Linux distro with ONLY shell (NO GUI) : Which one?


Recommended Posts

If he REALLY wants to learn linux, then I'd reccomend Linux from Scratch (http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/)

It is extremely flexible; install only what you want. The instructions are very comprehensive, making it perfect for learning the deep, dark innards of Linux.

I'de say Debian Sarge, as it has excellent security support and doesn't take more than 10 mins to set up a headless system. Etch if you need more up-to-date software (there is still securoty support with Etch, note if you want to use unstable for a server there is no security support - but the latest packages have most fixes).

For ease of use I'd say SUSE is the best as you can use YAST over ssh, and it's also better for compatibility with commercial apps.

Most distros allow you to select an option that will install a bare-bones console system, though it can be hard to find in some installers.

My recommendations:

Slackware or Debian if he doesn't want to start from scratch with compiling the entire thing. It's well optimized for speed, and lets him compile other stuff he needs from source tarballs. Debian has the additional advantage of having apt-get which is in many users' opinion THE ultimate package management system (and I can't say I disagree).

Gentoo stage3 install has extensive documentation that is very easy to follow, and you can set up an ssh server on the LiveCD to do the install from another computer. Apparently stage1 and stage2 aren't supported anymore for whatever reason. Gentoo's Portage is also an excellent package-management system that is a joy to use, though a bit more difficult to get to grips with than apt-get (IMHO). Gentoo is very tweakable though it had been even more so if they still approved of doing stage1 or stage2 installs.

Linux From Scratch - I personally have not tried this, but I gather it is similar to a Gentoo stage1 install (which is fun, but takes ages!). After Gentoo stopped supporting stage1 installs, this is as far as I know the only distro that lets you start from the very beginning and tweak every little tiny bit of the system.

Linux From Scratch and Gentoo are probably best suited for a high-end machine as the time required to compile may deter any practical use on a slow machine (say, Pentium II or older).

  Quote
The advised method now is to do a stage3 installation and optionally recompile the system after the installation. That will create an optimized system as well. How to proceed a real stage1 or stage2 installation is still described in the FAQ.

The reason behind this was due to the massive influx of users new to linux screwing up their base system by trying to do a stage 1/2 install. It's still very much supported, but just no longer recommended as the default.

My favorite distro's over the years have been debian, slackware, and gentoo.

Slackware's great because its full install is just what i'm looking for, plus it just seems nice. It feels like its really unixyee -- i think they claim to be the most unix like linux distrobution?

Gentoo is good for its excellent community and documentation, although it is by no means easy. Its probably as hard as you get. Portage is also a great package system

Debian has the great packge manager apt-get, which makes installing programs and maintaining them so very easy. Although I stopped using it sometime before sarge went stable, it was rock-solid and secure, and worked great, especially on my older hardware.

Gentoo would be really diving in the deep end, but a slackware install would be great for learning linux without gettting totally bogged down. Debian's nice too.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • You will soon have fewer reasons to open Control Panel in Windows 11 by Taras Buria Good news: more Control Panel bits are making their way to the Settings app, giving you fewer reasons to use the legacy UI that Microsoft buried deep inside its operating system. This time, the company is migrating certain clock-related settings, giving them a more modern look in the Settings app. The upgraded Settings app now lets you enable additional clocks in the notification center and adjust AM/PM indicators. These features work the same as they do in the legacy Control Panel: you can enable up to two additional clocks for two extra time zones and name them as you wish. Thanks to the redesign, the UI for setting up additional clocks supports dark and light themes, bigger UI elements, and improved accessibility. The same goes for the AM/PM indicators: you can customize them in Settings > Time & Language > Language & Region > Regional Format. Other Control Panel bits that recently made their way to the Settings app include some keyboard settings. Microsoft has not confirmed any of those changes yet, so stand by for announcements in future preview builds. Speaking of preview builds, this week, Microsoft released a new Canary build with improved context menus, taskbar changes, new accessibility features, and more. Check out the full release notes here.
    • Everything 1.4.1.1028 by Razvan Serea "Everything" is search engine that locates files and folders by filename instantly for Windows. Unlike Windows search "Everything" initially displays every file and folder on your computer (hence the name "Everything"). You type in a search filter to limit what files and folders are displayed. "Everything" only indexes file and folder names and generally takes a few seconds to build its database. A fresh install of Windows 10 (about 120,000 files) will take about 1 second to index. 1,000,000 files will take about 1 minute. "Everything" will run on Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10 and Windows 11. NTFS indexing requires the Everything service or running "Everything" as administrator. What is the Lite version of "Everything"? The Lite version of Everything is the same as the normal multilingual version of Everything, except it has some features removed: Removed ETP/FTP Server. Removed HTTP Server. Removed IPC. The Command line interface / ES will not work with the Lite version. The SDK will not work with the Lite version. Windows accessibility features and screen readers will not work with the Lite version. Everything 1.4.1.1028 changes: fixed a crash when getting help text from a context menu item that throws an exception. updated localization. "Everything" is Freeware. If you use "Everything" in a commercial environment and find it useful a donation would be appreciated. Download: Everything 1.4.1.1028 64-bit | Portable ~1.0 MB (Freeware) Download: Everything 1.4.1.1028 32-bit | Portable Download: Lite 32-bit | Lite 64-bit View: Everything Website | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • So you just don't like the statement? That's completely different than the statement not being true. And one doesn't have to be "full of hate" to acknowledge a cow is, in fact, a cow.
    • They are trying to pretend there is demand for this crap. That it's for special, wealthy, niche customers only right now. You know, the Apple marketing model.
    • Allow all task bar elements on all monitors, allow us to move around any taskbar element. When in Desktop mode, separate the icons in the system tray area only combine them when in touch mode.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      BlakeBringer earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Week One Done
      Helen Shafer earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • First Post
      emptyother earned a badge
      First Post
    • Week One Done
      Crunchy6 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      KynanSEIT earned a badge
      One Month Later
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      669
    2. 2
      ATLien_0
      273
    3. 3
      Michael Scrip
      232
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      163
    5. 5
      +FloatingFatMan
      160
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!