Reducing size of ubuntu-desktop-minimal package

Support and Help
1

We are using Ubuntu 24.04 for a kiosk-type application. It boots up, auto-logins and runs a single application that takes over the entire desktop. We currently start off with an install of Ubuntu Server, then add ubuntu-desktop-minimal, then remove gdm3 and install lightdm as the desktop manager.

This still makes us pretty tight on both disk space and memory. We are thinking/hoping that the ubuntu-desktop-minimal package can be pared down even more. The configuration is performed using dconf from an Ansible script so we don’t really need any of the settings or other configuration dialogs.

Can anyone provide suggestions on where to start looking for packages that can be removed after ubuntu-desktop-minimal is installed. I’ve tried a couple but they seemed to then trigger an almost complete uninstall of ubuntu-desktop-minimal.

Thank you much - Richard

2

ubuntu-desktop-minimal is a meta-package. Meaning, the only thing it does is depend on other packages.

So instead of installing the meta-package, can you manually cherry-pick install only the specific dependencies you actually need?

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3

Alternatively you could take a look at Ubuntu Core, it is significantly smaller and already comes with a Wayland compositor (ubuntu-frame) available… You’d only have to throw your app on top

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4

I did take a look at the dependent package list, but it was quite large and I did not readily see how to pare it down. I need to find a bit more of an overview on the various gnome packages I guess.

Thanks!

5

I had taken a look at Ubuntu Core a while back, but was hoping to keep the regular gnome desktop manager in place - we depend on it for auto login and a number of other configuration/settings.

If I don’t make progress on trimming down ubuntu-desktop-minimal that may be the approach we have to take.

Thank you!

6

Hi @rnmixon, I would try installing Ubuntu Core and then sudo apt install gnome-core to just install the core components for Gnome. If I understand your question correctly.

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7

Well, Core is specifically designed for this use case and commercially used a lot in Kiosk, Point of Sale, Digital Signage and as UI of industrial controllers and medical devices.

The advantage is that you simply do not have to care for the OS at all (it is self healing, self updating and tinker proof) and can focus on your app instead … you dont need to care for login handling etc since apps run as standalone fullscreen service …

But if you have put a lot of work into tweaking the classic desktop setup already I indeed dont want to talk you out of it :wink:

8

This will not work. Ubuntu Core is snap-only. There is no apt on Core.

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9

Thanks for the push - I went and took a new look at Ubuntu Core. They also have an Ubuntu Core Desktop that is to be release “soon”.

For now it is still too big a paradigm shift

There are 55 “depends” packages in the 24.04 version of ubuntu-desktop-minimal. I’ve tried removing a couple (e.g. gnome-control-center) and apt actually tries to install more packages in order to satisfy the “remove”.

Removing the nautilus file manager seemed to work plus it allowed me to run “apt autoremove” afterwards and it removed quite a few packages.

I guess I’ll just keep plugging away with trial and error - had hoped someone might have a bit more insight as to what could be remove.

Thank you much to everyone for your suggestions and knowledge - Richard