"Bloated" Distros?
 

Does anyone have any opinions on what distros would be considered as really "bloated" and which ones aren't? Also, are there any websites that could help me out on what software a regular computer user will never use if the user only intends to surf the net, lurk around the newsgroups or read email? I want to beable to remove the stuff I won't ever need to save disk space.

I am not really sure what you are asking. Fedora Core is rather bloated, for Core 5 you need 5 installation CDs, and you need all of them.

For non-bloated distros, try Ubuntu - it only comes with commonly used programs on CD, and the rest you can download from the net with ease. For example, it only comes with OpenOffice, rather that OO, KOffice, Abiword, Gnumeric...

Basically, if you install a distro such as Ubunutu, you can remove any packages you don't need after installation. I doubt that there would be a website that tells you what programs you will never use - only you know that :)

I am not sure about FC3, but I know Ubuntu has an excellent package manager that resolves dependencies - so you can go through and remove any programs you don't think you want, and it will tell you what will be removed as a result. Then you can decide if you really want to remove that program or not.

I hope this helps
--ian

distrowatch -where you'll find info on all major distributions, incl. the very slim ones.

cheers:)

there are definately distros out there that are slim enough that you wont have to go through removing stuff. The best example of this is damn small linux

No distro needs to be bloated. What some call bloat are nice features for others. So I take you mean which distros are less bloated in default. I personally like the Debian way(=ultra modular) for this. With Debian, I just install the base system(very small) and next apt-get all I need (X, window manager, ...). This way I only have to install all that's really needed and (thanks to apt) without worrying about broken dependencies.

An other distro that follows this example is Gentoo (only in Gentoo, everything will be installed from source =>takes to much time for me).

If you really know what you're doing you could also start from a small Slackware system and build it for your needs. You could also go even further by using LFS wich is just a manual to build a complete GNU/Linux system yourself.

So you should do some research on Debian, Gentoo, Slackware and LFS.

yes, but then you also have to decide what you do want. This, IMHO can be a harder problem than deciding what you dont want.

To the OP: What are your computer specs - are you trying to install on an old computer with limited disk space or CPU speed? If so, then you should go with Damn Small Linux, or something similar.

--Ian

The answer to this 'which distro' question, like the thousands of other 'which distro' questions on the forum is ... 'any distro'. The default Debian installation takes 97 Mb. I'm sure that with another 100 Mb I could set up a system that would do email, office functions, browse the web, record and play music, and anything else you suggested. You do not have to install everything that comes with your distro, but you probably do need some experience to set up a really 'tight' system.

If you install just the packages you need to use on any distro, then its not bloated regardless of how many packages or discs it ships with.

Well, I really wanted to know what distro has the most softwares that a regular computer user will never use providing a person has dvd's instead of cd's.

AFAIC you are going about it wrong.
The question is not to list all the software you do not need but to list the software you do need.
Just about any distribution will allow an advanced install choice where you can choose which packages to install yourself. Choose a minimal install. Read the packages descriptions, leave anything you don't understand alone, choose not to install packages you feel you do not need, choose to install packages you want.
For instance, if you do not need an "office" program, choose not to install Open Office, KOffice or any other office program. If you need a word processor only sometimes choose to install Abiword rather than a whole office suite.
Games is another whole lot you can not install if you do not routinely play them. If you like to play poker sometimes, install a poker game instead of checking an install all games box.
I do not really follow how the distro is bloated when a custom install option is offered.
Perhaps your question is "What is the easiest way to view installed programs on Fedora so I can review and remove programs i do not want(to save disk space)?"

In reference to IBall's question, my system is only a couple of years old with an amd 2.5 or 2.7 (i forget),. Only thing i do know is that it was the fastest 754 socket a couple of years ago. Don't know about now though. Anyway, I have 160gb of space to work with and 1gb of ram

I think you don't really understand the above posts...
The amount of extra packages is only an extra and has nothing to do with being more bloated.

To answer your question: Debian and Gentoo(...and those are IMHO the two distros that come in default with fewest amount of bloat).

Ok, maybe that is what i meant. I'm running mandriva now and its taking up about 6.5gb of space on my harddrive including stored jpg's and mp3's. Don't know if that's alot compared to most of the veteran linux users in this forum.

I just booted into my Mandrake (EDIT: oops, Mandriva) LE 2005. (Names for your options could be different in newer versions.)
From the start menu, System -> Configuration -> Configure Your Computer will bring up the Mandrake Control Center.
In Software Management is a Look at installed software and uninstall packages option.
That would be a good place to start.

You can browse through your list of installed packages from the Mandriva Control Center's software management tool and remove the packages you do not need. Usually when I do an instalaltion of Mandriva, I deselect all the package groups ticked by the Mandriva installer, I then tick "choose individual packages" and then pick only those packages I need. My installation usually ends up being about 3 gigs after I added almost all of KDE, java, eclipse, acrobat and other third party packages. A base installation of Mandriva 2006 will be 400MB or less depending on how your stream line the package selection.