For some time I have been unhappy with the bloat of most Linux distribution installers. They tend to install huge filesystems crammed with crap software and options that I don't need or use, and that someone at the distribution chose for me. Instead of spending forever and ever removing bloat from my installed operating system, I wanted to start off with a minimal install and add just add the components and software I want. Over the past two days I've taken two huge steps in that direction, and I'm very happy about it.
1. The Debian installer permits you to unselect "Debian Desktop Environment" during the install. This didn't seem to be an option because it creates only a bare text-only system. I wanted to have access to a desktop without being forced to use one and install things on my desktop that _I_ want to install, not that someone else does. I've discovered that Debian also offers a little 480-meg liveCD that installs a basic text-only system in about four and a half minutes. After that, I can install a variety of stripped-down desktops such as gnome-core, kde-baseapps and lxde-core. I chose the latter because it installs only about 150 meg to the hard drive, does not force me to use a graphical login manager and launches in about two seconds (literally!) when you launch it from a command line terminal. Right now I've got _five_ pieces of software installed on my computer and everything put together, including the base operating system and desktop, is about 2 gigs. It took me some trial and error to work out the best way to install the kind of system I want, but I've succeeded and feel good about it.
2. I've found an organization online called Linux from Scratch that teaches you how to build your own custom Linux install with zero clutter. They say they've created working LInux systems that are only 100 meg with desktop installed. I plan to read their books on the subject carefully, but discovering them is also a win.
I'm exhausted from having been awake for almost 25 hours messing around with my computer but also feel a strong sense of accomplishment, which is something I haven't felt too often in my life. Good days are here.
1. The Debian installer permits you to unselect "Debian Desktop Environment" during the install. This didn't seem to be an option because it creates only a bare text-only system. I wanted to have access to a desktop without being forced to use one and install things on my desktop that _I_ want to install, not that someone else does. I've discovered that Debian also offers a little 480-meg liveCD that installs a basic text-only system in about four and a half minutes. After that, I can install a variety of stripped-down desktops such as gnome-core, kde-baseapps and lxde-core. I chose the latter because it installs only about 150 meg to the hard drive, does not force me to use a graphical login manager and launches in about two seconds (literally!) when you launch it from a command line terminal. Right now I've got _five_ pieces of software installed on my computer and everything put together, including the base operating system and desktop, is about 2 gigs. It took me some trial and error to work out the best way to install the kind of system I want, but I've succeeded and feel good about it.
2. I've found an organization online called Linux from Scratch that teaches you how to build your own custom Linux install with zero clutter. They say they've created working LInux systems that are only 100 meg with desktop installed. I plan to read their books on the subject carefully, but discovering them is also a win.
I'm exhausted from having been awake for almost 25 hours messing around with my computer but also feel a strong sense of accomplishment, which is something I haven't felt too often in my life. Good days are here.
