Minimalist/Perfectionist
 

Hello, is it possible to just install the BARE minimal stuff onto a single linux partition. I just want the core, compile utilities, KDE/X
and a few essential programs like text editor, web browser.

I'm sorta new to linux - i tried RH 7.1 ages ago and got fed up. KDE kept crashing, it kept thrashing my HD, installation was hell it was installing 1000s of useless programs i didn't want blabla.
And now i wanna try linux with very little to worry about. Being a perfectionist i will wanna compile my own kernel.

minimalist and kde don't go together.

OK, maybe not KDE but my mate says theres more desktops that are very nice and small...

Sure it's possible, although with X, a WM and mozilla I don't know if you can really call it minimalist. Here's what I'd do if I were you - Get Mandrake 9.1 or wait for 9.2 to come out, it's a great distro for newbies that's easy to configure. I think it's an easier desktop to manage than RH, and the packaging system and variety of apps that come with it are better than RH. It's also very simple to install exactly what programs you want without being one of the more complex distros, (debian, gentoo, slack). In the package selection screen you simply uncheck all of the boxes for things like "internet station, KDE, etc", and hit the "individual package selection button". From there you can select whatever packages you want to install. From what you've said you want here are the packages I suggest -

For your Window Manager - IceWM if you want something that looks more like your conventional desktop, blackbox for true minimalism.

Text editor - jed - small and simple, easier than vi

Browser - Download either mozilla or firebird and use one of those to browse instead of installing the mozilla.rpm, it'll be easier and quicker to upgrade to a new version.

And of course gcc to compile your kernel.

Once you have your system up and running you can use rpmdrake to easily install anything else you might need.

Erm i don't like the idear of mandrake because it's too big to download and i don't need a 800meg install anyway.

Is there anyway i copy the kernel to the partition and the relevent boot files and that will work?

the thing to understand is that the kernel alone is not an operating system. and it truly does take a ton of programs to take advantage of the kernel. I may not be stating that in the most accurate way but you might take a look here to get a better idea of how linux works.

linux from scratch

i wouldn't try to do it just yet but there is a ton of great info.

debian is a good distro for building a very tight system since you can start with the bare minimum and it will install all the needed dependancies for each package automatically.
granted it is not a begginer distro and you may find yourself a bit in over your head but thats when you start to learn stuff. or go crazy

Any thoughts on peanut linux? Even that has gimp and lots of other stuff i don't want

http://vectorlinux.com/

450 meg system

If you want to start with the minimum and compile everything, try Gentoo or Linux from Scratch.

If you want true minimalism, do LFS (as mentioned) or do Core. (I ran Core on a P100 for awhile.)

If size is the issue, run tomsrtbt from a single floppy or BasicLinux from two.

If getting rid of excess baggage is the issue, just do a selective install on any distro - I ditched a lot of crap in something as relatively slim as Slack, which has that feature, as most any installer does. No emacs on this box. *eg*

If a simple easy bare bones no fuss distro is what you're looking for, use DOS. Linux is essentially complex. Just ditching GIMP isn't going to make it easy. Even if it's small and light and spare, it's still going to be somewhat complex and still take a lot of tweaking to get running how you'd like.

So for your purposes, it doesn't really matter - download something tiny and build up or download something huge and tear down. No distro is going to have just the apps you want and none you don't unless you make it that way.

-- LFS as mentioned twice now. Mirrorball posted while I was typing. *g*

I suppose i'm going over the top because of my bad experience in the past. It took ages to install RH7.1 and so much hard disk space with SOOO much crap i never wanted.
All i want is
Kernel, X/desktop Manager, drivers for nvidia card, adsl router, web browser, email, text editor, C++ compiler.
Surely i don't need to shove two CDs in to install and wait about an hours for it to copy all the files to disk.

Go to debian and get a netinstall iso.Thats about 30 mb.Then just install what you want and thats (plus deps) is going to be all that gets installed.

Ok, i have a spare 4 gig at the end of my drive. Shall i make 3gig root partition and a 1gig swap?
My system is XP2100, 512ddr.

I got 512 RAM and 256mb swap.Plenty.

look into Damn Small Linux

:cool: