Change Linux Mint to Ubuntu
TL;DR It is possible, but very difficult.
The method below is presented without any warranty. Use it on your own risk.
LinuxMint MATE 18.3 (Sylvia) -> Ubuntu Xenial Xerus 16.04 LTS
I have had installed LinuxMint MATE 18.3 (Sylvia). I asked myself a question — is it possible to convert it to normal Ubuntu Xenial Xerus 16.04 LTS without reinstallation?
I found great answer with script for listing packages from known repository. I adapted it to my situation:
cat > find_origin.sh :$\n' -W '*' | \ fgrep ':install ok installed' | cut -d: -f1 | \ (while read pkg; do inst_version=$(apt-cache policy $pkg \ | fgrep Installed: \ | awk '< print $2 >'); origin=$(apt-cache policy "$pkg" \ | fgrep " *** $" -C1 \ | tail -n 1 \ | cut -c12-); echo $pkg $origin; done) EOF Then ran it to find Mint packages and remove them:
sh find_origin.sh | grep packages.linuxmint.com > mint-packages-all.txt cat mint-packages-all.txt | grep -v "E:" | grep -v ^bash | grep -v ^base-files | grep -v ^mintsources | grep -v grub > mint-packages-remove.txt sudo apt-get install aptitude sudo aptitude purge $(cat mint-packages-remove.txt | awk '') sudo sed -i 's/^deb http:\/\/packages.linuxmint.com/#deb http:\/\/packages.linuxmint.com/g' /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list sudo rm /etc/apt/preferences.d/official-package-repositories.pref Then rebooted and launched Aptitude with sudo aptitude .
Set all packages from Obsolete and Locally Created Packages section to purge.
And checked locally installed package with:
sh find_origin.sh | grep /var So I reinstalled two packages listed here — bash and base-files from xenial-updates repository from terminal:
sudo apt-get install bash=4.3-14ubuntu1.2 base-files=9.4ubuntu4.7 Then purged all packages that does not have ii state (such as rc ) with:
sudo apt-get purge $(dpkg -l | grep -v ^ii | tail -n +6 | awk '') sudo apt-get install linux-image-generic linux-headers-generic sudo apt-get purge linux-image-4.10.0-*-generic linux-headers-4.10.0-*-generic sudo locale-gen en_US.UTF-8 Remove Mint files from home directory:
Check system integrity with debsums :
sudo apt-get install debsums sudo debsums_init sudo debsums -a -c # carefully check all files listed here with `dpkg -S filepath` sudo apt-get install --reinstall cups-filters gnome-accessibility-themes im-config imagemagick sound-theme-freedesktop imagemagick-6.q16 libreoffice-draw libreoffice-math gnome-colors-common vino gnome-orca sudo apt-get -o Dpkg::Options::="--force-confask" install --reinstall acpid libcompizconfig0 mate-menus systemd xdg-user-dirs-gtk vino # select Y Then I checked system for files, that are not from Ubuntu repositories:
sudo find /bin /etc /lib /lib64 /opt /sbin /srv /usr /var -type f -exec dpkg -S <> \; 2> ~/Desktop/results.out Removed the following objects:
sudo rm -rf /etc/linuxmint sudo rm /usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/oneconf/distributor/LinuxMint.pyc And finally installed Ubuntu MATE desktop:
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-mate-desktop^ Reboot and I have nearly normal Ubuntu Xenial 16.04 LTS 🙂
LinuxMint MATE 19 (Tara) -> Ubuntu Bionic Beaver 18.04 LTS
Warning: this method was not tested. Based on 18.3 -> 16.04 LTS above.
Let’s do a listing of packages from known repository:
cat > find_origin.sh :$\n' -W '*' | \ fgrep ':install ok installed' | cut -d: -f1 | \ (while read pkg; do inst_version=$(apt-cache policy $pkg \ | fgrep Installed: \ | awk '< print $2 >'); origin=$(apt-cache policy "$pkg" \ | fgrep " *** $" -C1 \ | tail -n 1 \ | cut -c12-); echo $pkg $origin; done) EOF Find Mint packages and remove them:
sh find_origin.sh | grep packages.linuxmint.com > mint-packages-all.txt cat mint-packages-all.txt | grep -v "E:" | grep -v ^bash | grep -v ^base-files | grep -v ^mintsources | grep -v grub > mint-packages-remove.txt sudo apt-get install aptitude sudo aptitude purge $(cat mint-packages-remove.txt | awk '') sudo sed -i 's/^deb http:\/\/packages.linuxmint.com/#deb http:\/\/packages.linuxmint.com/g' /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list sudo rm /etc/apt/preferences.d/official-package-repositories.pref Launch Aptitude with sudo aptitude .
