How to make a cut-down version of Puppy Linux?

[Luke]

Hi
Howto make a cut-down version of puppy linux ?
let's say Fossapup64 how to make is smaller ?
or howto remove the fat from FatDog64 ?

Thank you.

[s243a]

You can uninstall stuff in the package manager and then remaster. Alternatively, you can try modifying the build recepies for the partular version of puppy or puppy like systems.

[666philb]

hi @Luke ,

welcome to the forums!

with fossapup you can remove the adrv_fossapup64_9.5.sfs and it will boot to a minimal puppy 180mb with no apps

[user1111]

howto remove the fat from FatDog64 ?

Fatdog has a Bulldog within it, basically just cli/text. So you can for instance boot to cli with wifi (or ethernet) connected, none of the gui bloat. That still contains a wide range of modules/firmware, so around 80MB IIRC. I've rebuilt that using a kernel compiled with make localyesconfig ... that builds in just the machine specific firmware/modules (so not portable), that weighs in at around 5MB (kernel with integral initrd/busybox). I use that (I call it Pugdog) to load up a framebuffer (graphics mode cli), and vnc into another fatdog that has the full gui desktop and 'remotely' use that. Or I can use it to kvm/qemu boot any iso, such as a puppy linux iso for a full gui desktop.

You could use Bulldog/whatever to just build whatever programs you wanted, X, Libreoffice ...etc.

The more you cut out, the less the functionality. Fatdog fully expanded weighs in at around 1GB of 'stuff', that when compressed (fd64.sfs) reduces down to around 450MB. Those sorts of sizing tends to fit easily into more recent hardware nowadays, so cutting things out is somewhat futile. A bit like having a large garage that a modest sized car easily fits within, and looking to swap that for a smaller car to 'save some space'.

[s243a]

The more you cut out, the less the functionality. Fatdog fully expanded weighs in at around 1GB of 'stuff', that when compressed (fd64.sfs) reduces down to around 450MB. Those sorts of sizing tends to fit easily into more recent hardware nowadays, so cutting things out is somewhat futile. A bit like having a large garage that a modest sized car easily fits within, and looking to swap that for a smaller car to 'save some space'.

but somepeople fill their garage with stuff other than cars! :p j/k

[mikewalsh]

@rufwoof :-

howto remove the fat from FatDog64 ?

<.....snip...../>

The more you cut out, the less the functionality. Fatdog fully expanded weighs in at around 1GB of 'stuff', that when compressed (fd64.sfs) reduces down to around 450MB. Those sorts of sizing tends to fit easily into more recent hardware nowadays, so cutting things out is somewhat futile. A bit like having a large garage that a modest sized car easily fits within, and looking to swap that for a smaller car to 'save some space'.

Totally agree, ruffers. Having 'expanded' this new desktop from the 'modest' 4 GB that came with it when new, first to 8 GB, then to 16 GB, I'm astounded to find that many still consider that to be 'lacking' in resources. Where many proudly proclaimed to the world to have 32 GB of RAM a couple of years ago, even some of them are now moving up to 64GB.....

That's more than 3 times the amount on ye anciente Dell's original hard drive..! (It's the size of the current SSD she now sports.)

I must admit though, it IS nice to be able to run multiple applications without worrying about the excessive 'code bloat' many of them seem to come with nowadays.....

Mike.

[mistfire]

How to trim down a Puppy

1. Extract the Puppy main SFS file
2. Delete /usr/share/gtk-doc
3. Delete /usr/share/gir-repository
4. Delete /usr/share/man
5. Delete folders inside /usr/share/locale/ except the language of your choice
6. Delete /usr/share/include (make sure that devx modules was not loaded)
7. Delete /usr/share/src (make sure that devx modules was not loaded)
8. Delete /usr/man or /usr/share/man
9. Strip the binary executables and binaries using this command

Code: Select all

strip --strip-unneeded <file>

10. Uninstall some builitin applications run remove_builtin in chroot with respect to folder were puppy main sfs is extracted
11. Packed again the extracted root fs using mksquashfs. Set block size to 1Mb, xz compression.

