I agree with you, I think having two base packages works well as it will help people who want an small container install but also people who just want a normal install. On Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 10:31 AM Storm Dragon via arch-general < arch-general@archlinux.org> wrote:
Howdy,
I wonder if there shouldn't be two base packages. maybe a base-minimal for containers, and a base like the original. I worry that the new method will be confusing for people coming to Arch for the first time, and it kind of makes things a bit more strenuous for the bare metal user.
Of course, this could just be because I am used to the old way. Will be interesting to see what happens.
Thanks, Storm
On Fri, Oct 11, 2019 at 05:20:46PM +0200, Arch Linux General wrote:
On Fri, 11 Oct 2019 11:33:51 +0100, Ralph Corderoy wrote:
Hi Ralf,
An editor is a fundamental tool
Yes, but stepping back a bit... do you accept that neither a text editor, or less(1), are required on a minimal install that's just being used as a base for producing a specialised install for a particular task, as used in a container?
I'm unclear if you're arguing what should be in an add-on-to-base package for typical interactive use, or that the concept of stripping back base is wrong and should be reverted.
Hi Ralph,
first of all, the package "base" as is, is ok for me.
_If_ the developers _would_ ask the Arch users, what packages to include again, I would at least vote for "less", "vim" and manual pages.
If I run a Linux in a container, this Linux does not need a kernel, but actually "less" and an editor are needed by me...
[root@archlinux moonstudio]# systemd-nspawn -bq [root@moonstudio ~]# uname -r; lsb_release -d 5.3.5-arch1-1-ARCH Description: Ubuntu 16.04.6 LTS [root@moonstudio ~]# less /etc/apt/sources.list [snip] [root@moonstudio ~]# visudo [snip]
...excluding the kernel, let alone packages to support exotic file systems, IMO is useful. I want the mainline kernel, even while most of the times I'm running real-time patched kernels, but I agree that the kernel should be optional.
Removing the man pages, IOW the documentation by default is a very bad idea, since this is one of the benefits of BSD and Linux over opaque operating systems.
I guess for special minimized installs users want to install something like BusyBox and remove man pages, as well as header files and even something like "grep" and other that are replaced by BusyBox, but such special cases IMO should not be reflected by a base install.
That's my opinion, IOW next time I will install the base package and at least add "less", "vim", "nano" [1] and the man page related packages.
Regards, Ralf
[1] $ grep EDIT .bashrc export EDITOR="nano"
"vim" because it's the lowest common denominator and "nano" because it's easier to use for simple editing. For advanced editing I'm in favour of a GUI editor. A lot of other users are probably even in favour of an IDE.
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