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LEAN Debian install: Exploring task selection menu



IIUC the goal of Debian designers might be summarized as maximizing functionality for the broadest possible audience. And when there is a large enough audience for "power tools" there are Debian Pure Blends.

That works very well *most* of the time.

But when it doesn't, it is VERY annoying ;{

Problems include:
  1. Download bandwidth or data cap constraints.
     {aggravated by treating "recommends" as "depends"}
  2. Very large undesired packages {e.g. LibreOffice}
  3. Applications cluttering menus for which one uses a better
     alternative. {I prefer SeaMonkey over Firefox}


My proposed alternative is to leave unchecked all options on the "Software Selection" menu[1] and create appropriate pseudo-packages to be installed with "apt-get --no-install-recommends"


MY QUESTIONS

1. How do I find which packages are explicitly installed by checking a
   specific box {primarily Mate}?
2. How do I search the repository for those packages that have a
   priority “standard”? [2]
3. Especially when installing from an .iso on a flash drive, how do
   I run apt-get before closing the installer?

TIA




[1] Figure 4.13 of https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-handbook/sect.installation-steps.en.html
[2] 6.3.5.2. Selecting and Installing Software
    https://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/i386/ch06s03.html.en



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