Minimal Zorin os

Hi,

I am on latest Zorin beta 16.

As I can see, there is a lot off apps which I never used

Is it possible to remove them, by removing some groups or I need to remove them one by one, and is it safe ?

Thanks

Hi, I believe that your only option is to remove the applications one by one. But don't use the Software manager as it is prone to crashing if you try to uninstall multiple applications at once. You can use the terminal to quickly get rid of multiple applications at once.

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Be a bit careful as some apps in Core are included by Zorin for a reason and provide dependancies for others.

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As Zabadabadoo points out, some software has inter-dependencies. Removing that software can result in needed software being removed as well. If done in terminal, the terminal output will warn you of these removals; Always read the output before clicking y or yes.
This is not often, though.
You might post a list of the software you want to remove here and we can all look over and give a heads up on any (if any) that may be trickier to remove.

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I already removed some games which they are installed by default. Also Zorin connect.
Not sure about :
Remmina, Pitivi, Evolution

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At the very first i also removed some apps like firefox and some game , but
Due to some error , i have to do

And doing this installed all pre-installed apps again , also uses muchh data to install firefox and all games that i removed earlier , .
So after that i didn't removed any application .
I will suggest to keep it if its pre-installed,

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Yes, these do not carry interdependencies and can be safely removed without problems.
I am the same way as you and I suspect a great many people are. Zorin OS introduces users to many apps - but that doesn't mean we always want to keep them. I remove most of the games First Thing.

Yes, this is a very frustrating aspect of installing and then removing mysql. It affects all Ubuntu Derivatives, not just Zorin. It is actually the interdependent Nautilus Desktop Manager that is the dependency, I think. But as it is interdependent on the entire desktop, APT removes the entire thing.
The usual solution in your case, tedious as it may be, is to remove mysql, then reinstall the desktop. Then remove the extras you do not want.
Fortunately, mysql's behavior in this is the exception.
Alternatively, the mysql files can be manually removed, piece by piece, without using APT. This prevents the removal and reinstallation of the Desktop and extras; to spare yourself that headache by causing a different tedious headache.

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Ok, thanks.. I removed them all, hehe.

It will be great if we can choose which apps we want during the installation.

I prefer minimal as possible. I can always install them separately :slight_smile:

This has been suggested by another member recently, as well. I cannot recall who of the top of my head. I think it is a great suggestion; though it may be easier said than done.

In the OS Ubiquity Installer, the option is present at the time of installation of the operating system to choose "Minimal Install" (with a checkbox.)
This option is very minimal indeed. (Interestingly, it is also present on Zorin OS Ultimate even though the pre-installed apps on Ultimate is what makes Ultimate Ultimate.)
Choosing Minimal Installation will install only the Base Operating System and all necessary files for graphics and operation, but not a lot of the Extras. You may then install only your preferred apps.

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I would greatly appreciate a minimal option in the installation. :slight_smile:

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Re Evolution. You may see from Synaptic PM that Evolution-data-server remains after you uninstall the Evolution app. DO NOT remove that!
See this:

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I just did a fast test to make sure by opening terminal and entering:

sudo apt remove evolution

Reading the print out in terminal, it did not list evolution-data-server to be removed; So that is safe.

Interestingly, however... It listed evolution (along with several parts of evolution) to remove, but that Thunderbird would be installed.
The system requires you to have one or the other?

I had installed Thunderbird before removing Evolution via Software store. So did not see that.

I use neither and really never paid much attention to them. It is odd. A bit like how Cinnamon Desktop depends on Firefox. It seems needless and on Cinnamon, you must unhook FF from the desktop to remove it. It's tedious and annoying. For me, since I use FireFox (I gave up on the Chrome and Chromium, & Derivatives) it is not a deal-breaker but it bothers me in principle.
Removing Pidgin also will remove Cinnamon D.E.
I use the browser for all email functions.
It really shows how little I know and how much a Novice on Linux I remain.

Apparently, Evolution-data-server is part of Gnome stack.
I just tried playing in terminal:

sudo apt remove --purge evolution thunderbird

Result:
The following packages will be REMOVED: cinnamon-desktop-environment* evolution* evolution-ews* evolution-plugin-bogofilter* evolution-plugin-pstimport* evolution-plugins*

I am certain both can be removed. Cinnamon-Core is the "base model" which gives the Desktop management and you configure it yourself; Cinnamon-Desktop-Environment is the same, but comes with all the configurations and frills. In the case of Cinnamon, then, it seems that I could simply remove the D.E., then install Cinnamon-Core and do what I do anyway; Customize it to my own liking.

I could probably chew your ears off on this topic. I even own the tooling used on Steam Locomotives back in the day, including the UP 844.
My scale hobby is geared toward 1930's to late 1940's Steam Era.

Yeah, there are lot of distros where you can choose that..You have Manjaro minimal, EndeavourOS, mostly all Arch based distros..great option to have

So it is safe to do this ?

Like Marko94, I also wished we could choose which apps we want during the installation. For that reason I've been thinking on paying for Ultimate Lite, but installing just Lite. I'm not a 'power user', nor have the need for all those games.
Or a bunch of the other packages that come pre-installed.

I check everyday for the new release on 16. Feels like Christmas is never going to come...lol

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Yes, it is safe. As always, please read the terminal print out before clicking y key. You will probably see "Thunderbid not installed, so not removed."

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I am still thinking of this. Yes, ok, we can remove all apps (bloats) and their dependencies.

But in the same way how we can choose on other distros minimal core install of Gnome package , probably there should be a way to do the same from already installed Gnome xd