How Much HD Space for Linux?

[Ed Sutherland]

On Mon, 14 Jun 2004 23:37:06 -0500, Clinton MacDonald wrote:

> The Yellow Dog site says that a "workstation" installation should 
> take 2-2.5 GB, while an "Everything" installation is 5 GB. Where are 
> you in that continuum?

I started at the "workstation" level, but as time passes, I added 
packages for CUPS, firewalls, more Gnome front-ends, graphics, etc. I 
also upped the "eye-candy" level in order to give a more pleasing 
appearance (font antialiasing, for instance.)

My next install (yes, I'll need to reinstall) will need to include some 
way to monitor disk free and swap size so that I have a better handle 
on my resources before installing another package. 

I also need to learn how to easily pare down my distro to the tasks 
where I spend 99% of my computing time: e-mail, writing, online 
research, printing and contact management. I don't run a server. I 
don't manage a network. I don't code software. I don't play games. I 
don't listen to MP3s/CDs all day. I don't create graphics. 

I went a bit 'hog-wild' with the last install and included development 
packages. I'd like to develop some software, but in reality don't have 
the time. I don't need all the multimedia packages, save XMMS and Gimp. 
I would like to avoid having two major desktop environments -- Gnome 
*and* KDE are a bit overkill.
 
> I know you like to experiment by installing new software and desktop 
> environments -- have your eyes been larger than your drive? :-) Maybe 
> it is time for "yum remove...."

I do like to experiment and probably went a bit overboard in packages. 
The trouble is I can't even get into my system (the X side, at least) 
because GDM can't write whatever little file is needed to start up a 
window manager. Guess it's time to wipe and restart.