Rid yourself of Unity in Ubuntu 12.04

While setting up an Ubuntu installation recently I wanted to get rid of Unity. I stumbled accross this great guide! Thanks to Linux Tech Crunch for the tutorial (original found here: http://linux-software-news-tutorials.blogspot.com.es/2012/04/totally-remove-unity-from-ubuntu-1204.html), I have reproduced it here. I have not confirmed if this works on any other version of ubuntu but I know it works on 12.04:

1) First we need to install gnome-shell, synaptic package manager, and a tool that will allow us to clean up unity. During installation you will be asked to set the default logon manager, select "gdm". When finished reboot.

sudo apt-get install gdm gnome-shell synaptic deborphan

2) Next we need to remove all of the packages associated with Unity:

sudo apt-get remove unity unity-2d unity-2d-common unity-2d-panel unity-2d-shell unity-2d-spread unity-asset-pool unity-common unity-lens-applications unity-lens-files unity-lens-music unity-lens-video unity-scope-musicstores unity-scope-video-remote unity-services indicator-messages indicator-status-provider-mc5 appmenu-qt appmenu-gtk appmenu-gtk3 lightdm unity-greeter overlay-scrollbar zeitgeist zeitgeist-core zeitgeist-datahub activity-log-manager-common activity-log-manager-control-center

Then type

sudo apt-get autoremove

Now we need to remove all of the "orphan" packaages:

sudo apt-get purge `deborphan`

Repeat the last command several times to ensure that all packages are remove. Just go until it doesn't find anything else to remove. You might need to run sudo apt-get autoremove again just for good measure.

Finally, we elminate the config files:

sudo dpkg --purge `dpkg -l | egrep "^rc" | cut -d' ' -f3`

Reboot and you now have a Unity free Ubuntu 12.04!