i don't really "uninstall" nouveau, i just tell the kernel not to use it. recovery mode does that initially, but when i rebuild the initramfs, so when you get done installing the nvidia driver, and resume the boot, the resume wont load it either, hence why there is no need for a reboot.
The other way to disable nouveau, is to edit grub at the grub selection screen and add "nomodeset" to the kernel parameters line, typically after "splash quiet".
Unless you are feeling froggy and decide to build your own kernel without it :)














complete noob here, sorry to bump an old thread, halfway through the Linux challenge.