[lug] Minimal Linux?

[Ed Hill]

On Wed, 2002-09-04 at 15:43, Randy Arabie wrote:
> On Wed, 4 Sep 2002 David.Menges at UCHSC.edu wrote:
> 
> > I'm building a Linux web server and would like to hear from anyone that has
> > minimized what software gets loaded when Linux is built.  The goal is mainly
> > security, but simplicity, performance, etc. wouldn't be bad either.  I have
> > searched the archives and web sites and not found anything, so maybe no one
> > bothers with this.
> 
> There are several distributions that cater to this sort of situation - Gentoo 
> and LFS (Linux From Scratch).
> 
> If you don't build it, it won't get installed.  I've never used/installed LFS,
> but I've got a Gentoo system.  I like it. 


Hi Randy,

You need not deal with the (painfully?) slow process of LFS or others to
build minimal installs.  You can very easily accomplish the same sort of
thing (that is, an install with just the necessary/desired packages)
using the common RPM-based distros such as Red Hat, KRUD, Mandrake, or
SuSE.

The process:

  1) identify the packages you want

  2) perform the install using whatever "expert" mode that the 
     distro has that allows package selection and/or removal on 
     an individual basis  -- selecting only the things you need 
     or want and de-selecting all the rest

  3) #2 can be an iterative process since the install program 
     (on Red Hat, for instance) will help you with package 
     dependencies

  4) done.

I've done this for installs on older hardware (486's and 586's with
small hard drives) where I don't want XFree86 or other bloat, just
something to, for example, ssh into and control serial port(s).

If you know packages you want, this process is straight-forward and
works well.  And, if you want, I'll be happy to demo it at the upcoming
Installfest.  ;-)

hth,
Ed

-- 
Edward H. Hill III, PhD 
Post-Doctoral Researcher   |  Email:  ed at eh3.com,  ehill at mines.edu
Division of ESE            |  URLs:   http://www.eh3.com
Colorado School of Mines   |    http://cesep.mines.edu/people/edhill.php
Golden, CO  80401          |  Phone:  303-273-3483    Fax: 303-273-3311
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