System Settings should include a way to change default Desktop Environment

[komputes]

Maybe I'm not seeing it, but there doesn't seem to be a graphical way to set the default desktop environment. If I set login automatically, and I want to use Unity 2D I need to log out of Unity and log back in using Unity 2D. I would suggest that the "User Account" set the preferred desktop for each user. Not sure if this would be able to support LightDM and GDM, KDM, XDM etc.

Currently, I find that the community lacks in knowledge about LightDM and how to configure it.

Let's just say that I can't instruct someone who is frightened by CLI to edit /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf to read the following:

[SeatDefaults]
greeter-session=unity-greeter
user-session=ubuntu-2d
autologin-user=confusedgrandmother

of yourse, you can always change the user-session=ubuntu-2d line to read another default desktop environment (for the system, not per user). The environments are listed in /usr/share/xsessions/ - just remember to remove .desktop suffix.

gnome
gnome-shell
kde-plasma
Lubuntu
Lubuntu-Netbook
LXDE
openbox
openbox-gnome
openbox-kde
openbox.xsession
ubuntu-2d
ubuntu
xfce
xubuntu

We've come a long way from gdm-setup.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
Package: gnome-control-center 1:3.1.90-0ubuntu2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-10.16-generic 3.0.4
Uname: Linux 3.0.0-10-generic i686
NonfreeKernelModules: wl
Architecture: i386
Date: Sun Sep 4 09:58:51 2011
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" - Alpha i386 (20110817)
SourcePackage: gnome-control-center
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to oneiric on 2011-08-27 (7 days ago)

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. The issue you are reporting is an upstream one and it would be nice if somebody having it could send the bug to the developers of the software by following the instructions at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Upstream/GNOME. If you have done so, please tell us the number of the upstream bug (or the link), so we can add a bugwatch that will inform us about its status. Thanks in advance.

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

It would need design input but it's likely that we don't want our users getting confused by having to learn that they use "unity" and that other desktop and session can be installed or used, that's something rather technical and that should probably be out of the standard options, closing that bug