Re: Removing desktop environments

[cga2000 <cga2000@optonline.net>]

On Sun, Feb 04, 2007 at 01:32:08PM EST, Andrew Sackville-West wrote:
> On Sun, Feb 04, 2007 at 12:40:01PM -0500, cga2000 wrote:
> > Is there a quick way to remove the gnome and KDE desktop environments
> > that won't mess up apt..?
> 
> If I understand what you're trying to do, then I don't think this is a
> good solution. It introduces unecessary complication. That said, one
> way I see of doing this in a sort of automated way is to set up flat
> files for use with dpkg --get-selections/--set-selections. You could
> use dpkg --get-selections > somefile to get a list of what is
> currently installed. Go in and manually edit a copy of that list to
> reflect what you actually want and then use the original and edited
> lists to toggle your system back and forth. something like 
> 
> dpkg --set-selections < edited-file
> apt-get dselect-upgrade
> <backup procedures here>
> dpkg --set-selections < original-file
> apt-get dselect-upgrade
> 
> totally untested.
> 
> > 
> > If possible I would prefer not to remove a few gtk-based apps such as
> > gpdf, gimp, and mozilla.
> > 
> > The main objective is to be able to run full system backups that don't
> > take forever and fit on a single CD-RW.
> 
> surely your backup system can filter what actually gets backed up. By
> removing packages before backing up, and then (I assume) reinstalling
> them you are not making a full system backup anyway. So just trim out
> non-critical stuff from what gets backed up. Then be sure to include a
> dpkg --get-selections output into the backup as well so that things
> can be reset properly after the restore. FWIW, in my backup strategy I
> don't back up the whole system. I backup my home directory (obviously)
> on a nightly basis using rdiff-backup. I also on a regular basis
> backup all of /etc and get a new list of selections from dpkg. Between
> these three, I can be up and running pretty quickly -- do an etch
> install, dist-upgrade to sid, apt-get dselect-upgrade from my dpkg
> selections, copy over the old /etc, restore home and away I go. 

Sorry I was unclear.  

I want to remove all the crud from my system in order to be able to run
backups that are fast, small, and simple.

I installed gnome and kde at one point but I never use them.  

I have no intention of reinstalling them at a later date.

Thanks,

cga