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A core-only iso?

Posted: 25. Aug 2017, 03:41
by IratumSenem
I've looked back several years in this suggestion thread and found nothing like it. If I didn't go back far enough and missed a very old discussion of this topic, please forgive me.

I'd like to suggest that Salix release an .iso consisting only of the contents of a "core" installation. (Let's face it, there's no point in downloading a DE you're not going to use.)

This would be a great boon to the many folks around the world whose Internet access is capped, metered, or otherwise constrained.

I freely confess that I don't know jack about what it would take to implement this suggestion, and for all I know it may be totally impractical or prohibitively expensive in terms of time and effort. But I thought I'd mention it.

Re: A core-only iso?

Posted: 25. Aug 2017, 06:19
by mimosa
The thing is, such an iso is a lot less useful than you might imagine. It wouldn't for instance be a good starting-point for installing Salix with a lightweight WM (though now someone is bound to post saying that is possible, which it is if you know what you are doing). Under normal circumstances I wouldn't recommend anyone to install the "Basic" version either, for the same reason, even though it includes XFCE.

If the bandwidth is really an issue, you could just download the image at your local library or an internet cafe.

Re: A core-only iso?

Posted: 25. Aug 2017, 06:53
by DidierSpaier
You can go a step further and just ship an ISO including an installer without any package, and use it to make a customized net install.

You can see an example here: http://slint.fr/forSlackware/NVMe/

The ISO is small: 149M. You could do something similar for Salix, just adding the packages management tools: slapt-get, spkg, slapt-src, spi, and optionally gslapt and sourcery.

What is suggested in this specific case is to use a physical media as source of packages but actually the ISO can be used for a net install: just indicate an HTTP or FTP URL at the SOURCE step.

So technically doing what you suggest is very easy, however I agree with Mimosa: it's worthless.

PS The script that builds the mini ISO mentioned above is http://slackware.uk/slint/x86_64/slint- ... so_mini.sh

Re: A core-only iso?

Posted: 25. Aug 2017, 22:54
by IratumSenem
mimosa wrote:The thing is, such an iso is a lot less useful than you might imagine.
Well, not to me, perhaps, nor to others like me.
mimosa wrote:If the bandwidth is really an issue, you could just download the image at your local library or an internet cafe.
Which is great if one lives in an urban area where libraries and internet cafes abound. But not everyone is that fortunate.

Forget I mentioned it.

Re: A core-only iso?

Posted: 26. Aug 2017, 06:49
by mimosa
The point is, the Core option doesn't do what you are hoping. It is intended for server installations and the like. An advanced user who knew Sackware and Salix inside out could do what you have in mind (though you would still consume nearly the same bandwidth anyway, just after installation), but there would be far more people who got themselves in a mess. In particular, many of the home comforts that make Salix what it is would be missing, and a user new to Salix wouldn't be aware of them. Except for a handful of minimalist distros - which Salix is not - most require you to download well over half a gigabyte, and indeed, have given up trying to keep within the size of a CD, because it just isn't possible any more.

Re: A core-only iso?

Posted: 15. Sep 2017, 21:40
by ChuangTzu
this is an interesting development for Slackware:
https://www.linuxquestions.org/question ... 175613788/

Re: A core-only iso?

Posted: 15. Sep 2017, 22:57
by DidierSpaier
A simple solution is to put just the installer on the ISO, not the packages. I have provided one for Slackware to allow Slackware64-14.2 users to install it on a NVMe device: http://slint.fr/forSlackware/NVMe/

As you can see, the ISO is not heavy, and to do that one just needs to remaster an existing ISO: http://slackware.uk/slint/x86_64/slint- ... so_mini.sh

As I seem to remember that the Salix 14.2 installer also accepts an FTP/HTTP URL as source of packages, that should work.