[PLUG] Towards a custom minimalist bootable Debian installation via dedbootstrap

Russell Senior russell at personaltelco.net
Tue Dec 11 23:34:49 UTC 2018


It has been a while since I've done a Debian install. What I recall is that
during the steps of the installation, you are presented with options about
what kind of system to install. If you want a minimal installation, then
uncheck everything. You can add the packages you want/need individually.
Some of those things might pull in other things. I think you can configure
your package manager to only install Required dependencies and not also
Suggested dependencies. You might well encounter situations where the
package maintainers have decided to include dependencies that might not
strictly be necessary. That's the other side of letting people do work for
you for free, they might make choices you would make differently. Please
take that up with the package maintainers or perhaps you can have a
philosophical discussion about it with Mr Hobson. You might be able to find
his phone number on this page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobson%27s_choice

If you want a minimal linux system, check out OpenWrt. It runs on devices
with 8MB of flash and 32 MB of RAM. You can build it yourself and include
only the things you want (and the other things those things you want need
to work).


On Mon, Dec 10, 2018 at 9:56 AM Richard Owlett <rowlett at cloud85.net> wrote:

> On 12/10/2018 10:53 AM, Rich Shepard wrote:
> > On Mon, 10 Dec 2018, Richard Owlett wrote:
> >
> >> Debian Squeeze was my introduction to any Linux. I am and will use the
> >> current stable release. It is unnecessarily toooo big. The underlying
> >> problem is it {and particularly the installation DVD} is designed to be
> >> "all things to all people".
> >
> > Richard,
> >
> >    Just out of curiosity, why are these a concern? Why not use only the
> > pieces you need for a specific task and ignore the rest?
> >
> >    If you have a TV with cable or satellite feed do you watch all
> bazillion
> > channels they pump out, or select only those you want?
> >
> >    Of course, if futzing with the distribution is your goal, go for it.
> > But,
> > if you want to use the system for certain tasks why not make them the
> goal
> > and apply only the pieces for each task?
> >
> >    A curious mind asks.
> >
> > Rich
>
> *ROFL* & P.S. You snipped a significant pun.
> I prefer "educational experimentation" to "futzing" ;/
> Besides which, as a retiree, I can "have it my way".
>
> As to goals.
> "Minimalist" is important. [ Z80 systems, 16k, 8" floppies were "big"]
> "Ideal" is another.
>
> Both are difficult to define.
> An "all things to all people" system or installer is, almost by
> definition, sub-optimal [like using a super nova to swat 1 mosquito]
>
> I once described my goal as a greener Debian.
> I personally suspect that it would be a system valuable to a much larger
> audience than expected.
>
>
>
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