[easrng]

Last time I installed Debian it gave me a list of DEs and I could pick as many as I wanted to, no default. Did something change?

[6581]

If you don't choose a specific DE (which is the default setting), it installs GNOME.

[George83728]

I'm quite sure the last time I installed Debian, a year or two ago, I didn't choose a DE so it installed no DE at all.

Are you people talking about installing from a GNOME-based live image or something? I think most people use the netinstall image, which uses no DE and, I'm about 90% sure, has no graphical environment selected by default.

[DiabloD3]

This is correct, but lacking context: If you don't select the desktop task, no desktop is installed; if you select the desktop task, but no specific version of it, it installs GNOME.

There are also KDE, XFCE, LXDE, and maybe others, to also install; but the user has to select those instead of the default desktop task.

[reportgunner]

Perhaps you used the minimal image, I remember both having a DE when installing debian and not having a DE when I installed it again later.

[goosedragons]

If you choose the desktop environment task then by default it gives you GNOME.

[stonogo]

Check again. That list of DEs comes with GNOME checked by default.

[johnny22]

which one would be selected if you didn't make a choice. I don't use debian, but I thought the answer was GNOME.

[JohnFen]

IIRC, if you don't choose one, no DE is installed at all.