>Minimal Programs >WM (window manager) dwm (most sanest and most minimalist) >Web browsers Firefox or any of the popular text based web browsers (w3m, links) >File Manager Terminal >Video/Music player Mpv or cmus >Text editors GNU nano or Vim >Image viewer FEH or sxiv >Shells mksh or dash >Terminal st (simple terminal) or rxvt-unicode
I think the main issue with minimal browsers is that the web is not minimal. More minimal browsers than firefox (and its derivatives) certainly exist, but they most often either can't render modern sites properly, or are based on chromium underneath or something, making it pointless. Hopefully, more sites will offer text-only versions die to GDPR, but I doubt most will change.
The most minimal way to browse the internet is to limit the sites that you browse to non-bloated sites.
Oliver Edwards
Got openbox, made keybindings for fast workflow but still can't get into terminal only philosophy. Tried ranger and went back to thunar. Help bros, any advice?
Aiden Hill
I use thunar too but 99% of time I'm in terminal.
Jace Morales
How is that? What's your workflow?
Anthony Ward
this web browsers just keep up with the bloated web standards(JavaScript is a big one)
>The most minimal way to browse the internet is to limit the sites that you browse to non-bloated sites. Time to keep browsing Jow Forums then **disable javascript**
Gabriel Taylor
>he didn't buy a Jow Forums pass if it's free you are the product
Asher Watson
It's the least shitty website on the entire internet. Could be improved with a better backend (IIRC it's running a GNU/Linux backend, would be better as a OBSD + httpd + cmark stack). It's still a website using XML on the internet, and is therefore bad, but it's not as bad as literally everything else.
Matthew Thomas
The technologies that drive the web are bloat. The most minimal browser is curl, but it cannot access many of the functions locked behind unnecessary Javascript most sites feature. So, if we want to use the web as it is intended, we need to use Firefox, which is the most minimal *fully-featured* web browser.
However, you could probably cobble together a set of curl scripts to browse/post to Jow Forums, and read websites, at the very least. It would not be a pleasant experience to develop, but afterwards it would likely be smooth sailing (given you stay within websites that are able to function in that way).
An interesting idea: curl and then pipe HTML into pandoc and transform it into *roff, and pipe *that* into less for a more native experience. I can't recall if *roff support hyperlinking, but such a browsing experience might suck less than the modern web.
Still, we need a new webstack that isn't terrible. Is there a more minimal way to describe physical layout than xml? An idea that's been bouncing around in my head is the idea of vectors, defined using a per-vertex plaintext format, that can be filled arbitrarily with bitmaps/videos, more vectors (clipping), or text (wrapped with Knuth-Plass). If those could be manipulated and created using some sort of specialized FORTH-style language, it could make for a very good UX and simplify interpretation/development by a lot.
Julian Jones
>macOS >43 packages
And you faggots waste your time with your meme linux builds haha this is true minimalism. >Buy the computer >minimal packages pre-installed >wow everything still works >minimalism achieved on my computer and bank account
>FreeBSD is minimal >Arch on the same level as Debian instead of in the trash Fuck off troll. Stop making retarded generals just to post your opinions.
Joshua Jones
what colour scheme is that?
Gabriel Ward
You may think that, but macOS is a fustercluck of pure shit and despair. The default install is more than 10gb for fuck's sake, and you can only shave it down below 16 or so with concerted effort. Just by size alone, that's bloat. It's written in C++, a bloated, shitty language, and graphical programs are packaged in massive folders, not binaries. Statically linked Linux binaries are a much cleaner solution, and even those are only half-decent. The kernel consistently loses in microbenchmarks against even Windows goddamn NT. I've lost the link, but there was an article which went pretty in depth with benchmarking things like executable loading, I/O (NVME) minimum possible pings, mass kernel calls, things like that.
On top of that, the hardware is incredibly poor in some key areas, mostly cooling and power delivery. While most custom built desktop PCs and most Thinkpads have overkill cooling and power delivery, Macs tend to have cooling solutions only capable of half or less than any given components' actual need. Physical durability is actually pretty okay in the MacBook Pro line, mostly the 2014 Retina MBP, with magsafe. Still not the best, but decent.
Xavier Roberts
and if it's paid you're paying to be the product.
Michael Rogers
>user why aren't you using dwm?? It's literally the best
Who are you and where's the pale redhead who was sitting here?
