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Whats with 'minimal' templates?
So everywhere I go I keep seeing people installing Debian minimal or CentOS Minimal etc on their servers... Ive tried them both myself and they both seem pretty similar...
I get that a few programs are removed from the minimal to make it lighter, but is there anything else about it that makes it so good? Is 200mb less space and 20mb less ram such a big deal?
Comments
ronaldgrn do you need apache, sendmail, samba, bind9... with every vps by default? And in case of need isn't better to install webserver by yourself instead having everything running by default with every VPS you own?
don't you have to manually install those (except apache) with every install?
Depends what you mean by "manually" - I presume most of them are one-command installs via the package manager?
Wat?
It's just example. Minimal template doesn't have every crap you may never need installed by default.
For me personally it's easier to install webserver to vps I need instead of remove it from all VPSs I own and don't need.
Things you don't need and don't manage simply shouldn't run.
Well, if you don't need it why have it installed? If you need it then you can install it yourself... It's not just about ressources (even if that's important on a LEB) but also about security: unneeded software might bring security holes you'd have avoided without... and anyway, what's the point in running stuff you won't use?
It is not necessarily about the storage space but rather about what services are running (by default) and their dependencies.
It's a big deal when you have a small box to work with.
Exactly. I prefer the minimal templates to know exactly what is installed, running, and/or may otherwise be invoked. If I don't know everything that is running on a machine, I can't consider that machine secure to run in production.
I personally can't stand it when I provider doesn't make minimal templates available. I don't use the extra packages installed, and consider those running services potential attack vectors into my VPS. I think all providers should provide minimal templates only and leave it to the end users to decide what gets installed.
By the way, you're posting on LowEndTalk.com