On 2010-12-04 23:07:31 -0500, shawn wilson wrote:
> so, i go to install openssh-server on a machine that i intend to be a web
> development environment and it wants to install libx11-6, x11-common,
> libx11-data and some other stuff. i went to track down what was depending on
> x libraries, but i decided it really doesn't matter - why do i need x
> libraries to run an ssh server?
You certainly don't need X to have a ssh server. I only looked at it
it briefly, but I'm guessing it tried to install the package "xauth",
which is a "recommends" of openssh-server.
The new default for aptitude is to say "yes" to recommends. There is a
way to configure your machine so that it says "no" by default to
recommends. That has been discussed recently on this list.
> i've spent two hours googling (and even bing) on how to keep x windows off
> of debian. i've found tons of stuff about x windows problems which is ironic
> since my problem is keeping a minimalistic system which doesn't include x. i
> know one of the options gentoo's ports offers is not installing x (or used
> to offer).
I can see that you would have trouble find that information in a web
search. I think that getting a system with X should be as simple as
not allowing it to be installed. I think the problem you are running
into is that the package system is pulling in recommends
automatically.
> i've found some options in dpkg, but nothing in apt-get. i don't see anyway
> to pass dpkg's --ignore-depends with apt-get. i'm thinking i'm looking for
> something in /etc/apt/apt.conf or apt-config but i can't come up with
> anything.
You can ignore a recommends at the time of installing by doing:
aptitude install openssh-server -R
I don't use apt-get, but when I search inside the man page...
man apt-get
...I see the option "--no-install-recommends". So that would translate
into:
apt-get install openssh-server --no-install-recommends
If you want to set an option so that aptitude says "no" by default
to recommends, you can try this tutorial:
http://linux.koolsolutions.com/2009/01/07/howto-tell-apt-get-not-to-install-recommends-packages-in-debian-linux/
> is it possible to have a functioning debian install without x windows? if
> so, why isn't this documented maybe in the debian faq or something?
Yes, many computers do not use X, especially server computers.
I think one reason it is not documented is because many people setting
up CLI-only computers, or server computers, are already experienced
with wrangling their package management software.
Hope this helps,
Phil
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