It has been years since I used Ubuntu, so whatever they do will not bother me.
As for the Debian Installer interface, I have tried both the text and the GUI interfaces. I find the text interface "works faster" (subjective opinion) for my uses compared to the GUI. All I need is a keyboard and a monitor, and I have that on my "crash cart" all the time.
Now if only Debian can craft an installer option that installs a totally lean, barebones, SSH only with network support "task" on bare metal. That would save me the hassle of going through what Debian installs for just an SSH+basic system utilities install and purging something like 500 MB or more of unwanted 'cruft'. Then I can script the stuff I normally install.
Could I script a "purge" script to remove the 'cruft' that I know of? Yes, but Debian packages & updates seem to have a magnetic quality that attracts additional packages that have no reason to exist on the system, or worse, adding new unexpected dependencies. So even with a "purge" script I would still have to spend a few hours working over the install to clean out bits & pieces. Right now I factor the "clean up" phase into my system setup time.
So what about making an image of a base install that I like? I have tried that, but then I have to account for differences in hardware. My environment has quite a mix of hardware; different sized SSDs, different types of motherboards, different types of network cards with some needing firmware (Realtek ... ew!). Having standardized hardware would be very nice, but it's not in the budget... so I am told.
Using the Debian net-installer solves the hardware differences issue by downloading what the net-installer needs to complete the install, and those downloads are up-to-date packages, making the system "ready for customization" (apps, firmware, etc.) when I am done. I have yet to encounter any hardware that the net-installer cannot handle, but I do keep a current full DVD Debian image on a USB key handy.
As for the Debian Installer interface, I have tried both the text and the GUI interfaces. I find the text interface "works faster" (subjective opinion) for my uses compared to the GUI. All I need is a keyboard and a monitor, and I have that on my "crash cart" all the time.
Now if only Debian can craft an installer option that installs a totally lean, barebones, SSH only with network support "task" on bare metal. That would save me the hassle of going through what Debian installs for just an SSH+basic system utilities install and purging something like 500 MB or more of unwanted 'cruft'. Then I can script the stuff I normally install.
Could I script a "purge" script to remove the 'cruft' that I know of? Yes, but Debian packages & updates seem to have a magnetic quality that attracts additional packages that have no reason to exist on the system, or worse, adding new unexpected dependencies. So even with a "purge" script I would still have to spend a few hours working over the install to clean out bits & pieces. Right now I factor the "clean up" phase into my system setup time.
So what about making an image of a base install that I like? I have tried that, but then I have to account for differences in hardware. My environment has quite a mix of hardware; different sized SSDs, different types of motherboards, different types of network cards with some needing firmware (Realtek ... ew!). Having standardized hardware would be very nice, but it's not in the budget... so I am told.
Using the Debian net-installer solves the hardware differences issue by downloading what the net-installer needs to complete the install, and those downloads are up-to-date packages, making the system "ready for customization" (apps, firmware, etc.) when I am done. I have yet to encounter any hardware that the net-installer cannot handle, but I do keep a current full DVD Debian image on a USB key handy.
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