Install Cinnamon 2.4 (Stable) In Ubuntu 14.04 Via PPA

Quick update for Ubuntu 14.04 users who want to try the latest Cinnamon 2.4 (stable): the two Cinnamon stable PPAs we covered a while back were updated recently with the latest Cinnamon 2.4 (2.4.5).

Unfortunately there's no Cinnamon 2.4.5 (stable) PPA for Ubuntu 14.10. The alternatives are to either add the Cinnamon Nightly PPA (unstable) or install Cinnamon from the official Ubuntu 14.10 repositories (version 2.2.16).

As you probably know, the official Cinnamon Stable PPA was discontinued and the alternative is to use the Cinnamon Nightly PPA but, like its name suggests, that PPA provides unstable builds.

However, Ubuntu 14.04 LTS users can now install Cinnamon 2.4 by using a couple of unofficial PPAs which provides stable Cinnamon 2.4 builds.

Of course, if you want to use Cinnamon, you can simply install Linux Mint 17.1 Cinnamon but if you only want Cinnamon and you're running Ubuntu, installing it from a PPA and simply selecting the Cinnamon session from the login screen is more convenient.

Before using these PPAs, please read the following important notes:

• if you're currently using Nemo with Unity patches from the WebUpd8 Nemo PPA or some other PPA which copies my modifications (and even if the PPA is enabled but you've removed Nemo), purge the PPA ("sudo apt-get install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:webupd8team/nemo") before adding any Cinnamon PPA because that's a custom Nemo build that's not compatible with Cinnamon and you may encounter issues;
• if you've added the Cinnamon Nightly PPA, you'll have to purge it before using the stable PPAs;
• don't add any Cinnamon PPAs if you're using Linux Mint!

How to install Cinnamon 2.4 (stable) in Ubuntu 14.04 via PPA

As I said above, there are 2 stable Cinnamon PPAs for Ubuntu 14.04 and you can use any of them. The PPAs are the same at the time I'm writing the article but they may provide updates at a different pace.

A. To add Tsvetko's Cinnamon PPA and install Cinnamon 2.4 (2.4.5 at the time I'm writing this article) stable in Ubuntu 14.04, use the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tsvetko.tsvetkov/cinnamon
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install cinnamon

B. To add Lester's Cinnamon PPA and install Cinnamon 2.4 (2.4.5 at the time I'm writing the article) in Ubuntu 14.04, use the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:lestcape/cinnamon
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install cinnamon

Once installed, log out and select Cinnamon from the login screen session menu:

Optional: to install the official Linux Mint GTK and icon themes, use the following command:

sudo apt-get install mint-themes

You may also want to install some Nemo extensions - you can search for Nemo in Ubuntu Software Center / Synaptic and install the extensions you need.

Update: if you have problems with the automount volumes options, Lester Carballo Perez (the maintainer of the second PPA from this article) recommends in a comment below to install and switch to MDM. For how to switch between LightDM / MDM / GDM, see THIS article.

How to completely remove Cinnamon

If you want to remove Cinnamon (and its dependencies) installed by using the instructions above and remove the PPA, use the following commands:

A. If you've used Tsvetko's Cinnamon PPA:

sudo apt-get purge cinnamon* nemo-* cjs muffin* python-nemo
sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tsvetko_tsvetkov-cinnamon*.list
sudo apt-get update

B. If you've used Lester's Cinnamon PPA:

sudo apt-get purge cinnamon* nemo-* cjs muffin* python-nemo
sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/lestcape-cinnamon*.list
sudo apt-get update

PPA update seen @ jedepannetonordi.fr