SlackwareThis Forum is for the discussion of Slackware Linux.
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Okay I will admit outright I am fairly new to Linux still, and totally new to Slackware. I am coming from SuSE Linux and am used to it being more administrative than architectural if that makes sense.
The reason I moved to Slackware is becaue I want to have control over my system, be able to customize it if I want, know how Linux works, etc.
I downloaded Slackware 11 and going through the install noticed that by default all packages are checked off to be installed. I want to do just a minimal base install of Slackware, and customize it with programs and such as I go along.
I am not sure what a lot of the packages and libraries are that are included and whether or not they are critical or optional to the OS. I've Google searched and have a better idea, but I still do not feel totally confident, and quite honestly I am feeling very dumb at this point.
So, I guess my question is: If I want to just do a minimal install, like you are supposedly able to do with Debian or Arch minus the package handler, what can I remove? Is it safe to only install the Networking, Development, and Libraries? I am not even sure what libraries are necessary as they are all checked off as well.
I'm pretty sure all you need are the development, libraries, and maybe networking. If you are wanting X and a DE, you may want to go ahead and put at least X on there too, it takes forever to compile. http://www.slackbook.org/html/installation-setup.html
Last edited by manwichmakesameal; 10-12-2006 at 12:19 PM.
You could try other approach... Install everything and slowly start to strip down packages, if something breaks, re-install package and if not untinstall other package.
As I hate unexpected oopses, I limit fresh installs to the A series (minus a few editors and other things). Get lilo configured; no/cancel the rest of setup questions. Reboot (ah no oops); then go about installing what I want for that box and configuring the network.
Thats what we all love about Slackware-- infinite ways to get to the same place.
I am going to try what PDock recommended and see where that gets me. I am assuming I also need the libraries to get a working setup, correct? I can always try and weed my way through the libraries I suppose...guess we'll see how it goes
The quick answer is if you don't know what a package is/does in the A series then install it. Not going to use joe or csh (think in A) then don't install it. What was elflibs now aaalibs (I think) has needed libs to reboot the system.
One of the [many] things I like about Slackware is how minimal it is by design, especially compared to a large distro like Suse. A full install with KDE only takes 2-3GB. 11 is the first time Slack spanned onto a disc#3 and I found nothing on #3 that I actually needed (2.6 kernel, kdei files and extras). With 9.1 I got everything except KDE into 1.2GB, stripped out X and all x-related packages made it roughly 700MB IIRC.
If you really want it minimal, as in excluding everything you don't need PDock's suggestion is the way to go.
Quote:
Reboot (ah no oops); then go about installing what I want for that box and configuring the network.
At this point you could simply mount the cd and browse the files. Each package has an associated txt file that explains what it is so you can decide if you want/need it.
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