Why does Linux take so much room?

[D-Termind]

I can do a complete setup with Win98 on a 1M hard drive and have tons of room left. But, I can't hardly get Linux installs to work unless I go into the expert modes and make some partitions.

Why doesn't Linux just read the disk size and (after asking) make partitions (and install the programs) the appropriate size for the disk you are installing it on?

I think this is a big reason Linux isn't catching on faster...

I am getting used to how it acts but truthfully most people just want to insert a disk and let the install DO EVERYTHING for them.

It confuses people when they have to make decisions that they don't understand the consequences of...


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D-Termind

[vvx]

This isn't a "linux" thing, this is a "distribution" thing. Most of them give you much more power than with windows install.. That said, I'm sure there is a few distributions out there that if you accept "auto" it will do all the partitioning for you. As for taking up space, I can install linux with X and netscape and some devel utils in about 150 megs.. There are distributions of linux on a floppy disk, and IBM did put it on a wrist watch.. So, it scales down nicely.

[mandeep]

Originally posted by D-Termind:
I can do a complete setup with Win98 on a 1M hard drive and have tons of room left.



Uhh, sure. 1 megabyte Windows 98

<insert laughing here>

[FoBoT]

he meant 1GB of course

but i think the answer is that when you install windoze, all you get is windoze (and IE of course)

you have to go buy all your apps seperately and install them seperately

most linux distros, when they do a simple workstation install, load a ton of free apps in addition to linux (the O/S)

[fuzzy]

I do know that Mandrake measures up the space you've told it can use to install and then installs what it considers to be appropriate (with some room to spare). Maybe there are other distros that do the same -- i am not aware.
But you can install most any linux distro to fit on a very small footprint of your harddrive. There are also what's called mini-distros -- like Peanut Linux. Uses only like 100 megs or so and has x-windows with kde.
And you can install both Slack and Debian on just several hundred megs of space allowing you text-editors, networking and such.
If you get Mandrake and let her rip, she'll fill up an easy couple of gigs -- tons of utilities, games, applications... blah blah blah... way more than the average windoze install will give ya.
But honestly, if you install what you need, that can amount to, well, a very small amount. http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/smile.gif
The bottom line is, if you don't know what the program or package does, don't install it. You don't have to (likely).


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I spy with my little eye something that begins with "W"... oops, it's gone now.

[ph34r]

Hrm, Peanut Linux installs completely to under 200mb of space, and there are a few other distros that do that as well. Also, when you install something like Slackware, you can get a truly minimal install (the base o/s and network stuff) into about 75mb or less.

[mandreko]

then there's always linux on a floppy...

[Sauron]

Speaking of Linux on a floppy...can anyone tell me where to get one? I already tried Freesco, but for some reason it won't boot on the system I'm trying to run it on....

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"...Obscurity is usually the den of incompetence."

R. Heinlein

[ph34r]

Try smalllinux or HAL91 , maybe tomsrbt. There is a pretty extensive listing at www.linux.org (http://www.linux.org) under the "distributions" link.

[compunuts]

Or search for "Linux on floppy" at http://www.freshmeat.net .

[D-Termind]

Originally posted by mandeep:

Uhh, sure. 1 megabyte Windows 98

<insert laughing here>

Oops!...that typo was indeed laughable.

That's a 1G hard drive.

ALL:

Thanks for the info. I've been playing with distros and believe it or not (I traded 7.1 for 7.2 and NOW it works.) it looks like Mandrake is the winner.

I was surprised at how much it looked like Red Hat...but the install went much smoother.

It didn't take me long to realize that the TEXT install was the way to go. I didn't have any problems with it but I can see where MOST *softy's WOULD.

Fortunately it made some sense to me.

I really like the fact that the new Mandrake 7.2 (retail edition) comes with several very good Linux Ebooks in .pdf format. The books alone are worth the a LOT more than the $30 I paid for it.

BTW, these are REAL books, not something just to fill up disk space.


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D-Termind

[This message has been edited by D-Termind (edited 10 November 2000).]

[daWabbit]

I have beside me a 486 with a cli Linux install, taken from RH 5.2 that occupies 19.0 megabytes. Of course, there's precious little there in the way of apps, but it does what it's supposed to, which is copy floppies on a bulk basis and crunch a seti unit or three, albeit slowly.
As those before me pointed out, a Linux install does not need to be large. There are many smaller than the one I have here.
Compared to a Windows 98 installation, though, a typical Linux installation (if there is such a thing) contains beauxcoup administration tools, application software of many, many flavors and some toys. That's why they are so big when you do a semi or fully automatic package selection. Linux is actually much smaller than Windows, when installed with only enough stuff to rival the Windows install in functionality. http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/biggrin.gif