What are the applications that I can remove from Mint? + Mini Rant.
What are the applications that I can remove from Mint? + Mini Rant.
What are the packages that comes default with Linux Mint Cinnamon that I can remove without any problems.
Linux Mint comes with lots of packages installed by default to give full experience to new users. But not everyone needs everything. In my case for example, I don't need celluloid, pix, hexchat, hypnotix, rhythmbox, LibreOffice, etc,... Those applications has their own audience and Linux Mint including them is a good thing but I personally don't want them.
Mini Rant or QA maybe?
I searched the internet a bit for the answer, on various forums, and subreddits. And All the people who asked this question got obliterated as far as I've seen. The common answers are:
if you remove the applications that came installed with Mint by default, it will cause Dependency issues.
If I remove an application and the dependencies shold be removed UNLESS some other application need those dependency, right? If that's the case, why removing packages can cause dependency issues?
Why would you want to remove essential applications like LibreOffice, pix etc. ? (this question is asked in the sense of "what sane person would want to remove those?")
Cause why not? Maybe I like GwenView more than Pix, maybe I don't need office applications at all. Why this even matter?
If you want don't want Mint's default applications, then what's the point of using Mint? Just use something like Ubuntu server or something. People need to realize that lot of people (at least me) using Mint for it's System management (updates, apt source list, etc..) via GUI ability. Just because I want to manage my system with ease, that doesn't mean I need everyt applications it offers me.
I honestly feel bad for the person who asked the question in the first place. They didn't got the answers till the very end. All they got is Criticism and it's not constructive one.
Why this kind of behaviour even exist?
P.S.: I'm using Mint inside VM for testing purposes. I don't want my VM to take a lot of space. That's why I don't need lot of applications.
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So how do you define “packages that can be removed without any problems”? How do you know for a fact that, in a week, you won’t need some piece of software that you removed? If you gave us more information about your intentions and use cases for a “minimal Mint” environment, that would be helpful.
EDIT: also, if you’re just running this in a VM for “testing”, why not just remove shit until you identify an issue? This type of problem is usually addressed in the opposite direction, by adding things until you get the desired result, not removing things until you break something.
The obvious answer is packages that aren’t essential for basic functions of the OS/desktop environment.
Define basic functions
You seem to be implying that applications could be considered basic functions. I can understand that perspective, but an application such as a music player or browser is certainly not a basic function of the OS, and I think it's a stretch to call those a basic function of the desktop environment. Maybe a better word is 'essential'. User applications are not essential to the OS, and the only applications I consider essential to the desktop environment are a terminal and a file browser, though the last one is negotiable. Of course things like the system setting app (or whatever GNOME calls it) are essential, but that's a component of the desktop environment and not a user application. So my list is:
- The kernel
- The init system
- Essential system components and services such as dbus and pipewire without which the OS and/or desktop environment will be degraded or not function.
- A terminal emulator app
- A file manager app
Oh look! Tangible requirements! It’s almost like someone could build something based on this list of required items.
What a concept.
IMO that list is the obvious answer to “which packages can’t be removed without breaking the system”. Sufficiently obvious that I consider your insistence on specific “requirements” to be obnoxious. Though for that specific phrasing I would not include the terminal emulator or file browser. Using a system without them would be annoying but entirely doable.