Q:

Installing Ubuntu Desktop on server with only system management tools in it?

I'd like to install ubuntu-desktop on the server edition of Ubuntu 4.04 LST. The default installation is bloated, with too many packages in it. So I tried this:
sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends ubuntu-desktop

This however, installed a desktop version with nothing on it at all. Not even a power button on the upper taskbar, or a way to configure networking on the desktop, or a disk usage utility.
Is there a reasonable installation option, made for humans who just want a complete desktop installation with no extra software like OpenOffice or Thunderbird?
I could not find a way to get a complete OS installed without all the other stuff that I don't need..
If not, then how can I know which packages to install to get these basic features into the minimal desktop? Searching on the dash gave me nothing other than online pages.
Thanks!

A:

I think these should cover what you want:

Some recommended packages for ubuntu-desktop (apt-cache depends ubuntu-desktop to see complete list):
sudo apt-get install gnome-disk-utility gnome-terminal libpam-gnome-keyring \
libproxy1-plugin-gsettingslibproxy1-plugin-networkmanager network-manager-gnome \
network-manager-pptp network-manager-pptp-gnome ttf-ubuntu-font-family xdg-utils 

Some recommended packages for unity (apt-cache depends unity to see complete list):
sudo apt-get install unity-control-center unity-lens-applications unity-lens-files \
indicator-session indicator-power indicator-keyboard indicator-datetime \
indicator-sound indicator-application indicator-appmenu hud

