On Sat, 02 Sep 2000, Pixel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> basesystem and its dependencies is now 54MB :)
Those who have older drives with limited space
understand the argument for such a minimal
install. But there are also some of us who are
plain old control freaks. We want to know every
package on our systems, where it resides, what it
does, and who uses it. With a standard install of
most any distribution there are hundreds of
programs, and for some, several running daemons
that are unfamiliar to the administrator. That
fact alone is a security risk.
One could argue that I could create
my own distribution, but I'm unwilling to spend
endless hours writing init scripts and organizing
my own boot process. With Mandrake's basic 54
megabytes I can begin cleanly, with a base that I
am familiar with and have great confidence in.
With this foundation I can build exactly what I
want.
>From here, I plan to add the necessary software
to rebuild the kernel in my own image ;) , add a
few select packages, and then create a custom
installation disk for each of several functions
(router, firewall, internet connection, file
server, print server, backup machine). And
finally, I'll have confidence that each linux box
is doing only what it was made to do. If there
are problems, I will know exactly what to look
for. No ghost processes.
With such a base there is no need for an option
for it in the installer. But it would be very
convenient to be able to choose the base and X
Windows, for example. Or base + kernel
development.
pelon
