Re: Installing Stretch/Testing with absolute minimal bandwith useage

[Richard Owlett <rowlett@cloud85.net>]

On 06/14/2017 12:56 PM, David Wright wrote:
> On Wed 14 Jun 2017 at 08:50:18 (-0500), Richard Owlett wrote:
> > On 06/13/2017 01:10 PM, Brad Rogers wrote:
> > > On Tue, 13 Jun 2017 12:51:10 -0500
> > > Richard Owlett <rowlett@cloud85.net> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hello Richard,
> > >
> > > > netinst iso. I had never experimented with just how much could
> > > > be done with netinst without any internet connectivity.
> > >
> > > Probably not a lot.  See; https://www.debian.org/CD/netinst/  Internet
> > > connectivity is expected to exist.
>
> Well, it sort of depends where you draw the line between internet
> and Internet connectivity. Fifteen years ago I played about with
> a private partial mirror where the source of the debs was via
> commuternet, ie Zip/Jaz disks transported from my Janet-connected
> office. The "internet" was a cat5 cable.
>
> > I'm wishing I had discovered the netinst iso years ago.
> > *NOTE BENE* Up until about a year ago I had only dial-up. The only
> > practical installation path that met my needs was purchasing
> > complete DVD sets. I spent many hours trying to coerce Debian into
> > doing a minimalist install.
>
> What parameter are you actually minimising?

For the purpose of this thread, the downloaded byte count. Period.

However understanding netinst will influence how I approach doing a 
"minimal" install. [I use quotation marks to emphasize that "minimal" 
can mean very different things to different people.]

> > If I had succeeded, I suspect the result
> > would have been close to netinst WITHOUT internet connectivity. But
> > I've learned a lot.
>
> Does it make any difference to the resulting package list whether you
> install using netinst or a stack of DVDs?

I doubt it. If there were significant differences it would indicate a 
problem.

> I had assumed that you could
> deselect all the options in the "Software selection" screen whichever
> way you installed, and end up with the same thing, a system with
> ~248 packages installed.

Are all 248 packages "necessary"? [Note usage of quotation marks ;]

A mechanics question, "How to count the number of installed packages?"
I'd like to be able to reproducibly count installed packages.