I’ve installed debian on an old laptop and am wondering if the 10 gig base system size can be slimmed down by deleting unneeded files.

I ran the commands to look for any runaway logs or other obviously large files and nothing popped out.

Is there a group of folders full of stuff I don’t need or is this just the size of modern distros?

EDIT: I ended up doing a netinstall and got a 6ish gig system so I’m pretty happy with that. The netinstall image was able to detect my wifi card even though the debian live installer was not.

  • WhiteOakBayou@lemmy.worldOP
    43·
    1 day ago

    i have broken the install a few times just deleting stuff. The live disk won’t find my wifi card so i can’t net install unless I buy an ethernet adapter.

    • MajorHavoc@programming.dev
      61·
      5 hours ago

      the live disk won’t find my Wifi

      Oof.

      In case it helps: I have solved that problem for myself using a $9.00 USB Wifi dongle.

      For whatever reason (other contributors facing the same issue?), I have found that every cheapo USB Wifi dongle I have tried has worked perfectly with the minimal Linux images.

      I realize I might have just gotten really lucky a bunch of times, but it could be worth a try.

    • Shertson@lemmy.world
      4·
      1 day ago

      If you have another USB drive, I think you should be able to load the wifi drivers from that when using the netinstall. I am pretty sure I remember doing that 15 years ago.