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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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When do you consider a system to be bloated? (lemdro.id)

submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I often hear folks in the Linux community discussing their preference for Arch (and Linux in general) because they can install only the packages they want or need - no bloat.

I've come across users with a couple of hundred packages installed (likely fresh installs), but I've also seen others with thousands.

Personally, I'm currently at 1.7k packages on my desktop and 1.3k on my laptop (both running EndeavourOS). There might be a few packages I could remove, but I don't feel like my system is bloated.

I guess it's subjective, but when do you consider a system to be bloated?

I'm asking as a relatively new Linux user - been daily driving for about 7/8 months

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I don't really care about "bloat" (whatever that means) I care about the system not being in chaos. I keep my bare system as clean as possible and install everything in a container, flatpak or VM.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

I have been taking the flatpak route as well lately where applicable. Sure many people see flatpak as bloat, but very few things are installed as system apps and my $HOME stays cleaner. There's also this gem https://github.com/valvesoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/3671. I want as few things as possible to have rwx to my home dirs.