It is still installing Bluetooth support, ansible, terraform and all kind of things. Maybe you could group these so they can be disabled individually. I guess the notion of "useless" package really differs from users to user and doesn't really allow for a "standardized minimalistic experience".
I3wm and Ubuntu 20.04 server without any useless packages
11–20 of 43 posts
Re: I3wm and Ubuntu 20.04 server without any useless packages
#12I spent a couple of years running an extremely minimal arch I3 install. It was fantastic doing things within my normal workflow, but when you have to introduce new tools, new network requirements, etc. it takes a fairly significant amount of effort. For instance- connecting to my university's wifi took hours and required hacking up a python script that wasn't compatible with my system. I think a lot of the fight agai…
I recently switched to KDE, Which lets you use i3 as the window manager. You still get KDE's bar and applets like the network manager and such. Not nearly as minimal as the arch setup I had before, and takes a depressing amount of time to log in and out in comparison, but so far is otherwise worth it for me.
Re: I3wm and Ubuntu 20.04 server without any useless packages
#13Is there much point in enabling compositing if we're installing i3 with this method? Would it even make a difference?
I3 supports compositing, I used it to have semi transparent floating windows (heresy for a tiling wm isn't it) and it also greatly improved some stuff such as smooth scrolling that was all teary.
Re: I3wm and Ubuntu 20.04 server without any useless packages
#14> without any useless packages
redis, cmake, caffeine, unrar, vlc, postgres, docker, axel, fish, fzf...
really?
Re: I3wm and Ubuntu 20.04 server without any useless packages
#15What are "useless packages" and why were they made?
A completely vague term for "stuff I don't personally need". They were made and included because lots people want them and consider them useful, obviously.
That said, their definition of "useless" is completely at odds with mine, with them preinstalling slack, zoom, spotify and balena etcher.
Re: I3wm and Ubuntu 20.04 server without any useless packages
#16In my (albeit limited) experience, those "useless" packages tend to be not so useless in order to have a somewhat functional installation.
Example: By default, Ubuntu+GNOME installs various utilities that you WILL need unless you want to do everything by hand. nm-applet, bluetooth applet, volume applet, etc.
Of course you have to add this to the i3 configuration manually, but that's the beauty of running i3. Yes you may have useless packages hanging around. But they will not be running UNLESS and ONLY IF you wish for that to be the case.
But when you need those "useless" packages, and you will most certainly need them to connect to your Wi-Fi network, you will be happy to have them already on GNOME and not have to install everything package by package and perhaps even compile an alternative software because it's the only one you found referenced on a reddit thread.
Basically, what I'm trying to say is, it's fun to do this once as an exercise to know how your computer works (learn what a compositor is, learn how pulseaudio works, etc.). But beyond that, it starts to get pretty tedious and not fun.
Re: I3wm and Ubuntu 20.04 server without any useless packages
#17How is this different from installing ubuntu and then installing i3 ?
This is Ubuntu server plus i3 and some opinionated other package choices. This ends up being fewer overall packages than Ubuntu Desktop plus i3.
Re: I3wm and Ubuntu 20.04 server without any useless packages
#18I just reinstalled my machine from Ubuntu 16.04 to 20.04. I'm using i3wm for a few years, and things never worked out of the box. The sound applet, VPN, and other small things that quickly add up.
I'm now using Regolith [1] and loving it. It offers a clean and neat i3wm installation, but still uses Ubuntu's system admin tools. It was really simple to install: just install Ubuntu, add its PPA and run apt-get.
I highly recommend it for anyone that likes i3wm but doesn't want to be fiddling with configuration files to connect to a new WiFI or pair bluetooth headphones.
Re: I3wm and Ubuntu 20.04 server without any useless packages
#19What are "useless packages" and why were they made?
A completely vague term for "stuff I don't personally need". They were made and included because lots people want them and consider them useful, obviously. That said, their definition of "useless" is completely at odds with mine, with them preinstalling slack, zoom, spotify and balena etcher.
So why then did you choose the "Windows among the Linux-distributions" as a base?
Re: I3wm and Ubuntu 20.04 server without any useless packages
#20So I have no idea what the poster means by 'without any useless packages' but I can talk a little to why packaging i3 is good. Firstly, I like i3. Of all the tiling Window managers I've tried it seems to be the best mix of minimal, easy to understand, easy to configure and brings all the benefits of tiling WMs in terms of workflow and aesthetics. What i3 doesn't do out of the box is look very good or have many common…
Maybe I'm missing something but there's no option for i3 in that Manjaro URL.
I currently use Regolith but I'm looking for something lighter but still doesn't force me to configure every single thing like battery or wifi.