How to install a distribution kit with a minimum number of packages, but so that all the main packages that are necessary for the operation of the system remain?

I tried using netinstall , debootstrap , but there are still exactly a lot of packages, deleting which, nothing will happen, and you can safely use the system.

  • And why exactly do we need a minimum cofniguration, smaller than the standard one? What exactly is planned to run? - don Rumata
  • Is it an academic interest or need to achieve some goal? - don Rumata
  • one
    Can you still tell for exactly what tasks? And then you can leave only vmlinuz, initrd and grub. And it will still be debian. Weight by the way is not more than 20mb. - don Rumata

2 answers 2

there are a lot of packages that remove nothing, nothing will happen and you can safely use the system

quite right - from your point of view.

from someone else's point of view it is enough, for example, only a bootloader (to load the linux program), the linux program and some kind of interactive shell built statically. It will be impossible to extract any benefit from such an “operating system”, but, formally, a computer will work and even somehow react to the entered information.

if you know exactly which packages you do not need, just delete them. Here you get the minimum you need.

The key point in your reasoning is: “nothing will happen.” Yes, after removing the next package, most likely nothing will happen. just the operating system will lose some of its functions. if you do not need these functions, feel free to remove such packages.

moved from comments

I would like a finished method

There is a “ready” way to meet your requirements:

  1. remove the package that you consider "unnecessary."
  2. check if what you need works. if not working, return the previous saved state.
  3. repeat from step 1.
  • In the questionnaire to the question trying to figure out the same thing. So far unsuccessfully. Russians don't give up. - don Rumata
  • @Vitaly, I transferred the information from the comments in response and deleted the already unnecessary comments. what I propose to do to you. - aleksandr barakin
  • Yes, it is better to test it in a virtualka by doing snapshots before each removal of the "unnecessary" package. - don Rumata

If you want to get a system with a minimum of packages, during installation you do not put more than one checkmark in the package manager. Then you put aptitude (Delete and then you can). You remove the checkbox to put recommended packages. You put bysubox. Delete everything in bysubox. You will get almost minimal debian, but absolutely not convenient. (The most minimal is when instead of root initrd, but this is already a clinic). But then the fun begins (If I understand you correctly). It is necessary to put the X and DE (or that polehche). You need to install via Aptitude. And not in any way non-virtual packages, just check dependencies. In the same X, all drivers on the video and the input device are installed by default. You have to choose one thing. After the X, you put DE (or that). Here, the scheme is approximately the following (Let us consider the example of Xfce) not to install the Xfce package, but to install, for example, xfdesktop4, thunar, etc. That is the required minimum. Installation in this way takes me 40-50 hours