What's the difference between GDM and LightDM?












97















What is the difference between GDM and LightDM? How can one switch between them. I mean if I have selected LightDM during installation process, will I be able switch to GDM?










share|improve this question





























    97















    What is the difference between GDM and LightDM? How can one switch between them. I mean if I have selected LightDM during installation process, will I be able switch to GDM?










    share|improve this question



























      97












      97








      97


      25






      What is the difference between GDM and LightDM? How can one switch between them. I mean if I have selected LightDM during installation process, will I be able switch to GDM?










      share|improve this question
















      What is the difference between GDM and LightDM? How can one switch between them. I mean if I have selected LightDM during installation process, will I be able switch to GDM?







      11.04 gdm login-screen lightdm






      share|improve this question















      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question








      edited Jan 28 '12 at 1:20









      Marc-André Appel

      1,094919




      1,094919










      asked Aug 24 '11 at 21:47









      user7044user7044

      1,80182739




      1,80182739






















          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          90














          Both LightDM and GDM (GNOME Display Manager) are login managers.

          They both provide graphical login capabilities (the GUI with the list of the system's users) as well as remote logins using the XDMCP protocol.



          Ubuntu is supposed to officially replace GDM in favor of the lighter and more easily customizable LightDM



          You can have both of them installed (or add even more, like KDM), but only one will be used at any time.



          The default can be selected by running:



          sudo dpkg-reconfigure gdm (if gdm is already installed)



          More information on LightDM can be found on the Ubuntu wiki.






          share|improve this answer





















          • 31





            they are not desktop managers: gnome, kde and unity are. GDM and LightDM are called login managers or display managers

            – josinalvo
            Aug 15 '12 at 14:28












          Your Answer








          StackExchange.ready(function() {
          var channelOptions = {
          tags: "".split(" "),
          id: "89"
          };
          initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

          StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
          // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
          if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
          StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
          createEditor();
          });
          }
          else {
          createEditor();
          }
          });

          function createEditor() {
          StackExchange.prepareEditor({
          heartbeatType: 'answer',
          autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
          convertImagesToLinks: true,
          noModals: true,
          showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
          reputationToPostImages: 10,
          bindNavPrevention: true,
          postfix: "",
          imageUploader: {
          brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
          contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
          allowUrls: true
          },
          onDemand: true,
          discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
          ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
          });


          }
          });














          draft saved

          draft discarded


















          StackExchange.ready(
          function () {
          StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2faskubuntu.com%2fquestions%2f58528%2fwhats-the-difference-between-gdm-and-lightdm%23new-answer', 'question_page');
          }
          );

          Post as a guest















          Required, but never shown

























          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes








          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes









          active

          oldest

          votes






          active

          oldest

          votes









          90














          Both LightDM and GDM (GNOME Display Manager) are login managers.

          They both provide graphical login capabilities (the GUI with the list of the system's users) as well as remote logins using the XDMCP protocol.



          Ubuntu is supposed to officially replace GDM in favor of the lighter and more easily customizable LightDM



          You can have both of them installed (or add even more, like KDM), but only one will be used at any time.



          The default can be selected by running:



          sudo dpkg-reconfigure gdm (if gdm is already installed)



          More information on LightDM can be found on the Ubuntu wiki.






          share|improve this answer





















          • 31





            they are not desktop managers: gnome, kde and unity are. GDM and LightDM are called login managers or display managers

            – josinalvo
            Aug 15 '12 at 14:28
















          90














          Both LightDM and GDM (GNOME Display Manager) are login managers.

          They both provide graphical login capabilities (the GUI with the list of the system's users) as well as remote logins using the XDMCP protocol.



          Ubuntu is supposed to officially replace GDM in favor of the lighter and more easily customizable LightDM



          You can have both of them installed (or add even more, like KDM), but only one will be used at any time.



          The default can be selected by running:



          sudo dpkg-reconfigure gdm (if gdm is already installed)



          More information on LightDM can be found on the Ubuntu wiki.






          share|improve this answer





















          • 31





            they are not desktop managers: gnome, kde and unity are. GDM and LightDM are called login managers or display managers

            – josinalvo
            Aug 15 '12 at 14:28














          90












          90








          90







          Both LightDM and GDM (GNOME Display Manager) are login managers.

          They both provide graphical login capabilities (the GUI with the list of the system's users) as well as remote logins using the XDMCP protocol.



          Ubuntu is supposed to officially replace GDM in favor of the lighter and more easily customizable LightDM



          You can have both of them installed (or add even more, like KDM), but only one will be used at any time.



          The default can be selected by running:



          sudo dpkg-reconfigure gdm (if gdm is already installed)



          More information on LightDM can be found on the Ubuntu wiki.






          share|improve this answer















          Both LightDM and GDM (GNOME Display Manager) are login managers.

          They both provide graphical login capabilities (the GUI with the list of the system's users) as well as remote logins using the XDMCP protocol.



          Ubuntu is supposed to officially replace GDM in favor of the lighter and more easily customizable LightDM



          You can have both of them installed (or add even more, like KDM), but only one will be used at any time.



          The default can be selected by running:



          sudo dpkg-reconfigure gdm (if gdm is already installed)



          More information on LightDM can be found on the Ubuntu wiki.







          share|improve this answer














          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer








          edited Oct 19 '15 at 14:15









          Tim

          20.1k1586141




          20.1k1586141










          answered Aug 25 '11 at 2:15









          Pavlos G.Pavlos G.

          7,39612733




          7,39612733








          • 31





            they are not desktop managers: gnome, kde and unity are. GDM and LightDM are called login managers or display managers

            – josinalvo
            Aug 15 '12 at 14:28














          • 31





            they are not desktop managers: gnome, kde and unity are. GDM and LightDM are called login managers or display managers

            – josinalvo
            Aug 15 '12 at 14:28








          31




          31





          they are not desktop managers: gnome, kde and unity are. GDM and LightDM are called login managers or display managers

          – josinalvo
          Aug 15 '12 at 14:28





          they are not desktop managers: gnome, kde and unity are. GDM and LightDM are called login managers or display managers

          – josinalvo
          Aug 15 '12 at 14:28


















          draft saved

          draft discarded




















































          Thanks for contributing an answer to Ask Ubuntu!


          • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

          But avoid



          • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

          • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


          To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




          draft saved


          draft discarded














          StackExchange.ready(
          function () {
          StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2faskubuntu.com%2fquestions%2f58528%2fwhats-the-difference-between-gdm-and-lightdm%23new-answer', 'question_page');
          }
          );

          Post as a guest















          Required, but never shown





















































          Required, but never shown














          Required, but never shown












          Required, but never shown







          Required, but never shown

































          Required, but never shown














          Required, but never shown












          Required, but never shown







          Required, but never shown







          Popular posts from this blog

          Human spaceflight

          Can not write log (Is /dev/pts mounted?) - openpty in Ubuntu-on-Windows?

          張江高科駅