Is there manual how to remove unnecessary stuff from Slackware?
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RE: Quote:
Originally Posted by enorbet View Post
"Unnecessary" packages in Slackware cost ONLY drive space. That's the only possible Downside. Having them in case they become needed is nothing but Upside. Unless you have limited drive space it's wise to keep everything. Unused packages use no other resources so won't affect perceived speed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by youni
Thank you. Actually having cheap SSD 120Gb with 4 partitions for different os, each 20Gb, need to save space. I've installed ncdu and found these heavy packages:
I will remove without any problems:
#du -hs /usr/lib64/{thunderbird,seamonkey}
234M /usr/lib64/thunderbird
149M /usr/lib64/seamonkey
Can I remove locale package (I use only one or two locales: EN_UST.UTF8 and may be C), also TexLive never used:
# du -hs /usr/share/{locale,texmf-dist}
1.2G /usr/share/locale
496M /usr/share/texmf-dist
I also do not need services:
samba speech-dispatcher nfsd cups dovecot httpd
Of course it is possible to remove whatever you want and only install if you run into a problem but considering brand name 250GB SATA SSDs currently
cost from $17 USD to about $35 USD, at least from common US sources, I don't imagine such an expense isn't worth the freedom and future-proofing double the drive real estate provides.
If you have security concerns as someone mentioned it is possible to turn off the executable bit and of the parent and still keep the libraries. A decent firewall, kernel updates, and good online practice should reduce such concerns rather dramatically IF they were any serious attack vector at all to begin with.
Quote:
Originally Posted by youni
Also I do not know if these services are running, and how to prevent their autostart on boot:
mysqld php-fpm
If you run KDE Plasma there is excellent visibilty and control of Autostart and any and all services right in "System Settings" which has a decent search function as well as a reasonably well labeled menu.
It was mistake to remove Greybird. It was a mistake to remove xfce4 components xfce4-panel-profiles xfce4-screensaver xfce4-whiskermenu-plugin xfce4-clipman-plugin xfce4-dev-tools xfce4-weather-plugin
But may be Slackware has no strength dependencies on those components?
Glad you could restore your system! That's the pain of tweaking it, sometimes, but mostly there is an easy fix.
Sorry for causing the problem, but yes, since i'm using plasma the xfce dependencies were on my list.
You could have restored the xfce online using 'slackpkg' too, as has been mentioned earlier in this thread.
There're nothing in the slackware preventing an user to remove anything - you could uninstall even 'removepkg' or a running kernel making the system unbootable. Even then, you could restore it by booting with slackware setup disk, which have brief instructions on its boot screens howto boot or chroot into existing system.
I'm thankful for all expert advice here in this forum, being nowhere 'expert' myself.
Happy slacking!
You will need to consider if the disk space saved by removing packages is worth the time you will need to spend tracing down why things go wrong.
An installation with some packages removed will be a non-standard installation.
Your response makes me think about fundamentals of Slackware. It should be a system that I can use for build my own world with necessary environment. Slackware is responsible of stability and packages compatibility. Slackware respects standards and avoid usage of non-Posix packages like systemd. Also Slackware is a community.
But I often read here "need to use full install, otherwise things go bad". Sorry, this is not fundamental and such idea costs nothing.
Slackware has disadvantage - it is not responsible of packages dependencies, it forces users to build systems by their selves. But it is wrong to say that full installation is obligatory. Slackware does not obliges users to use full installation.
I am not agree with such a mantra "full installation is the only way".
The real conception of Slackware is that it chooses stable versions of packages and offers proven sets of tools and applications that will never interfer or collide. You may construct your own workspace with this proven base. You may extend system in any direction: programming, devopsing, running web-server, data server, creating media, design, office work.
So, newbie sniffs from full installation, but then it is logical to learn how to cunstruct own workspace, optimize system for own needs. I would like to have clean distro that works quickly, boots quickly, gives me Desktop Environment as soon as possible. Also is lightweight .
Just my two pence worth but if you are interested install Salix OS in a VM and see what packages they have, look through the configuration files and see if you can learn anything that way.
Slackware has disadvantage - it is not responsible of packages dependencies, it forces users to build systems by their selves. But it is wrong to say that full installation is obligatory. Slackware does not obliges users to use full installation.
I am not agree with such a mantra "full installation is the only way".
I don't remember anyone said that
Code:
If you have the disk space, we encourage you to do a full installation for
best results. Otherwise, remember that you must install the A set. You
probably also want to install the AP, D, L, and N series, as well as the KDE,
X, XAP, and XFCE sets if you wish to run the X Window System. The Y series is
fun, but not required.
In short, it's up to the user to do what he wants
But, we already know that :-)
Code:
You also will need some disk space to install Slackware. For a complete
installation, you'll probably want to devote *at least* a 20GB partition
completely to Slackware (you'll need almost 16 GB for a full default
installation, and then you'll want extra space when you're done).
So, unless you exactly know what you are doing, and if you want things to stay stable, functional and have full support, do a full installation, which is the default
I am not agree with such a mantra "full installation is the only way".
Of course a full installation is not the only way. The Slackware installer allows you to do a custom installation. We recommend a full installation for a new Slackware user so that they have a fully functional system on first boot-up.