Dylan Lewis
>and graphical programs are packaged in massive folders, not binaries This is one of my favorite things about OS X. The executable and anything else the program needs is in a standardized hierarchy within a directory that's treated as an executable by the GUI
When using dwm, you just never think about ricing. Dwm is more minimal than i3. i3 literally uses dmenu and it comes from suckless.
>how is dwm any better? it's very efficient with only 2000 LOC
Jaxson Jackson
dwm has no Lua integration, no 9P support, no shell-based configuration, no remote control, and comes without any additional tools, such as for printing the selection or warping the mouse.
dwm is only a single binary, and its source code is intended to never exceed 2000 SLOC. dwm doesn’t distinguish between layers: there is no floating or tiled layer. Whether or not the clients of currently selected tag(s) are in tiled layout, you can rearrange them on the fly. Popup and fixed-size windows are always floating, however.
dwm is customized through editing its source code, which makes it extremely fast and secure - it does not process any input data which isn’t known at compile time, except window titles and status text read from the root window’s name. You don’t have to learn Lua/sh/ruby or some weird configuration file format (like X resource files), beside C, to customize it for your needs: you only have to learn C (at least in order to edit the header file). Because dwm is customized through editing its source code, it’s pointless to make binary packages of it. This keeps its userbase small and elitist. No novices asking stupid questions. There are some distributions that provide binary packages though.
dwm reads from the root window’s name to print arbitrary status text (like the date, load, battery charge). That’s much simpler than larsremote, wmiir and what not…
Alexander Gomez
Atom One Dark on the text editor
Landon Adams
why dwm instead of tinywm? tinywm is minimalist like dwm tinywm is C just like dwm the only difference is that, tinywm uses less resources and ram.
Josiah Hernandez
iirc, tinywm wasn't created to be used, just created to prove it could be done.
You're fine to use it though. I think puppy uses it out of box.
Brayden Brooks
I'll be getting a new Acer Swift 1 soon as my secondary work computer. I'm looking for a decent Linux setup to get the best out of its N4200 processor and its 4 GB RAM. I want a minimal environment which isn't too hard to install and which allows me to do light work like note taking, editing/creating document, random web browsing. I have these ideas:
>os Lubuntu 18.04 minimal >wm i3 >file manager Is the one that comes preinstalled with Lubuntu good? >video Mpv I guess? I never used it. I'm not a power user, so everything light and easy to use is fine. >text editors Leafpad or Nano. I'm looking for a text editor which allows me to take notes and use syntax highlighting simultaneously. >image viewer Feh >shells Have no idea >terminal Have no idea.
Do terminals and shells impact performance this much?
Joseph Fisher
i used it for a while but i cant use something that wont let me do everything with a mouse or let me do what i want with the windows.
Jackson James
Lubuntu means lxde Go for ubuntu if you like lubuntu
i3 is a good choice >file manager use the terminal, can't stress this enough. >shells just KNOW bash is BLOAT >Terminal watch this video on urxvt youtube.com/watch?v=_kjbj-Ez1vU
Don't go for the lubuntu/i3 clusterfuck route. You want a fresh authentic install of ubuntu. You would never want preinstalled stuff. Thats not the point minimalism.
Kayden Murphy
Firefox is a minimal web browser but Emacs isn't a minimal text editor?
Thank you for replying. What's the final result of an Ubuntu minimal installation in terms of desktop features? I'm not sure that I don't want a DE at all, even though I'm pretty accustomed to i3 on my old laptop and I love it. As for the video, I already know that guy, since I've watched all of his videos about i3. Using a different terminal doesn't make a big difference to me.
Henry Murphy
>What's the final result of an Ubuntu minimal installation in terms of desktop features?
Shit, that looks maybe a little bit too sterile to my tastes...what if I check one of those DE? Does it install the whole Ubuntu flavour or just the absolute minimal thing?
Julian Reyes
cute whore
Nathan Adams
>Terminal >not pcmanfm
SpaceFM is better
Angel James
>what if I check one of those DE? Don't >Does it install the whole Ubuntu flavour or just the absolute minimal thing?
It installs the DE,Xorg etc etc
All you need is i3. So 1. Sudo apt-get install xorg 2. sudo apt-get install i3 3. go into your .xinitrc file 4. put this: exec i3
You're done. Just startx
Justin Sanders
mmm... gno
Luke Harris
actually all you need is weston
Lincoln Torres
it's simpler which is ok if you use i3 in tabbed mode
Isaiah Barnes
>Lubuntu means lxde what?
