[tlug] Doing (software) violence unto my scratch monkey?

["Shannon Jacobs" <shannon.jacobs@example.com>]

I suppose this is really an Ubuntu esoteric issue... I'm only starting
experiments with Kubuntu (on a different scratch monkey), but
meanwhile I feel like one possible solution for my problems with the
smallest box is to back it down to Xubuntu, which is supposed to be
quite a bit smaller but with almost the same functionality.

The question is "Can you get there from here?" In this case the "here"
is Dapper Drake Ubuntu with only 195 MB of free space to play with and
no CD drive. Does anyone have the experience to evaluate these
algorithms:

Algorithm 1: Using Synaptic, tag lots of KDE-related things for
uninstalling until sufficient disk space will be freed, then tag
xubuntu-desktop for installation. In this wonderful fantasy, Synaptic
resolves all the dependencies and uninstalls everything first before
miraculously installing Ubuntu in the floating hole. I suspect this
should be called "building your one-step castle in the sky starting
with a bucket of water for your cloud foundation".

Algorithm 2: Go for XWindows and let Synaptic take out everything that
depends on it, presumably leaving some shell of a server install with
a command line. That would surely clear up a whole lot of disk
space... Then install Xubuntu with some magic apt-get commands, which
in the best case might be simply "sudo apt-get install
xubuntu-desktop". This is probably called "the no-wheels kamikaze
option"... (No insult intended, but I don't like the idea too well.)

Algorithm 3: Something really wild?