Update, September 2016:
This probably still works, though I don’t recommend it. This is basically the apt-get equivalent of a nuclear strike.
sudo apt-get autoremove --purge 'gnome*'
Update, September 2016:
This probably still works, though I don’t recommend it. This is basically the apt-get equivalent of a nuclear strike.
sudo apt-get autoremove --purge 'gnome*'
Abandoned Blog 
Thank you!
please insert quotes around gnome* like ‘gnome*’. Tnx.
Nice, thanks
Perfect solution. Thanks!
In addition, sometimes you will have affiliated libraries and applications that cannot be removed with this method. Run “sudo apt-get autoremove gdm3” before “sudo apt-get autoremove –purge gnome*”
Thank you so much!
Finally I got the answer to an annoying question, thank you. I felt like I have to dispose the data in my virtual machine and install ubuntu server which has no gui. Sweet that I found this command working like charm. Thank you for this kind help!
If you want Ubuntu without GUI, there is also a Minimal CD which has no GUI (or it is optional, I can’t remember). Just for any future visitor.
Perfect Thanks!
Thanks very much : it works for me too 🙂
Many solutions , but yours is the simplest !!!
I removed gnome successfully with suggested command 😉 No sweat at all! Thanks a lot for a good advice. However, it removed network settings as well. Connection was previously established in Gnome via Smartphone using usb port ( I don’t have land line and don’t have wireless as well ). How can I make it work without GUI using the same method of connection?
Any installation that requires a GUI for it to work as 6.0.5 does is at best misguided and at worst the construct of fools.
And if that’s not bad enough, CD 1 installs lots of silly useless widgets but no telnet, ftp or ssh server. Lord save us from presumably well-intentioned but clearly ill-informed developers.
Thank you so much! This was very nice!
I made the same mistake, did the autoinstall and what do you know? Gnome is installed on my new webserver. Funny thing is I didnt even notice until after I had my entire webserver environment setup, was wondering what was eating so much CPU (no monitor, remote only). After trying to remove gnome with aptitude I found that it broke everything else, so the only option is to disable for me, that or move my entire webhost to a different machine so I can install without desktop. Fail.
Thank’s, your removal command made my night. I was in a situation where I had a small hard drive failure which I replaced and downloaded the first dvd because I had no blank cd’s, yes I am so deficient. Its been a while since I’ve seen gnome so I thought what the hell maybe things have changed?. Maybe the gnome dev’s have created a desktop users can configure and control the way they like! No, instead they have created a desktop that dev’s can show off and filled it with useless programs that no one uses, programs you can’t remove unless you purge the desktop. So after installing someone else’s desktop I installed “My Friggin Desktop” and did a quick oogle on how to completely remove someone else’s and whata u know I found myself here so if I have expressed myself elite style with full contempt let me just say loudly THANK YOU!
First of all, it is not surprising that your Squeeze CD had GNOME on it, as it is the default desktop environment of Debian.
Second: of course there is NetworkManager in Debian, it just may not be installed by default as part of GNOME.
For me it was surprising, since the previous Squeeze CD I downloaded only listed the base system and SSH server as package sets. My mistake was trying to replace GNOME with IceWM and install NetworkManager afterwards. DeviceKit, DBus or whatever probably failed to run.
I only installed GNOME because I thought NetworkManager might be there.
It wasn’t, so I looked for a method to remove it. And I posted it here 😀
It is far more effective installing Debian without a desktop environment.
Then you can install a pure gnomeless Debian installation with a desktop.
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