I think the http proxy suggestions are valid, but the real issue is still that a lot of distros are installing a lot of crap that we neither want, nor need. Bluez is a great example. And cups? None of my production servers need it. But thanks to LSB, it gets installed a lot.
Various distro philosophies make this more problematic. I understand that some people do in fact use LDAP + http auth with Apache, but I don't think it's the norm, and it drives me crazy that RedHat doesn't let you install Apache without openldap, just because upstream Apache was kind enough to include some configs for it. That's kind of the RedHat way: resolve all the deps, and don't muck with upstream any more than you have to. (Yes, I know they patch a lot.) I've often thought about making a Debian-like set of rpms to solve that problem, but that particular itch just wasn't big enough for me to scratch. BTW, where is your git repo? On Thu, May 8, 2014 at 1:30 PM, Ryan Simpkins <p...@ryansimpkins.com> wrote: > When I first starting installing Linux (Debian 1.1), I would carefully go > through the default packages and remove everything that wasn't essential to > running the system. The reason why was bandwidth. At that time we had a single > T1 to share for the office. It was very expensive. Downloading lots of > needless package updates took forever, especially with several machines to > update. It was easy then. There just weren't that many packages to worry > about. > > In the intervening years, however, the package list grew too large to go > through. It was easier to look for a 'minimal' install disk and be on my way. > Most of the time a 'minimal' was fairly minimal. Networks were fast enough > that installing a few extra packages was no big deal. > > Recently I have noticed that distro builders are having a really difficult > time with the concept of 'minimal'. All kinds of stuff is being installed on > our servers we just don't need. Virtualization means I don't have a handful of > hosts to update, I've got ten times that many. Bandwidth and disk are again > becoming a problem. Updates are taking forever. Linux containers promise to > eliminate many reasons for virtualization (which will ease the pain). Yet, the > tools to manage these environments are still growing. > > It is time, now, for the great package purge of 2014. A new Salt state called > 'killallthethings' is in my git repo. Its job will be to sanction all the > cruft with the efficiency of Clint Eastwood in the Swiss Alps. And I ask you, > PLUG'ers, to offer up suggestions of sacrifice... What are the needless > packages you would love to have eliminated? > > -Dragon^H^H^H^H^H^HRyan > > P.S. My blood does NOT need to be completely replaced twice a year, contrary > to rumor. > > /* > PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net > Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug > Don't fear the penguin. > */ -- "In order to create, you have to have the willingness, the desire to be challenged, to be learning." -- Ferran Adria (speaking at Harvard, 2011) /* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
