Reduce the HDD instalation size?

**rayesteq** · 09-13-2004, 09:27 AM

Hi everybody;
I installed a knoppix 3.6 on my HDD.It is aprx. 2 GB but i want to reduce this size as small as I can.I just want to use Mozilla for web browser and a just a plug-in for mozilla thats all.Do have any idea which programs that I can remove?
And moreover how much space does the Knoppix Kernel takes on Hdd.and How much I can get it smaller on my hardisk?

Thanks for your Consideration

Eray BALAT

**Markus** · 09-13-2004, 09:53 AM

It might be easier to start with a smaller knoppix based distro like DamnSmall.
You could see what eats up most space with: dpkg-query -W --showformat='${Installed-Size} ${Package}\n' | sort -n
Removing just Open Office and KDE would give you quite a lot of space.

**metavoid** · 09-13-2004, 10:27 AM

Well, if you dont need/want kde it can get quite small.

If its not important to use knoppix 3.6 I would suggest using

mini knoppix from www.inittab.com

Its 200 mb iso or 536 mb installed.

Its hard to strip a 3.6 without it falling apart. Or maybe its just me.

**rayesteq** · 09-13-2004, 10:54 AM

what if I remove KDE?Do i lost ability to use mozilla or any plugins like Vlc on it?Because the only thing is to use mozilla and Vlc plugin for it.I am gonna use Mozilla for a POI(point of information) machine.

**metavoid** · 09-13-2004, 11:33 AM

I dont know for sure but I think you can still use mozilla.

Try to boot using another manager than kde and see if it still works.

**mzilikazi** · 09-13-2004, 12:49 PM

Originally Posted by rayesteq

what if I remove KDE?Do i lost ability to use mozilla or any plugins like Vlc on it?Because the only thing is to use mozilla and Vlc plugin for it.I am gonna use Mozilla for a POI(point of information) machine.

Of course you can still use Mozilla. To get rid of KDE do this:

apt-get remove libarts1

**stuart_b** · 09-13-2004, 08:03 PM

"Of course you can still use Mozilla. To get rid of KDE do this:

apt-get remove libarts1"

Doesn't that take away parts of KDE needed for the installer? If so, it would be better to start with Knoppix 3.3 (which has the old installer that will run command line), or save the removal of KDE till after installing to the HD.

But certainly Mozilla is as happy running in Windowmaker or XFCE.

**UnderScore** · 09-13-2004, 08:54 PM

Here is some of what I do & this is all from my memory, so I might be wrong. This should free up about at least 300MB if not closer to 400MB :
NOTE: If I remove a package that I was not certain of its fuction or necessity, I run every critical application, websurf, listen to music, burn CDs, essentially stressing the machine to see if I have broken anything.

On a new install I

Code:

apt-get install aptitude synaptic localepurge

I install localepurge which will only keep your language localization on the machine and will delete the others.
I use apt-get to remove the following:

Code:

apt-get remove openoffice-de-en trans-de-en frozen-bubble enigma chromium bacula-common amanda-common emacs emacsen zile xtel manpages-de

I keep KDE but I remove the KDE internationalization pakages, so at a command prompt try the following:

Code:

dpkg-query -l | grep kde | grep i18n | cut -d' ' -f3

Then I feed that to apt-get

Code:

apt-get remove `dpkg-query -l | grep kde | grep i18n | cut -d' ' -f3`

I then boot into KDE or IceWM and use synaptic and remove in groups of 3 the DEV libraries (such as libsomelibrary-dev) and test to make sure the system is stable. Since my desktop is not using wireless or wlan, I use synaptic and remove any wfi or wireless packages. Since my desktop is not a server I remove apache, php, mysql, bind, dhcserver, and squid.

I hope this helps.
James

**CrashedAgain** · 09-13-2004, 11:35 PM

See this:
http://www.knoppix.net/docs/index.ph...HDInstallHowTo

The wiki is primarily about doing a remaster but there are some tips about removing packages & customizing in it. In particular:

Code:

 dpkg-query -W --showformat='${Installed-Size} ${Package}\n' | sort -n

will list packages sorted by size.

You can then decide what you want to keep.

You can use a purgelist to remove multiple packages at once:

example purgelist :

3270* ace-of* amanda* anacron artwiz-cursor atitvout bonobo* brltty chromium* emacs* enigma euro* falconseye* fetchmail fluxbox fortunes* freeciv*

Note that this is a space-separated list, all on one line and that wildcards are permitted. If you use a CR separated list and apt-get comes to an item it cannot find, it will not continue. If you use dpkg instead of apt-get you cannot use wildcards. OpenOffice can generate a space separated list from a CR separated by saving as filetype .csv

The command for using the purgelist is

Code:

 apt-get remove `cat purgelist `

(The ` is the character under the tilde (~) key.)

Code:

 Apt-get remove kde-i18n*

will remove about 100 meg of uneeded language support.

**mzilikazi** · 09-14-2004, 05:02 AM

Originally Posted by stuart_b

Doesn't that take away parts of KDE needed for the installer? If so, it would be better to start with Knoppix 3.3 (which has the old installer that will run command line), or save the removal of KDE till after installing to the HD.

But certainly Mozilla is as happy running in Windowmaker or XFCE.

Well yes you are correct, it does remove the installer but what do you need that for when you've already installed?