Installing Raspberry Pi OS Lite is a great way to get the most out of any Raspberry Pi computer.
Its particularly useful on older models and the Pi Zero series.
But what if you suddenly need to use a desktop?
Raspberry Pi OS Lite doesnt ship with a desktop environment, so what should you do?
Well, you dont need to switch to the standard Raspberry Pi OS.
What Is Raspberry Pi OS Lite?
(The Extended version has more apps than Full).
Note that there are 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Raspberry Pi OS Lite.
But you might need that to change.
There are many reasons for installing a desktop environment on Raspberry Pi OS Lite.
For example, I was using Raspberry Pi OS Lite for a barebones project recently.
After getting into some difficulty and realizing I needed additional desktop-only software, installing a desktop environment became necessary.
What Is the Raspberry Pi OS Desktop Environment?
If youre thinking of the Raspberry Pi OS, youre probably picturing PIXEL.
Introduced in 2017, its certainly an improvement on the basic desktop included with the original Raspbian operating system.
As you know, the Raspberry Pi OS Full and Extended versions feature the PIXEL desktop.
Consequently, the instructions for doing so are relatively straightforward.
At the prompt, enter:
TapYwhen prompted to confirm the installation.
Once the basic desktop is installed, use
…to boot into the desktop UI.
This will exit the desktop environment immediately dropping you back in the text-based command line interface.
SelectSystem > Bootchoose betweenTo desktopandTo CLI.)
Plenty of alternatives are available, but for a typically modern Linux look, GNOME is a strong contender.
Better still, its relatively straightforward to install on Raspberry Pi OS Lite.
Note, however, that this is more suited to the 64-bit version of Raspberry Pi OS Lite.
In fact, it probably wont be usable on the 32-bit version.
For example, Chromium web app is installed with the full option.
Whichever you choose, installation is going to take a few minutes to complete.
The Raspberry Pi should automatically reboot.
To do this:
You should now see the GNOME desktop running on your Raspberry Pi.
It takes just a couple of minutes to install a desktop environment on the Raspberry Pi OS Lite.
That makes it a far quicker solution, and one that doesnt overwrite any saved data on the unit.