>Go for ubuntu if you like lubuntu what? are you literary retarded?
don't listen to him he's trolling you NEVER use the network install, you don't know if it will work lubuntu IS minimal anyway
test the live cd, then install fish is the best shell st is the best terminal, you can make it yourself with prefix .local, no sudo
Aaron Diaz
Thanks. At the end what I will get is Ubuntu plus i3 and nothing else, right? This sounds awesome, even though it looks easy to fuck up.
Oh well, I guess that I don't want to run the risk of starting an operating system without testing network connection first. Do you recommend to check the Lubuntu minimal version on the installer, though? Does it grant any benefit over the standard install? I mean to use very few programs, to say the truth. Does Lubuntu 18.04 run well on a Apollo Lake cpu though?
David Reyes
>Oh well, I guess that I don't want to run the risk of starting an operating system without testing network connection first. Do you recommend to check the Lubuntu minimal version on the installer, though? Does it grant any benefit over the standard install? I mean to use very few programs, to say the truth. Does Lubuntu 18.04 run well on a Apollo Lake cpu though?
You need pic related. its universal. I'm not a troll, that other guy is so dumb....
Stop asking questions and do it. Do it in a VM.
Jacob Brown
>Does Lubuntu 18.04 run well on a Apollo Lake cpu though? no idea, that's what live cds are for
>Does it grant any benefit over the standard install? no lubuntu is minimal enough as it is
>Minimal Programs >WM (window manager) Ratpoison >Web browsers Icecat or links2 >File Manager vifm >Video/Music player MPlayer and MOC >Text editors Elvis >Image viewer sxiv or fim >Shells Bash >Terminal Qodem
Been using vim, it is true superior text edotr and ide.
Isaiah Gray
Install GNU Linux-Libre; Linux without botnet bloat.
Tyler Johnson
>elvis >"im the king, bby" but seriously, use vim
Blake Rodriguez
trying to do this in alpine, but "xorg(missing): required by: world[xorg]"
Elijah Ramirez
I do too. Why did they stop getting posted? Not much of the content was being posted in other generals like /fglt/ and /cyb/, so it makes sense as a general.
Angel Jackson
I wish XMonad was minimal but it needs 200mb worth of GHC binaries
It's mostly X11 bindings, those are bound to be heavy
Thomas Foster
I agree with that but up your game user, Elvis is even lighter.
Adrian Garcia
pcmfm is trash.
Carter Ortiz
This so much.
Benjamin Jones
Honestly, never use a laptop without an ethernet port.
Ethernet port is required. But you seem really willing to learn which is good, just buy a laptop with an ethernet port.
Some people don't even bother with configuring wifi or getting wifi packages (wpa, wifi drivers)cause ethernet is more efficient.
Henry Thomas
the server runs on the program you want to draw graphics on, then the clients (GUI programs) connect to the server to tell it what to draw
get yourself a usb->ethernet adapter, they are $5-$10 and come in handy in a pinch, you'll thank me later
Caleb Foster
Get that. Then get ubuntu mini.iso and do your install
Ryder Garcia
My thanks, but what's the real issue about installing any Linux distro through wi-fi? I installed Xubuntu 16.04 on my old laptop using wi-fi a couple of years ago and I had no problem at all
Justin Hughes
>but what's the real issue about installing any Linux distro through wi-fi? As long as your w-ifi card is supported it should work just fine honestly. Some installations may require you to set it up manually though. Lubuntu shouldn't.
Andrew Gomez
>but what's the real issue about installing any Linux distro through wi-fi?
It doesn't support all types of wifi cards out of the box. Thats why most people download wifi drivers using ethernet. I never used wifi to do a net install of debian. It's possible but ethernet is wayyyy faster, plug it in and i'm in.
But yeah man, go for ubuntu net iso, install xorg+i3 and you are good to go.
Not him but spacefm is lighter and can do addons, haven't use addons though the program is good as it is and even has multiple panes and tree views.
Andrew Morales
bump
Jonathan Campbell
If you really think about it. All GUI & TUI file managers are trash. The true way to manage files is through the terminal. Also it could improve your wpm i guess
Eli Barnes
troff is a thin wrapper around ps. Hyperlinking is way too modern for it. I also don't think less supports hyperlinking, because it's just a fancy pager.
Gavin Perez
Slow, buggy and not necessary. Use the terminal or a CLI file manager.