[mistfire]

Also how to reduce the size of ZDRV file of puppy
1. Extract ZDRV file in a folder
2. Run this command

Code: Select all

 find <extracted zdrv folder> -name "*.ko" -type f -exec strip --strip-unneeded '{}' \;

3. Repack again the extracted kernel modules using mksquashfs. Set compression to xz and block size to 512kb or 1Mb

[Luke]

Many thx @s243a @666philb @mikewalsh @rufwoof @misfire for the info.
will take me some time to digest...

[wanderer]

hi all

does anyone want to make an absolutely minimal puppy core with woof-ce
just cli
so that everything else can be added as an sfs file

just asking for fun

wanderer

[Luke]

minimal puppy...so that everything else can be added as an sfs file

would love that.

[wanderer]

hi luke

puppy linux is great
but difficult to strip down

there is even some question
if stripping puppy down is useful
since it is a tightly integrated system
with lots of little gems sewn in

if you want a system that starts with a tiny core
and just adds what you want
you should look at corepup/tinycore/dcore
i play with this and it is a lot of fun
it also is a great lerning experience
because each application is broken into its dependencies

i use both upupbb32 and corepup/tinycore/dcore
both are capable of providing a complete system

i suggest you give corepup/tinycore/dcore a look
you might find it interesting

you might even post and tell me about your experiences
on the corepup thread

wanderer

[mikewalsh]

I gotta confess, I don't understand the "need" or "requirement" to make an OS as tiny as possible. Unless you're the sort of person for whom 'small is beautiful'. (Well, OK; that's not strictly true.....I do kind of understand where you're coming from, I guess).

I initially turned to Pup over Ubuntu cutting out graphics support for the old Compaq desktop. In those days neither she NOR the even older Dell lappie had much in the way of resources; 3 GB and an Athlon X2 on the one hand, 1.5 GB & a P4 on t'other. Puppy was ideal.....

Fast-forward 5 years. What a difference. From elderly, hand-me-down kit, I've gone the other way, and treated myself to something new; fast, quad-core Pentium - still humdrum by the standards of many, I guess, but a 'powerhouse' where Pup's concerned - first 4GB, then 8 GB, now 16 GB.....I'm even "toying" with the idea of 32 GB. And 500 GB of storage has now become 5 TB.....

She came with Win 10 (of course). That got immediately deleted with "extreme prejudice"..! Oh, I could run anything I wanted, now - I've actually started playing around with Haiku OS (a long-standing ambition;refused to work with the old hardware) - but even that is still running from a 128 GB flash drive. I stick with Puppy for a few reasons; familiarity.....ease-of-operation.....and unbelievable flexibility.

(And of course, the fact that the little buggers are so addictive might just have summat to do with it..!! )

Mike.

[rockedge]

my reasons for a "cut down" version was to offer a small OS with a powerful camera security package on it that was going to run headless without any extras that did not directly relate to the camera system.

The idea was for very small micro computers that are fan-less and can be disguised as a book or something that can run a specialized Puppy Linux tailored for this task.

I was able to achieve it using WeeDog and the firstrib scripts with a plug file that built a Void Linux version without any X server and no window manager and nothing but the packages that directly support it's mission.

Though in practical experience, it is clear that just using a clean frugal install of a stock Bionic or Focal performed perfectly and was compact enough as is.

[rcrsn51]

I gotta confess, I don't understand the "need" or "requirement" to make an OS as tiny as possible.

Consider how often a newcomer reports "I am using Puppy version X but built-in application Y doesn't work".

If you start with a bare-bones OS, you can avoid that problem by getting the applications you need from a dependable repo where things have already been fully tested. And you can keep them updated as needed.

But if your hobby is tinkering endlessly with broken Puppies, I guess you have different objectives.

[rockedge]

@rcrsn51 That is one of the strengths of WeeDogXX-Void or Arch. One can build the OS with an absolute bare minimum needed to boot and do something. Using the plug file capability one can add at build time an X server and a window manager, file manager or whatever is needed.

It is taunting sometimes to boot into one of these and be faced with an OS only equipped with a terminal, package manager and network components, and starting to decide what do I need? How do I install and set it up? Will there be side effects and conflicts?

I think the ability of a simple removal of the adrv in Fossapup to bring it to a "bare" system is extremely useful