I've always done the full install of Slackware, then took the system down to what I need. However, I need to install Slackware on a 256 megabyte media, with a little room left over.

I would like to know if anybody knows exactly what packages (selected in installation menu) I need to install to get the following system.

Xorg, IceWM, Firefox, something similar to OpenOffice Writer(only writer), madwifi (and any other wireless drivers, haven't been able to identify the chip yet), xterm, ssh, pidgin, and USB support.

Heres the deal: I have to install the system on a 256mb CF Card, writable till I edit syslinux to make it read-only (in order to make it what I want initially, then save the CF card's life as it can't handle writable systems that well..or so I hear). Then, I have a 4gb USB drive I will use to actually store the /home partition on. Reason for this is, its a tablet PC that can't handle any CF card larger than 256mb. It had 128, but I knew that wasn't large enough. It has to have Xorg because the touch screen driver requires it. I have to make modifications to the xorg.conf file as well as putting various files in different Xorg subfolders. Otherwise, I would use Xvesa.

Anybody have an idea? If this works out, it will really show how flexible Slackware is.

Thanks, brainstorming appreciated

Why not use minimal distros like Feather linux (http://featherlinux.berlios.de/), or Damn Small Linux (http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/) ?
And if you want to use Slackware on a minimal version, maybe look at how the minimal distros accomplished it (ie kernel config, packages, dependencies etc).

Hope it works out,

Ben

If you look at the minimum reqs for Slackware the minimum is at 500mb of space, unfortunately i think you will have to go with DSL (Damn small Linux) or something of that nature in order to get an operational system.

Yes, well the problem is, neither DSL or Feather use a full version of Xorg, and they "install" as a Live System.

Hi,

Alien_Bob has the 'mini iso image' about 40MB that you could use to start with. The original intent is for a NFS install.

Another place you can look at is 'Minimal System' wiki.

These links and others can be found at 'Slackware-Links' .
More than just Slackware® links!

That Minimal System install looks good, but I didn't see anything that said what the size of it would be in the end. Any idea?

Hi,

The mini iso is about 40MB.

You could do the math for the minimal install.

Do a test drive to see how much or even do a google/linux as I'm sure someone already has done the install.

The mini ISO is a an installer, though, not an installable system. It is possible to install Slackwre with X in around 256MB, but you will have to kno the ins and outs of nearly exvery package so you know whether you can get by without it or not. Nobody has done a slackware minimal install HOWTO for awhile, (so you can be the next one to do so). I think that you run out of options though, when you want open office -that'S gonna take up about 150MB itself.
I used to build a min system of slackware with X and fluxbox in 230 MB, but this is even harder these days as the list of required packages has grown a bit.

There are a few threads here that will help you out, but in the end you'll have to work out the details yourself -it would be much easier if you had a 512MB limit as it is pretty easy to put together an install with around 400MB -you don't have to be so stingy with every package that way.

A good starting point would be to examine an old version og zipslack and then add the necessary packages for X, etc.
Good luck!, Be sure and write up your HOWTO for the next guy...

Hi,

I know the mini iso is a installer, I mentioned it was a installer in my post. I presented as an example that could be used. If the OP wants a small install then this could be used as a base. I agree that a small Slackware would be nice for some control applications. The minimal install wiki is rather big at around 500MB I believe.

The OP didn't state anything about 'X', there are several browsers that could be used without 'X' to access the internet.

Zipslack could be used as an example but tings could get real hairy.

I'm going to try and install using the tutorial with the first disc and see how big it is, as well as how small I can shrink it.

When I said xorg, that includes X, hence icewm.

I'm wondering if the following would work:

Build the system, use a sym link between /home and /dev/sda1 (USB drive), then once I have everything the way I want, I compress the entire root partition. Is it possible to have syslinux boot from a compressed root partition?

i.e. root=filesytem.gz

Any ideas?

The installer iso's don't lend themselves well to creating a basic installation as they are based on busybox and do not use glibc.
A better base for a tiny slackware can be had by using the old rescue.dsk as a base since it at least uses glibc, but still with busybox -(although for awhile there was a large rescue disk which was actually a ext2 partition image of zipslack). Since there have been lots of changes in the naming and content of basic packages since zipslack was last available, there is no way ro quickly reproduce what was in there, but still, using rthe package list from an old zipslack provides valuable clues as to what PatV considered a Minimal installation. It only needed a handful of extra packages to get X working.

If the OP wants to try making a small installation, he might try getting as close as he can to 256MB and then look further for what can be culled. If he's willing to do without docs and language files they amount to nearly a third of a typical installation. The only 'trick' used to makle zipslack smaller was the removal of all header files and static libs. Still, the OP is asking for a lot by wanting Open Office -this is going to require the whole gang of atk/pango/cairo/gtk2 which account for well over 100MB, plus OOfice itself is huge. Sorry I'm not more encouraging -but I've made a specialty of small installs for years now and know very well how much effort it can take to pare one down. hence, the 512MB suggestion as it will cost much less hassle.

Hi,

If you want 'X' then things change a lot. You can use the minimal install link to see what is needed.

Have you considered putting extra applications on the 4gb usb drive, and just put what is required to boot on the 256mb root?

Or does the system need to be independent of which usb drive is being used? (Unlikely, if it is playing as /home)

I don't know how much this helps, but AbiWord might be a good replacement for OpenOffice if you need to conserve space. It's not as fully featured, but the OP did state "something similar to OpenOffice Writer(only writer)".

Well slax is under 200 MB. Comes with X and KDE... it is surely compressed, but if you use it as an example, you can go a long way with 256 MB.