I’m trying to set up a lightweight desktop environment on Armbian Trixie. When I use tasksel, it installs a lot of extra packages, including GNOME. How can I install LXQt manually?

https://wiki.debian.org/LXQt

In addition to what Werner said, I would like to point to the option of not installing recommended packages.  "sudo apt install --no-install-recommends lxqt".  Personally, i like to use aptitude for package management for more control and transparency.

It seems to me that Gnome is installed by tasksel because you didnt deselect it. I mean that gnome is selected by default.

From a minimal image type this (If you are going to use it in English, skip the "l10n" commands or translations)

sudo apt update
sudo apt install task-lxqt-desktop papirus-icon-theme gvfs locales polkitd xdg-desktop-portal-lxqt
sudo reboot
sudo apt install gvfs-backends lxqt-l10n-es liblxqt-l10n qterminal-l10n pcmanfm-qt-l10n featherpad-l10n lxqt-panel-l10n lxqt-session-l10n lxqt-powermanagement-l10n lxqt-config-l10n lxqt-about-l10n lxqt-admin-l10n lxqt-archiver-l10n
sudo apt install gvfs-backends liblxqt-l10n qterminal-l10n pcmanfm-qt-l10n featherpad-l10n lxqt-panel-l10n lxqt-session-l10n lxqt-powermanagement-l10n lxqt-config-l10n lxqt-about-l10n lxqt-admin-l10n lxqt-archiver-l10n
sudo apt install lxqt-globalkeys-l10n lxqt-policykit-l10n lxqt-runner-l10n lxqt-sudo-l10n lximage-qt-l10n libfm-qt-l10n lxqt-openssh-askpass-l10n
ls xdg-user-dirs
sudo apt install pavucontrol-qt-l10n
sudo apt install dmz-cursor-theme
sudo apt install openbox
sudo apt purge --remove xfwm4
sudo apt autoremove
sudo apt install obconf-qt obconf-qt-l10n
sudo apt search xterm
sudo apt purge --remove xterm
sudo apt install qpdfview qpdfview-translations
sudo apt install screengrab

 

Edited October 15, 2025Oct 15 by Giordano Sologuren

The way the Debian .iso installer does it:

sudo apt-get -o APT::Install-Recommends="true" install task-lxqt-desktop

That will install a fully functional desktop with a minimal set of applications. If you set Install-Recommends to false, or any other way of installing it (i.e. lxqt), in my experience, the result may not be quite functional.