The slimmest distrobution with the slimmest setup possible

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1

Greetings,

I’m just about to get my BeagleBone Black (Revision C) and wish to customize it once I get it, with the goal to get the slimmest, lightest and thinnest software setup possible and start from there, installing software as I need them.

I wish:

  • to be able to interact with the board through SSH & SCP,

  • to be able to interact with the GPIO-pins,

  • to be able to compile and run applications written in C, C++, Java and Python,

  • to retain the possibility to utilize the hardware to its fullest extent,

  • and of course, to be able to re-flash the eMMC if I would ever need to

However, I do not wish:

  • to have any GUI at all (desktop environment, window manager, etc)

  • to have Cloud9, GateOne, Avahi nor MPD
    You may wonder what my intention is with these wishes; it’s to, performance-wise, get the most out of my BBB - without any services running in the background and consuming resources, and unneeded software taking up space.

Now to my question: How should I proceed, in order to adapt my setup according to my wishes?
I guess that I’ll have to start by re-flashing the board with a lightweight Linux-distribution and then go from there and install whatever I need. But, since I’m new to BBB and Linux (I’ve some experience with the latter, but I’m willing and ready to learn), I would highly appreciate any recommendations on what Linux-distribution I could go for and in what order I shall install the software and perhaps drivers that I will need in order to be able to do the stuff I mentioned. I’ve noticed that Debian images listed for BBW/BBB come in different configurations, such as the one that’s listed as “Console: Flasher: (202Mb used)” which seems like something for me, but what worries me is that an image for BBB rev. C is listed separately and is titled “Flasher: lxde: 1.7G Free”, so I wonder whether if the former image isn’t applicable for a rev. C board.

My question reminds me of this guy - but please bear with me as I’m new to the BBB and Linux. Also note that English isn’t my first language - so I’m sorry if I’m unclear with what I want to achieve, and don’t hesitate to ask for clarification!

Thanks in advance!

2

Greetings,

I'm just about to get my BeagleBone Black (Revision C) and wish to customize
it once I get it, with the goal to get the slimmest, lightest and thinnest
software setup possible and start from there, installing software as I need
them.

I wish:

to be able to interact with the board through SSH & SCP,
to be able to interact with the GPIO-pins,
to be able to compile and run applications written in C, C++, Java and
Python,
to retain the possibility to utilize the hardware to its fullest extent,
and of course, to be able to re-flash the eMMC if I would ever need to

That's the console here:
http://elinux.org/Beagleboard:BeagleBoneBlack_Debian#2014-09-03

However, I do not wish:

to have any GUI at all (desktop environment, window manager, etc)
to have Cloud9, GateOne, Avahi nor MPD

You may wonder what my intention is with these wishes; it's to,
performance-wise, get the most out of my BBB - without any services running
in the background and consuming resources, and unneeded software taking up
space.

Now to my question: How should I proceed, in order to adapt my setup
according to my wishes?
I guess that I'll have to start by re-flashing the board with a lightweight
Linux-distribution and then go from there and install whatever I need. But,
since I'm new to BBB and Linux (I've some experience with the latter, but
I'm willing and ready to learn), I would highly appreciate any
recommendations on what Linux-distribution I could go for and in what order
I shall install the software and perhaps drivers that I will need in order
to be able to do the stuff I mentioned. I've noticed that Debian images
listed for BBW/BBB come in different configurations, such as the one that's
listed as "Console: Flasher: (202Mb used)" which seems like something for
me, but what worries me is that an image for BBB rev. C is listed separately
and is titled "Flasher: lxde: 1.7G Free", so I wonder whether if the former
image isn't applicable for a rev. C board.

Stop worrying, "all" those images will work on the C.. But if you try
to flash the "flasher" marked as only "BBB Rev C (4GB eMMC)" on to a
Rev A/B with only 2GB eMMC.. you deserve the randomness.

Is the "BBW/BBB" header not clear? Or do i have to do "ALL BBW/BBB"...

Regards,

3

Two options off hand I can think of.

First, you can start with buildroot, and go the busybox route, or . . .

https://eewiki.net/display/linuxonarm/BeagleBone+Black#BeagleBoneBlack-Upgradedistro%22device-tree-compiler%22package Then when it is time to choose a rootfs, pick the barefs option. Be aware, the barefs comes with NOTHING in the way of a ssh server. The work around I personally found for this was to setup g_serial( since I do not currently have a serial debug cable ) on the sdcard before first boot. Once in, this allows me to continue configuring, and install stuff such as openssh-server etc.

Anyhow, first option will probably be much smaller - depending . . .

4

Thanks!
I was unsure about the compatibility of the images across different revisions, and since I’ve been waiting quite a long time for my BBB to arrive, I didn’t want to take any risks - thus my worry. But all fine now, thanks once again!
And about the header (“BBW/BBB”); to be honest, it’s never bad to be overly explicit since someone, evidently, sooner or later will ask the question :wink:

5

Thank you!
This path seems a bit too complicated for a novice like me at the moment, but I’ll bookmark that page and hopefully I’ll be able to at least try it later on :slight_smile:

6

Thanks!
I was unsure about the compatibility of the images across different
revisions, and since I've been waiting quite a long time for my BBB to
arrive, I didn't want to take any risks - thus my worry. But all fine now,
thanks once again!
And about the header ("BBW/BBB"); to be honest, it's never bad to be overly
explicit since someone, evidently, sooner or later will ask the question :wink:

It was just one of those quick decision, as i was updating that page
for the first "4gb" only flasher image. How to make it quick an
obvious the other images will work on any variant.

Regards,