Is there any further word on when Zorin will make available a utility to go from 18 Core to to 18 Lite and the user retains his data and settings? And back to Core from Lite?
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I am not aware of any plans for this, especially as the ZorinGroup are dropping Zorin OS Lite entirely.
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Thank you. So my only option is to start fresh with Lite? Could I copy a backup of my home directory over the new one that would be created?
Yes, I copy the home directory and move that over.
But going from Core to Lite or Lite to Core, likely the ~.config directory will not help very much.
It seems your primary concern at that point becomes the personal files. Pictures, music and the like.
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And all the settings for various programs etc.
That also can be in your ~.config folder. There is no harm in saving XFCE settings over on Gnome. Or the other way around.
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You can also install zorin lite desktop on Zorin Core
sudo apt install zorin-os-lite-desktop
then you don’t need to make a fresh installation and you can choose the desktop at login, but to me it seems that made less problems in Zorin 17 than 18. I would prefer a fresh install if you are sure you want to stay with Zorin lite.
If you want to try the installation of zorin-os-desktop-lite on Zorin Core, it may help to install the app mending wall before. But other users have had better experiences with that app than I have.
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With a view to having XFCE on Zorin 19, I have experimented a bit. I have Zorin 18 Core with XFCE installed as DE, alongside the Gnome version (sudo apt-get install xfce4). Do not install "goodies" as this will remove the Zorin log-in.
The result will be a layout similar to Apple/IOS. If that appealed to you, keep it. If not, you could do what I did: Delete the Dock>drag the panel to the bottom>increase the size of the panel and icons> then installed Whiska Menu and used Settings to resemble Zorin menu (not a facsimile, but similar). I installed Kazam for screenshots, but could not make it work from the keyboard, but can do it from the app.
If it was my decision I would install Zorin 18 Lite desktop as a DE alongside the Gnome one (choose when you boot. At login screen click on blank user, find small gear icon in RH lower corner, then choose DE). If it does not work as you want, nothing lost except a little storage. All your personal folders and files are still available. I have not tried the Zorin 18 lite desktop myself, so cannot guarantee results.
Thank you for the suggestions. If I take the DE approach, am I (a non-programmer) likely to run into problems? I am unfamiliar with the mending wall and have XFCE as an additional DE (but don't use it). It is simple to change DEs. Will I run into problems with lightdm? I'll first do a backup with Filezilla just in case.
No, you can use lightdm or gdm3. Both work on gnome and xfce. Why don't you use it when it is installed? Nothing happens when you take a look into your new desktop. Having a backup of your personal datas is always good.
Note: You can install xfce4 or zorin-os-lite-desktop, but not both at the same time. Xfce4 doesn't have the look of Zorin. Zorin-os-lite-desktop is the normal desktop of Zorin lite.
It seems to work, but I notice two problems.
I now have a dock (panel 2?). How do I remove it?
When I run in terminal "sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade updates", I get the message:
E: Unable to locate package updates
I should add that I ran Software updater and it says there are no updates.
Do you have installed xfce4 or zorin-os-lite-desktop? It sounds as you have installed xfce4 which has a dock at the bottom.
The command is
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
To remove the panel 2, right-click on the panel 2, then select panel and in the opened window in the first line you see panel 2 and at the right side of it a + and - (it is hard to see because it is a black button with dark blue font). Click on the to remove the panel.
Something corrupted. windowing changed in Core xorg - no way to get to full screen in apps. in Lite, taskbar has many small items. The small items went away after a restart. Display size changed also.
I did have xfce as a DE that I can use prior to installing Lite and it is still there.
When you install both - xfce4 and zorin lite desktop - that doesn't 't work well. I had installed that once in a live session and got many problems. I think there are conflicts between the versions. I would log in into the gnome desktop and remove both desktops (xfce4 and zorin-os-lite-desktop) and then - if you like to try again - install just one of them.
How do I remove the xfce4? They are labelled xfce session and xfce session (Wayland).
sudo apt purge xfce4
And to remove zorin os lite desktop
sudo apt purge zorin-os-lite-desktop
I would also recommend to reinstall the zorin-os-desktop
sudo apt reinstall zorin-os-desktop
they are still there
Yes, the entries at loginscreen are still there after the removal, but not the desktops themselves. I'm not at the computer at the moment. You need to delete some files to remove the login entries.
AI said
sudo mv /usr/share/xsessions/xfce.desktop /usr/share/xsessions/xfce.desktop.bak
sudo mv /usr/share/wayland-sessions/xfce-wayland.desktop /usr/share/wayland-sessions/xfce-wayland.desktop.bak
and that worked.
AI also said to:
sudo apt purge xfce4* && sudo apt autoremove
So now I can try again.
This time the 2 xfce session are back as well as the Zorin Lite.
Otherwise it worked (for now?).