. To use the analogy from @heynnema , it's like trying to put the engine from one car into another car while the car is running: don't do it. You can test different flavors and distros from installation media, then you can install your favorite to your system after you've made a choice. – Nmath Sep 12 '21 at 07:21
  • Does this answer your question? How can I solve "Be aware that removing the lock file is not a solution and may break your system"? – Archisman Panigrahi Sep 12 '21 at 09:19
  • Does this answer your question? E: Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend - open (11: Resource temporarily unavailable) – karel Sep 15 '21 at 05:35
  • Does this answer your question? "debconf: DbDriver "config": config.dat is locked by another process: Resource temporarily unavailable" while installing packages – karel Apr 19 '22 at 01:18

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