How to install Gnome 3 on Ubuntu 11.04

May 21, 2011 By Abhishek Prakash 29 Comments

The default desktop in Ubuntu 11.04 is its own Unity. While some people liked Unity, many just don’t like it in comparison to good old GNOME. The latest version GNOME 3 has been released and is supported by Fedora 15 and OpenSUSE. While Ubuntu has decided to stay away from GNOME, it does not mean that you cannot enjoy the new, sleek and smart-looking GNOME 3. In looks I found GNOME 3 better than Unity. While in functioning (in my opinion) both are similar. GNOME3 can be installed by means of an external PPA.

Follow these simple steps to install Gnome 3:

Installing the GNOME3:

Open the terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and type the following command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gnome3-team/gnome3

Now run this command to update the system:

sudo apt-get update

Now upgrade the system with the following command:

sudo apt-get upgrade

Use the following command to install Gnome 3 shell:

sudo apt-get install gnome-shell

Running the GNOME3:

Restart your computer. While at login (after clicking the user name and before entering the password), form the bottom of the desktop, out of various available options like Ubuntu, Ubuntu Classic etc choose Gnome Shell. If you choose Ubuntu you will still be in Unity, not in GNOME. Here is a snapshot of my GNOME3 desktop.

A word of warning:

This installation of GNOME3 may break the Unity system. Don’t panic. A simple un-installation of GNOME3 will fix the problem.

Uninstall GNOME3:

Uninstalltion of GNOME3 is done by running the following command:

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge sudo ppa-purge ppa:gnome3-team/gnome3

To get rid of the Ugly themes:

As suggested by a reader staticvoid if you don’t want to be greeted by ugly themes when your pc restarts do:
sudo apt-get remove gnome-accessibility-themes sudo apt-get install gnome-themes-standard

If you liked the post, don’t forget to rate/like the post. It is a token of appreciation that helps me in keeping my enthusiasm. Feedback, suggestions and a simple word of thanks is more than welcomed. Enjoy

About Abhishek Prakash

Abhishek Prakash is the founder of Computer And You. He takes a keen interest in day-to-day computer life and wishes to share his experience with others to make their computer experience better and easier. He is also a regular Linux author at Make Tech Easier.

Michael

For a guide on installing KDE4 instead of Gnome3, please check out my blog.

http://ubuntublog.org/index.php/how-to-install-kde4/
- https://computerandyou.net/ Abhishek Prakash
  
  Its a nice blog Michael. You too are an Ubuntu lover
  
  It seems you are new to blogging. Couple of advices from my experience:
  
  You have put no option of subscribing to your blog. Since you have a niche blog, you might want to have a dedicated reader base other than just the travellers that come from search engine.
  
  While writing the commands, use the Preformatted instead of Paragraph or quoting it.
  
  If possible, have a facebook page of your blog.
  
  I hope it is not too much of advice. Best of luck with your blog.
  
  P.S. You might want to subscribe to my blog and stay in touch. And yes, if you are interested, you can guest blog on this site. That will provide you with good traffic and backlinks.
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Janne

Great! Just what I was looking for. A quick solution to my problem (not knowing how to get Gnome3 on my computer).

It also comes with a solution to revert back to Unity if needed. What more can you say?
Great stuff, keep up the great work!

And thank you very much. Janne
- http://computerandu.wordpress.com Abhishek Prakash Chaturvedi
  
  You are most welcome Janne..
staticvoid

I’m sorry my instructions were not clear enough.

After upgrade do not restart your PC, instead do the following:

sudo apt-get install gnome-shell sudo apt-get install gnome-session

and if you don’t want to be greeted by ugly themes when your pc restarts do:
sudo apt-get remove gnome-accessibility-themes sudo apt-get install gnome-themes-standard

and thats it.

You can switch to Unity but lt will be ugly, very slow and some of applications and functions like changing Unity’s theme (Appearance) is missing, and “right-click” on desktop. It will be so slow that you’ll switch to Gnome3 in less than 10 seconds.

I think Gnome3’s PPA really broke Unity so I didn’t risk reinstalling Unity for it might break Gnome3.
- http://computerandu.wordpress.com Abhishek Prakash Chaturvedi
  
  Thanks for the wonderful command
- http://learningstuffwithshank.wordpress.com shank21101985
  
  thank you very much
staticvoid

UPDATE

I just installed Gnome3 yesterday and it worked fine. Here is the screenshot:

Here are some fixes I’ve done:
For ugly/strange themes:

sudo apt-get remove gnome-accessibility-themes sudo apt-get install gnome-themes-standard

I think this one is required in Gnome3 because I tried just sudo apt-get install gnome-shell before but it broke my system and this will also allow you to use Gnome Fallback session:

sudo apt-get install gnome-session
- http://computerandu.wordpress.com Abhishek Prakash Chaturvedi
  
