Hi there :-)

I've recently knackered my debian install apt-get has broken and i've given up trying to fix it.
So that's that.

What I want to do now is re-install Debian (testing, prefereably, but I guess I can upgrade later) but without all the mounds of stuff I never use, so I can just install what I want, when I find I need it. All I want is:

The basics, so that I can connect to my network, samba etc. and KDE & KDM But NOT all the millions of apps that are installed - basically so I can get it done quickly. Of course I would want the package tools including synaptic and aptitude.

So what's the general procedure for achieving this?

Any help would be great!

MAt

Just install base and apt what you want. Base will give you the basic tools to have a bootable system, along with apt.

So if I apt-get install KDE - will that just install KDE and not all of the apps that are associated with it?

First you do a apt-get install x-windows-system I think, been awhile sinse I use debian. Next do the kde, It will install all the basic kde apps.

what you probably want is a Debian install with as litle as possible of the huge meta-package KDE..

As replied before, x-window-system is needed, but you can get away with just 'x-window-system-core' not "all" of the x-window-system package.

So ;

apt-get install x-window-system-core kdm kde-core samba-common synaptics

.. should do the trick

I made the mistake of installing KDE meta package I think. I did apt-get install kde and it listed loads of rubbish I didn't ask for! Can I remove all of that using apt-get remove kde?

But it's still not working properly anyway. Here's what it's doing:

KDM starts, I can log and it goes to some sort of 'desktop' without icons or menu bar, also the windows aren't correct - they don't have min/max or title-bar. Also they can't be moved or resized!

I understand this is due to a lack of Window Manager? But surely installing the KDE package should've done this?

Any help on this would be great.

At least i've kept my home directory and it's contents. That all went really smoothly. I like it a lot :-)

in KDM, choose session and KDE. Seems like maybe you are going into TWM or something.

Hmmm, so TWM (Tiny Window Manager) doesn't allow windows to be moved or resized?
I shall try as you suggestd tonight though

No, I've looked at screenshots of TWM and this aint that.
It's a problem...

I get the feeling from searching on the web that i'm missing kwm...

Any ideas?

I will check when I get home though.

No, I've decided what i reckon the problem is - KDM isn't doesn't allow me to select KDE as my session - I didn't see it in the list, it just had default.

so how do I add it to the list?

Try to reinstall kdm:

apt-get --purge remove kdm
apt-get install kdm

Hi, my intention is not to offend anybody here, but after readying your first post i think you may like to try slackware on a spare partition, your story seems similar to mine, however i still think highly of debian, specially sid

"I've recently knackered my debian install apt-get has broken and i've given up trying to fix it.
So that's that."

Go to debian.org > documentation > APT-HOWTO and read!

"What I want to do now is re-install Debian (testing, prefereably, but I guess I can upgrade later) but without all the mounds of stuff I never use, so I can just install what I want, when I find I need it."

Get the net-install CD (120 MB) and do a minimal install, skip the packages installation from the main menu, and at the end use apt-get to do it, (it gives you the option of installing Sarge, Etch, or Sid) just as mentioned by anti-microsoft. If you don't know didly, read this:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/linux/..._installer_rc2

"All I want is:
The basics, so that I can connect to my network, samba etc. and KDE & KDM But NOT all the millions of apps that are installed - basically so I can get it done quickly. Of course I would want the package tools including synaptic and aptitude."

Installing KDE will not give you a "very lean and mean system" it's an oxymoron, same goes for Gnome, use a window manager, use 'startx', and lite apps.

Having said that, the leanest KDE package is 'kdebase'

# apt-get install kdebase

"So what's the general procedure for achieving this?"

Use the Search function in this site, read the Tutorial articles, the sticky about configuration at the top of this page, google your butt off, etc.

Welcome to Debian!

Cheers for all your help everyone. In the end I used my sarge CD1 and just installed the base system and went from there. I've learnt a lot more about a Debian system is built up (probably only about 2% of everything though!)

When I said "lean and mean", I guess really I meant "without all the extra apps". I have installed KDE though. I started with ICEWM but got a bit bored with it's ultra minimilist style! So cracked and installed KDE. But it's nice and quick anyway.

I'm completely addicted to tinkering and tweaking though (I really want to decrease bootup time, so am re-compiling my kernel...) so will probably break it all soon again!