This also helps us to deal with fewer broken systems. You're free to do whatever you want with your Slackware system.
1. It's simply not worth the hassle of trying to setup a minimal Slackware install. Yes, it can be done, but the amount of time you have to put in to test and eliminate package dependencies and the problems upgrading from say 14.2 to 15 (which has a whole new set of dependencies), does make the exercise somewhat pointless. The only thing you actually gain is hard drive space, which really isn't an issue anymore. Slackware is secure out of the box as most services are disabled by default. In addition, removing unwanted packages will not make Slackware run any faster (as unused packages are not loaded by default).
The reason why I wanted to trim Slackware was because I am running Current and I have noticed that it takes around 20 minutes or more to update slackware. From my topic, it is clear to me the solution for me is to run Stable as I would only be updating Security updates and the packages themselves would be updated far less often. Thus my update time would probably be around 5 mins or less. When Slackware 15.1 is due to come out, I will see if I can "upgrade" from Current to Slackware 15.1 Stable. I suspect that we will not see a repeat of the issue with 14.2 not being updated for so many years to 15, which actually a lot of issues with newer software not working with 14.2.
I do agree with many users, that there is virtually no benefit to removing unwanted packages in Slackware as it doesn't improve security or performance in any way because Slackware runs with most services disabled by default. In this day and age, hard drive space really should not be an issue. So when you weigh up the potential gains, it doesn't seem worth it, when the disadvantages are that you are forever tweaking the system to address package dependencies and what do we really gain for our time? I have been down this road and found it was more trouble than it was worth and it broke the system more than once!
However, do be advised that it is possible to run Slackware where you only select certain categories. For example, I run Slackware only with a,ap,d,k,l and n series. Because I use it as a server, I don't need x,xap, tcl or games, But I gave up trying to remove unwanted packages within a,ap,d,l and n. It just wasn't worth it.
2. Having said that, I do understand and do agree with the irritation of having a system where I am installing loads of junk I will never ever use! I do wish the developer would review the Slackware series and update them, by moving non-essential applications such as email, browsers, web servers and many other programs that most people don't use to an applications series or user software series or something like that. Then just have the a,ap,d,l and n series etc just for what is required for boot, networking, upgrading etc. There are a lot of legacy applications like Elm (which perhaps some people use, but 99% of users never will). People could then choose what email, browser, services etc that they want to install.
I would love to see user software series for different email programs, different browsers, different services such as web services - all optional to install and not required to use Slackware in a real world environment. It's high time all these software applications like dozens of email programs are removed from the a,ap,d,l and n series. Perhaps a complete review of the series which was based on the need to use floppy disks would not be a bad idea. Just have a base install series which would be everything required to actually run Slackware, update it, connect to the Internet etc. Then other series like Server Services and user Applications such as apache, email, browser etc!
Anyway that's my thoughts for the day as it were! Until the developer changes course on how the Slackware series are designed, I would recommend that you install the full Slackware (if you are using the Gui).
...
I am not agree with such a mantra "full installation is the only way".
The real conception of Slackware is that it chooses stable versions of packages and offers proven sets of tools and applications that will never interfer or collide. You may construct your own workspace with this proven base. You may extend system in any direction: programming, devopsing, running web-server, data server, creating media, design, office work.
So, newbie sniffs from full installation, but then it is logical to learn how to cunstruct own workspace, optimize system for own needs. I would like to have clean distro that works quickly, boots quickly, gives me Desktop Environment as soon as possible. Also is lightweight .
Disk space aside, what's lightweight? Removing all those software packages won't make a difference
when it comes to performance, optimization, booting quickly, starting X etc.
If you ask me, it's an educational excercise you could do in a VM,
but aside from that it's just pointless. That being said, it's your system so have at it
But I often read here "need to use full install, otherwise things go bad". Sorry, this is not fundamental and such idea costs nothing.
---snip---
I am not agree with such a mantra "full installation is the only way".
Hi Youni,
Don't take it so hard on yourself.
Everyone who posted appears to only want to see you succeed in your new project.
But as with everything else, everyone has a differing opinion on what is best for someone new(ish).
Slackware and derivatives are an excellent choice for your project.
Though it is not too easy to begin with but once you have its intricacies understood, we do expect you to come back with more questions
Make sure you note what you've tried to implement and do a tail -f on the relevant logs to observe/record successes and new hurdles.
Btw, how far did you get?
Some of us are avid to catch-up with your progress.
I am not agree with such a mantra "full installation is the only way".
I didn't say that. I only say that a full install is the easiest way and if you put any value in your time it is by far the cheapest way.
If you are interested in learning how different things depend upon each other and are willing on spending a lot of time removing some packages might be a good execrcies.
You should not only put value in your time, you should also put value in the time for others. As most others do choose to make a full install to save time you should not expect them to put time in explaining why things go wrong when you have removed packages.
If you have the disk space, we encourage you to do a full installation for
best results. Otherwise, remember that you must install the A set. You
probably also want to install the AP, D, L, and N series, as well as the KDE,
X, XAP, and XFCE sets if you wish to run the X Window System. The Y series is
fun, but not required.
Thank you. This explains somehow the architecture of Slackware and developers' understanding of word "distribution". Sets of applications is something new.
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