Messed up Ubuntu 14.04 UI
I installed the Kubuntu desktop environment atop Ubuntu 14.04 x64 LTS. After I removed it, the cursor remained that of plasma desktop and the background, the symbols, the sounds have changed completely. I tried unity --replace which wasn’t of much help. any way to get my old interface settings back? I would also appreciate it if you told me how to remove all the apps that came with Kubuntu, as I used apt-get remove kubuntu-desktop and apt-get autoclean, which did not remove the apps.
you need to also uninstall all plasma and oxygen themes.
First, determine what is still installed on your system by running the following commands:
dpkg -l | grep plasma
then:
dpkg -l | grep oxygen
and for kicks and giggles, go ahead and find out what kde related apps are also installed:
dpkg -l | grep kde
Use the following command to purge (not just remove) all those apps that were listed in the output from each of those commands. You can copy and paste them all to follow the next command:
sudo apt-get purge
example:
sudo apt-get purge oxygen-icon-theme oxygencursors kde-style-oxygen-transparent
and so on, listing as many as you would like to purge from the system in that single command.
You may be able to get away with using a wildcard but I warn you to BE CAREFUL to make sure what will be uninstalled BEFORE you accept the changes as using a wild card often results in uninstalling some stuff that you need or want to keep as well so make sure to read the changes before accepting yes!!!
sudo apt-get purge "oxygen*" "plasma*" "kde*"
To regain control over your system, you have two options.
Option one (before Ubuntu version 18.04): install unity-tweak-tool and there you will find an option for the cursor theme and other theme settings not available through the basic settings interface.
sudo apt-get install unity-tweak-tool
Option two (Ubuntu 18.04 and newer): a more simple approach is to use the gnome-tweak-tool instead:
sudo apt-get install gnome-tweak-tool
The gnome tweak tool is not as complicated and more simple and the unity-tweak-tool offers more settings. Personally, I have both installed and use the gnome-tweak-tool for quick theme changes and the unity counterpart for all the other stuff not available there. It should be noted that the unity-tweak-tool is only for use with the Unity desktop which is no longer the standard as of version 18.04.