How to replace Nautilus with Nemo in Gnome 3
Based on here,
After Nemo file manager installation, set Nemo as default File-Manager and allow desktop handling by Nemo open Terminal (Press Ctrl+Alt+T) and copy the following commands in the Terminal:
xdg-mime default nemo.desktop inode/directory application/x-gnome-saved-search
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background show-desktop-icons false
gsettings set org.nemo.desktop show-desktop-icons true
Now enter this command in terminal to check that now Nemo is your default file manager :
xdg-mime query default inode/directory
If you want to go back with Nautilus as default File Manager try these commands:
xdg-mime default nautilus*.desktop inode/directory application/x-gnome-saved-search
gsettings set org.nemo.desktop show-desktop-icons false
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background show-desktop-icons true
You can easily install nemo without cinnamon dependencies, as shown here:
Warning: do not use this PPA if you're using Linux Mint or if you use Cinnamon in Ubuntu! Also, if you've added any Cinnamon PPAs, remove them before using the WebUpd8 Nemo PPA even if you didn't install Cinnamon, or else the Nemo version in the WebUpd8 Nemo PPA might be overwritten.
Install Nemo:
Update: the PPA now provides Nemo 2.6 for Ubuntu 14.04, 14.10 and 15.04!
Add the PPA and install the latest Nemo with Unity tweaks/fixes by using the commands below:sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/nemo sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install nemo nemo-fileroller