I installed Ubuntu Server because I wanted a minimal install befitting a server. No OpenOffice, games or any other stuff. I know my way around a unix command line but it’s just so much quicker to get things done in Windows. Now I think I’d like a light weight GUI on my server that I can start just when I need it. So I need X, Gnome, no login manager and Synaptic for package management.
I’m hoping this should work… Need to look at what’s included in gnome-core.

$ sudo aptitude install xorg gnome-core synaptic

$ startx

Added myself a new user (should have read the useradd man page first, should be able to set a lot of this all in one command)

1. useradd …
2. sudo vi /etc/passwd to set group and default shell
3. sudo vi /etc/group and add new user to the same groups as existing user
   Need to include group admin for sudo
4. create the home directory /home/…
   chown username folder
   chgrp groupname folder