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I am just getting into Linux for the first time, and I am loving it. Right now, I am trying to give some older hardware a new breath of life by installing Linux on it.

The newest version of Ubuntu is just a little too much for the hardware I am working with, but Xunbuntu seems to run fairly snappy with minimal issues.

From what I understand, the Xfce interface is fairly different than the GNOME desktop, so I am not too sure if this would be the right forum for this distro.

I wanted to know if there was a way to uninstall pre-installed programs like Abiword, or the GIMP. It has a very limited hard drive capacity, so every byte counts!

Also, any other tips on speeding up Xubuntu would be greatly appreciated.

edwin
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Tobin Shields
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  • Just run sudo apt-get remove abiword && sudo apt-get autoremove if you want Abiword uninstalled. In particular, edit your question to include the packages you want uninstalled, so we can tell you if it's safe. (I think most GUI related apps are fairly safe to uninstall, though.) – edwin Jul 14 '13 at 01:05
  • Thanks for the quick response, and also for letting me know about the way to ask questions. In general, would I be able to install any program using that command? – Tobin Shields Jul 14 '13 at 01:12
  • Re. "In general, would I be able to install any program using that command?", I think you'll benefit greatly by reading apt-get commands. –  Jul 14 '13 at 02:07
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    A few points: 1 yes, you can ask questions about any officially recognized flavor of Ubuntu. Check out http://askubuntu.com/help/on-topic for details. 2 generally speaking, this site prefers specific questions with single issues per question. So, your point about other tips to speed up Xubuntu, while related, could very well be another question. Also, this site has a policy on duplicates being closed. So it's useful to search the site (or look in the right pane) for questions that may already answer you. –  Jul 14 '13 at 03:55
  • 3: re. improving performance, take a look at http://askubuntu.com/questions/2194/how-can-i-improve-overall-system-performance. But my personal suggestion is to take things slow and make single changes at a time, preferably after seeking advice. We don't want you to break things and never come back out of disgust ;) 4 You most probably know this but Xubuntu has its own website with a lot of useful links: http://xubuntu.org. All the best! –  Jul 14 '13 at 04:00

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Xubuntu uses APT as package manager. So you can use sudo apt-get remove <package_name> from a terminal for uninstalling packages. If you are afraid of the command line, you can also use the Synaptic package manager (GUI application). You can also do it with the Ubuntu Software Center which is more user friendly.

air-dex
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  • I am fine with using the terminal, seems like the easiest way. Would I need to perform a restart after the package has uninstalled? – Tobin Shields Jul 14 '13 at 01:16
  • Not really. I think Xfce will notify you if you need to. – edwin Jul 14 '13 at 01:17
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    If you use the Ubuntu Software Center it will be pretty damned hard to break your system by uninstalling something you shouldn't, like this guy just did: http://askubuntu.com/questions/319798/how-do-i-intall-a-network-manager-on-ubuntu – Marc Jul 14 '13 at 04:16