Set all packages from Obsolete and Locally Created Packages section to purge.
Check locally installed packages with:
sh find_origin.sh | grep /var Reinstall two (maybe more!) packages listed here — bash and base-files from bionic-updates repository from terminal:
sudo apt-get install bash=4.4.18-2ubuntu1 base-files=10.1ubuntu2.1 desktop-file-utils=0.23-1ubuntu3.18.04 Then purge all packages that does not have ii state (such as rc ) with:
sudo apt-get purge $(dpkg -l | grep -v ^ii | tail -n +6 | awk '') sudo apt-get install linux-image-generic linux-headers-generic sudo locale-gen en_US.UTF-8 Remove Mint files from home directory:
Check system integrity with debsums :
sudo apt-get install debsums sudo debsums_init sudo debsums -a -c # carefully check all files listed here with `dpkg -S filepath` sudo apt-get install --reinstall caja casper compton cups-filters engrampa gnome-icon-theme gnome-accessibility-themes im-config imagemagick libgs9 mate-desktop mate-icon-theme mate-screensaver mate-screensaver-common mate-system-monitor mate-utils openjdk-11-jre sound-theme-freedesktop imagemagick-6.q16 libreoffice-draw libreoffice-math gnome-colors-common vino gnome-orca sudo apt-get -o Dpkg::Options::="--force-confask" install --reinstall acpid libcompizconfig0 mate-menus systemd xdg-user-dirs-gtk vino # select Y Then check system for files, that are not from Ubuntu repositories:
sudo find /bin /etc /lib /lib64 /opt /sbin /srv /usr /var -type f -exec dpkg -S <> \; 2> ~/Desktop/results.out Remove the following objects (may be other!):
sudo rm -rf /etc/linuxmint sudo rm -rf /usr/lib/linuxmint sudo rm /usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/oneconf/distributor/LinuxMint.pyc And finally install Ubuntu MATE desktop:
sudo apt-get install lightdm-gtk-greeter ubuntu-mate-lightdm-theme ubuntu-mate-themes ubuntu-mate-wallpapers* ubuntu-mate-core ubuntu-mate-default-settings ubuntu-mate-artwork ubuntu-mate-icon-themes plymouth-theme-ubuntu-mate-logo plymouth-theme-ubuntu-mate-text grub2-themes-ubuntu-mate mate-tweak ubuntu-mate-guide caja-eiciel compiz-mate eom mate-accessibility-profiles mate-applet-appmenu mate-applet-brisk-menu mate-calc mate-dock-applet mate-hud mate-menu mate-netbook mate-optimus mate-user-guide mate-window-applets-common mate-window-buttons-applet mate-window-menu-applet mate-window-title-applet folder-color-caja deja-dup-caja gsettings-ubuntu-schemas indicator-messages indicator-power indicator-session indicator-sound brasero shotwell simple-scan smbclient ubuntu-standard vlc gdebi gdebi-core plank seahorse tilda sessioninstaller Reset MATE desktop settings to the defaults:
dconf reset -f /org/mate gsettings set org.mate.panel default-layout "'default'" Install MATE Welcome and Software Boutique as Snaps:
snap install software-boutique --classic snap install ubuntu-mate-welcome --classic Reboot and have nearly normal Ubuntu Bionic 18.04 LTS 🙂
LinuxMint MATE 20 (Ulyana) -> Ubuntu Focal Fossa 20.04 LTS
Let’s do a listing of packages from known repository:
cat > find_origin.sh :$\n' -W '*' | \ fgrep ':install ok installed' | cut -d: -f1 | \ (while read pkg; do inst_version=$(apt-cache policy $pkg \ | fgrep Installed: \ | awk '< print $2 >'); origin=$(apt-cache policy "$pkg" \ | fgrep " *** $" -C1 \ | tail -n 1 \ | cut -c12-); echo $pkg $origin; done) EOF Find Mint packages and remove them:
sh find_origin.sh | grep packages.linuxmint.com > mint-packages-all.txt cat mint-packages-all.txt | grep -v "E:" | grep -v ^bash | grep -v ^base-files | grep -v ^mintsources | grep -v grub > mint-packages-remove.txt sudo apt-get install aptitude sudo aptitude purge $(cat mint-packages-remove.txt | awk '') sudo sed -i 's/^deb http:\/\/packages.linuxmint.com/#deb http:\/\/packages.linuxmint.com/g' /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list sudo rm /etc/apt/preferences.d/official-package-repositories.pref Launch Aptitude with sudo aptitude .
