Ubuntu Desktop is one of the most popular and widely used Linux distros. It's easy to start with, comes with a great set of built-in tools and apps, and is rock-solid stable. If you've ever downloaded Ubuntu, though, you might've noticed that it's available in a couple of flavors: Desktop or Server. But what's the difference, and when should you use Ubuntu Server?

When comparing specifics, we'll look at Ubuntu 23.04 (Lunar Lobster) in both its Desktop and Server flavors, but we'll also be exploring how to compare any two Linux OS' more fundamentally.

What makes a server OS?

Less bloat and a focus on stability

Most operating systems come with server versions, even Windows. These Server versions typically come with fewer preinstalled apps and sometimes lack a graphical user interface (GUI), although Windows Server does feature this. Server operating systems focus more on security, stability, and hardware efficiency. They typically have no bloat and have mechanisms built in for managing sysadmin tasks like provisioning, access control, or updates. Server versions have a much smaller target audience than Desktop OS, so they will often have worse hardware support or fewer preinstalled drivers.

How can you compare Linux Distros

Ubuntu makes comparing distros easy

One of the great things about Linux is its extreme modularity. Almost everything, from the kernel to the login screen, is a package installed on Linux. The package manager itself is even modular and can be swapped out between distros. All of this makes it easy to build new Linux distros for different purposes.

This package focus makes it easy to compare Ubuntu distros. For each ISO release of Ubuntu, a manifest file (used in the same sense as a ship or airline manifest) is published, containing a complete list of all packages installed. Manifests can be useful when upgrading a version of Linux, especially in high-availability systems, as administrators can compare exactly what will change between versions.

If you look through a manifest for each version of Ubuntu, you'll spot some apps you may be familiar with, like sudo or bash. You might also see some desktop apps installed as packages, for example, LibreOffice, as well as plenty of packages relating to GNOME, which is Ubuntu Desktop's graphical environment.

You can check out and compare the manifests for Ubuntu Server and Ubuntu Desktop online for Ubuntu 23.04. Each entry on the respective lists is a package name with an accompanying version. Manifest files are published alongside ISO and other supporting files for each version of Ubuntu (and most Linux distros).

Differences between Ubuntu Desktop and Server

Ubuntu Desktop's slicker baby brother

Now that we've explored what differentiates Server and Desktop operating systems generally, and looked at how to compare different Linux distributions, we can compare Ubuntu and Ubuntu Server directly.

Ubuntu Server is broadly far more lightweight than Ubuntu Desktop, with less installed from the outset (the former includes 636 default packages versus 1,905 for the latter). Both versions are free and open-source and follow the same release cadence and support timelines.

There are many flavors of Ubuntu available past Server and Desktop, including Ubuntu Cloud and Ubuntu IoT, as well as a wealth of modified desktop versions such as Edubuntu (designed for education), Kubuntu (Ubuntu with the plasma desktop and some other graphical tweaks) and even Ubuntu Kylin, which is specifically designed for Chinese users.

Headless Linux

One of the core differences between Ubuntu Server and Desktop is that the Server version is headless, headless meaning that in it features no graphical interface by default, only a terminal prompt. GNOME is Ubuntu 23.04's default GUI, and you can see the differences here by looking for packages relating to GNOME in each version's manifest file. Graphical interfaces require more processing power to run and generally don't offer much in a server environment where the machine might not even be connected to a display.

It is possible to add a GUI to Ubuntu Server, and likewise it's possible to change (or remove) the GUI on an Ubuntu Desktop install.

No default apps

If the OS has no GUI, then it doesn't make much sense to keep apps installed either. Most configuration work on servers can be done by using terminal-based editors like Vi or Nano, and programs can be run directly from the terminal without needing a GUI. Many of these apps are straight-up removed, as are many of the supporting tools in some surprising ways. For example, Ubuntu Server includes a single font package, called fonts-ubuntu-console, whereas the Desktop version includes almost 100.

Installation process

Ubuntu Server and Desktop use slightly different installation processes. Ubuntu Server uses a tool called Subiquity, which is a menu-based terminal installer. In contrast, Ubuntu Desktop uses its own desktop installer. This installer is still based on subiquity behind the scenes but features a more approachable front end. This new installer replaced the old ubiquity installer as of Ubuntu 23.04.

Hardware requirements

Ubuntu Server and Desktop have different minimum recommended hardware requirements. Given that Ubuntu Server has no GUI to maintain, far less packages or applications, and fewer running system services by default, we would expect Server to also have lower hardware requirements. This is the case, with Ubuntu Desktop requiring the following:

• 2 GHz dual-core processor or better
• 4 GB system memory
• 25 GB of free hard drive space

And Ubuntu Server requires a relatively meager:

• CPU: 1 gigahertz or better
• RAM: 1 gigabyte or more
• Disk: a minimum of 2.5 gigabytes

Ubuntu Desktop also specifies in its installation process that "Internet access is helpful" and that "Either a DVD drive or a USB port for the installer media", though this isn't a strict requirement and is more likely to be included to help non-technical users avoid pitfalls.

Similarities between Ubuntu Server and Desktop

Is everything different?

We've explored the differences between Ubuntu Server and Ubuntu Desktop, but are there any similarities? Well, yes. To avoid maintaining two completely different operating systems, the developers maintain a core set of tools and features between both. For example, both versions use the same set of package repositories, and the same package manager (apt).

Both versions are produced by Canonical, as are all Ubuntu distributions. They're also both based on Debian, and releases are every six months. Releases receive nine months worth of support by default, with every fourth release being an LTS (or long term support) release, which receives five years worth of standard security maintenance support for both Server and Desktop versions.

Both versions also feature the same tools for several key functions, though the Desktop version may have GUIs built on top of these tools. For example, fdisk and parted are preferred tools for disk management, and systemd is the init process on both versions.

Which should you use?

The clue is in the name

For high-performance or headless applications, like databases, self-hosted apps or web servers, Ubuntu Server is the way to go. If you need a GUI, you can always install one on Ubuntu Server, but the minimal OS and focus on uptime, performance, and efficiency will ensure that nothing superfluous is bogging your system down or causing crashes. If you're looking for a more general day-to-day computing tool, Ubuntu Desktop is the way to go. You can still use all the same tools as Ubuntu server, but more essential tools will be installed by default (and often with helpful GUIs to learn with instead of command-line interfaces.)