Minimal usable Ubuntu with one command
Posted three years ago
If you install the default "ubuntu-desktop" you also get with it a gigabyte of crap that you will never use. But if you don't install the ubuntu desktop, you get a system with a text-only login: prompt, and it's not clear what to install to get it to a usable state.
I have an irrational need to optimize my Ubuntu installation. I did some investigating and came up with this method, which gives a minimal graphical 1.2 GB install, with gnome, networking, and no applications.
Install the base system
Use UNetBootin and create a usb key with the network install. (If you are still burning non-archival data-DVD's in the year 2010, you must also live in a cave.). Plug the computer directly into the network using an ethernet cable. Boot from the USB key and install ubuntu as usual, over the network. Using the network-install means you aren't even downloading the packages you aren't going to use. It also means you don't have to immediately update your system and re-download everything, because the network packages are already up to date.When you get to the "task selection" screen with the option to install ubuntu base server, kubuntu, etc, do not change anything at all.
Install the minmal gnome
When installation completes and it boots up, you get a text-only system. Login and type the following command:sudo apt-get install gnome-panel gdm gnome-terminal
This will install a graphical environment and the login screen, so it will let you login by clicking on your username.
When it completes, reboot using "sudo reboot", or if you are super-geeky, type in the secret command to avoid rebooting.
Wireless Networking for laptops
If you have a laptop, you will probably want:sudo apt-get install network-manager network-manager-gnome gnome-power-manager hibernateThat will give you a battery monitor and the icon that lets you configure wireless networking. It also gives you the hibernate button when you shut down.
Where's my browser?
sudo apt-get install chromium-browser flashplugin-installer
Make it look good
Gnome's default theme looks like something from the year 2000. Get some of the Ubuntu 10 goodness by doing this:sudo apt-get install ubuntu-artwork
All together now
As promised, here is the one command that combines all of the above.sudo apt-get install gnome-panel gdm gnome-terminal network-manager-gnome network-manager gnome-power-manager hibernate chromium-browser ubuntu-artwork flashplugin-installer
Steve Hanov makes a living working on
Rhymebrain.com,
www.websequencediagrams.com,
and Zwibbler.com. He lives in
Waterloo, Canada.
Post comment
edit
william malo
three years ago
just do this:
sudo apt-get --no-install-recommends -y -m install ubuntu-desktop
edit
Steve Hanov
three years ago
Ivan: I was using an EEE Pc 1000H and it worked for me. Maybe it depends on how your USB controllers structured, and which one is "/dev/sda"
edit
Ivan Suftin
three years ago
Tried something like this last night. The Ubuntu network install installs grub but does not give you the option of where to install it. It therefore installs it back to the USB key itself. Debian Network install has the same issue,.
edit
__B__
three years ago
Why don't just install a Debian base install? I use Ubuntu in some machines where I don't want to configure applications and such, just an out-of-the-box solution, and where I want customization I just use Debian...
Fun with Colour Difference
Are you looking for a nifty way to choose colours that stand out? Are you the type of person who is not satisfied until you have mathematically proven that your choice is optimal?Compressing dictionaries with a DAWG
A practical, memory efficient way to store and search large sets of words.
When a reporter mangles your elevator pitch
If a reporter asks you about your new startup company, be careful what you say.20 lines of code that will beat A/B testing every time
A/B testing is used far too often, for something that performs so badly. It is defective by design: Segment users into two groups. Show the A group the old, tried and true stuff. Show the B group the new whiz-bang design with the bigger buttons and slightly different copy. After a while, take a look at the stats and figure out which group presses the button more often. Sounds good, right? The problem is staring you in the face. It is the same dilemma faced by researchers administering drug studies. During drug trials, you can only give half the patients the life saving treatment. The others get sugar water. If the treatment works, group B lost out. This sacrifice is made to get good data. But it doesn't have to be this way.
You don't need a project/solution to use the VC++ debugger
You learn a lot of things on the job as a programmer. Years ago, at my first coop position, I was a little confused when my boss went to Visual C++, and tried to open the .EXE file as a project. What a dolt! I thought. That's not going to work.
A Rhyming Engine
Here's a rhyming engine, written in 1000 lines of C++ code. It uses the freely available Moby dictionary, and full source code is provided.Email Etiquette
If you begin your emails with "Hi, <name>!" then they will seem less rude.How QBASIC almost got me killed
The day arrived when my project was ready to be unleashed upon the world. I waited until the teacher was hovering nearby and then I started my application, running the FORMAT command on the network drive. Some classmates were watching the screen and she hurried over to see what all the fuss was about.