Set all packages from Obsolete and Locally Created Packages section to purge.
Check locally installed packages with:
sh find_origin.sh | grep /var Reinstall two (maybe more!) packages listed here — bash and base-files from focal-updates repository from terminal:
sudo apt-get install base-files=11ubuntu5 xapps-common=1.6.10-2 Then purge all packages that does not have ii state (such as rc ) with:
sudo apt-get purge $(dpkg -l | grep -v ^ii | tail -n +6 | awk '') sudo apt-get install linux-image-generic linux-headers-generic sudo locale-gen en_US.UTF-8 Remove Mint files from home directory:
Check system integrity with debsums :
sudo apt-get install debsums sudo debsums_init sudo debsums -a -c # carefully check all files listed here with `dpkg -S filepath` sudo apt-get install --reinstall caja casper compton cups-filters engrampa gnome-icon-theme gnome-accessibility-themes im-config imagemagick libgs9 mate-desktop mate-icon-theme mate-screensaver mate-screensaver-common mate-system-monitor mate-utils openjdk-11-jre sound-theme-freedesktop imagemagick-6.q16 libreoffice-draw libreoffice-math gnome-colors-common vino gnome-orca adwaita-icon-theme-full info sudo apt-get -o Dpkg::Options::="--force-confask" install --reinstall acpid libcompizconfig0 mate-menus systemd xdg-user-dirs-gtk vino casper # select Y Then check system for files, that are not from Ubuntu repositories:
sudo find /bin /etc /lib /lib64 /opt /sbin /srv /usr /var -type f -exec dpkg -S <> \; 2> ~/Desktop/results.out Remove the following objects (may be others!):
sudo rm -rf /etc/linuxmint sudo rm -rf /usr/lib/linuxmint sudo rm /usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/__pycache__/mintreport.cpython-38.pyc And finally install Ubuntu MATE desktop on first login:
sudo apt-get install lightdm-gtk-greeter ubuntu-mate-lightdm-theme ubuntu-mate-themes ubuntu-mate-wallpapers* ubuntu-mate-core ubuntu-mate-default-settings ubuntu-mate-artwork ubuntu-mate-icon-themes plymouth-theme-ubuntu-mate-logo plymouth-theme-ubuntu-mate-text grub2-themes-ubuntu-mate mate-tweak ubuntu-mate-guide caja-eiciel compiz-mate eom mate-accessibility-profiles mate-applet-appmenu mate-applet-brisk-menu mate-calc mate-dock-applet mate-hud mate-menu mate-netbook mate-optimus mate-user-guide mate-window-applets-common mate-window-buttons-applet mate-window-menu-applet mate-window-title-applet folder-color-caja deja-dup-caja gsettings-ubuntu-schemas indicator-messages indicator-power indicator-session indicator-sound brasero shotwell simple-scan smbclient ubuntu-standard vlc gdebi gdebi-core plank seahorse tilda Reset MATE desktop settings to the defaults:
dconf reset -f /org/mate gsettings set org.mate.panel default-layout "'default'" Install MATE Welcome and Software Boutique as Snaps:
sudo snap install software-boutique --classic sudo snap install ubuntu-mate-welcome --classic Reboot and have nearly normal Ubuntu Focal 20.04 LTS 🙂