AndrewG,
I think you answered your own question.
What do you need.
Only install the packages your going to use, also depending on the nature of use, you can concentrate on securing it from the internet by having as few available services as possible or If it's a server for a LAN then you have to secure it from the users too.
Unfortunately there are just too many variable to be able to give you a clean cut answer.
/Raz
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