  Hey Arnel,
  
  So you suggest instead of “sudo apt-get install gnome-shell” We should use the followings for the correct installation: “sudo apt-get install gnome-session”
  
  And then after successful installation of gnome3 we should use these tweaks: sudo apt-get remove gnome-accessibility-themes sudo apt-get install gnome-themes-standard
  
  (I saw some discussion on OMG Ubuntu about it…)
  
  My question….what happens to Unity with it….can you switch back to Unity> and does Unity work properly?
http://computerandu.wordpress.com Abhishek Prakash Chaturvedi

staticvoid

Hmm….strange stuff….thanks for the info and the link….
Steve G

You messed up my laptop – how do I get rid of Gnome 3.
your command does not work
- staticvoid
  
  So it seems that Gnome3 under ppa is still not working. To those who got messed up by Gnome 3 do the following:
  
  sudo apt-get install ppa-purge
  sudo ppa-purge ppa:gnome3-team/gnome3
  
  If you have ubuntu tweak installed it will do the same thing too. Look for Purge PPAs under Package Cleaner.
  
  This note had been on every gnome3 installing blogs out there but users still fail to notice it. Lets try it on caps and see if it will caught attention:
  THIS INSTALLATION OF GNOME3 MAY BREAK YOUR UNITY SYSTEM. DO IT AT YOUR OWN RISK
  and IT IS EXPERIMENTAL AND NOT RECOMMENDED FOR USE –askubuntu
  
  If you really want to try Gnome3 without the headache use Fedora 15
  - http://computerandu.wordpress.com Abhishek Prakash Chaturvedi
    
    thanks staticvoid…
    
    Gnome3 was working properly on my notebook …and purge also worked smoothly….
    I guess, probably people did not choose Gnome Shell Desktop and instead log in into Ubuntu …and there Unity is all broken…
    bottom line….you can either have Gnome3 or Unity (for the time being)…not both at the same time….
- http://computerandu.wordpress.com Abhishek Prakash Chaturvedi
  Well…there was a warning in the post….in any case you can always get Unity back by the command given in the post….you said the command is not working…what is the output of the command?
  I would suggest you to do this…
  (do you have ppa-purge installed? install it first…then use the command….)
```
sudo apt-get install ppa-purge
sudo ppa-purge ppa:gnome3-team/gnome3
```
  - staticvoid
    
    Additional Note:
    
    I don’t know why but this happened to me thrice.
    
    If you have Firefox Nightly installed and you tried Gnome3, there is a possibility that Gnome3 will break. You will get errors related to libmozjs.so not found after the upgrade, window decorations missing, and an awful theme.
    
    Here is another alternative for installing Gnome3 in Ubuntu:
    Installing Gnome3 from source will not break Unity which means you can choose between Gnome3 and Unity.
    Just be sure to follow each of the instructions given.
staticvoid

I guess we’ll stick to Unity for now. Gnome 3 will be available in Oneiric so Its not a long wait.

Unity…What is not to like?
- http://computerandu.wordpress.com Abhishek Prakash Chaturvedi
  
  No harm in trying something new …just for experience….true that buzz is there about Ubuntu and Gnome 3…lets wait and watch…:)
staticvoid

Hi,

Were you able to install without any problems? I installed gnome 3 about four times not and I still wasn’t able to get gnome 3 to work right. I carefully tried the instructions above but it didn’t work well as expected.
- http://computerandu.wordpress.com Abhishek Prakash Chaturvedi
  
  Could you give me some more details …what kind of problem you are facing…i installed it without any hassle…and its running quite fine…
  - Matt
    
    Good instructions, however based on my searches on the web, it appears that there have been some recent changes in both Ubuntu 11.04 and the Gnome 3 PPA that cause the installation to fail.
    
    I have also tried the upgrade recently a number of times and simply end up with a very broken system. Cannot even login once the installation has completed.
    
    I would advise against doing this at this stage until things have been rectified.
    - http://computerandu.wordpress.com Abhishek Prakash Chaturvedi
      
      Hmm…strange that you say that you cannot even login….
      
      It breaks unity true….but by purging the gnome 3 you can switch back to unity…..(I did last night…without any fuzz)
      
      Coming back to the broken system….did you choose “Gnome Shell Desktop ” at the login? Make it default in the log-in settings….
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http://geekum.wordpress.com Pawan Hegde

A nice and concise post.
- http://computerandu.wordpress.com Abhishek Prakash Chaturvedi
  
  Thank you for your feedback…:)
subodh chaturvedi

hi
nice to see a chaturvedi in the linux world
this is Dr subodh chaturvedi from indore MP india
befriend me
- http://computerandu.wordpress.com Abhishek Prakash Chaturvedi
  
  Jaroor Dr. Chaturvedi… This is one of the most nice comments I ever had on my blog…:P

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