I am trying to learn Linux, I think it seems fun. So i decided i want to start with Ubuntu, it seems decently friendly to start, and i can live with how it looks, I want something different looking than windows, but still is easy to navigate.
Anyway, is there anything wrong with just changing the desktop environment randomly. Say if i got tired of unity and wanted to use gnome or cinnamon, could i just install that some how and just replace unity, or is better to clean install, and if so why is it better to clean install, just things play nicer together?
Also, when installing Ubuntu gnome, what would you select on the universal installer? It is not listed, i tried to just use normal Ubuntu to install Ubuntu gnome and it black screened after installing, it would just never boot. Other non-listed? maybe?
Installing multiple DE´s on Ubuntu Unity can be a bit of a pain. It might be a better idea to just install Virtualbox, and download a couple of distro´s with various DE´s and start playing arround with them as a virtual machine. That way you might find out which particular DE you like the most. THere are manny diffrent DE´s to choose from. And if you want to stay with one of the Ubuntu family distro´s, then there is also plenty to choose from.
Installing multiple DEs at the same time should be fine as long as the display manager isn't changed; that may cause problems, not sure. The only problem I can see is that you'll have multiples of everything, file browsers, terminals image viewers etc. I agree with @MisteryAngel, but you can easily install all the DEs on one distro if you're willing to deal with the program duplication problem.
No. But here's what I recommend; use Ubuntu minimal as your first install, always. (If you use Ubuntu, which it seems you do.) There it will allow a mixture of all the DEs to be selected on install. Also see if you like it in a virtual machine.
Pretty much agree with @MisteryAngel. Changing desktops isn't usually a problem, it's actually pretty straight forward... except on Ubuntu, who like to do weird things I guess. Perfectly doable, just not straight forward.
Thanks for the great idea, I have a few different VMs, How much space should I give them 20Gb is enough right?, I have 2 right set up right now with VirtualBox. I really like ubuntu so far. Mint seems to feel faster tho, but I really like the look of Ubuntu and for a newbie like me the repository is my best friend so far, it is hard to do anything with terminal right now, coming from windows the most I have ever really used a terminal is ipconfig and learning how to run java without an IDE. So big transitions any tips? Also it is fun so far, but is it worth learning if i want to go into software development as a career? I know that it is a must for system administrations, but is there any benefit to learning Linux for general software development?
I give mine 64G cause I am a nerd but select the default option to grow as needed. They will not use 64G, Only what the used space max has been on the install. A default install would be only like 10G of actual space.
thanks. i plan to use it for a few weeks in a vm until i find the one i want to use on hardware, and i did not know they could just dynamically grow thanks.