Need pointers to set up a minimalistic LXQt on my machine

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OK, I installed the latest Fedora 36 LXQt Desktop.

I noticed that there are lots of software that I will never use.

I plan to create my own minimalistic LXQt on my machine based on my experience with using Debian. In Debian, I just need to specify the package called lxqt-core. According to Debian’s description, it is a metapackage meant to provide the core components of LXQt. These include pcmanfm-qt, lxqt-panel, lxqt-runner, lxqt-session and esp. lxqt-qtplugin (needed for communication between session, components and applications).

However, when I typed the word lxqt in the search box of Fedora Packages, 22 results were found for Fedora 36.

What should I do? Do I have to specify the names of the individual files after sudo dnf install <package names>

Is it correct to say that I would need to make use of Fedora 36 Server to install the minimum of essential software before I install Fedora’s equivalent of lxqt-core, display manager, etc.?

Thank you for your tips.

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Distribution packages and package names are not standardised, unfortunately, so what goes for Debian won’t work for Fedora and vice versa. Package sets are also not the same.

The installer images are described by “kickstart” files. So you can see the files used for the LXQt spin here:

https://pagure.io/fedora-kickstarts/tree/f36

(change the branch to whatever release you’d like to use).

Package groups start with the @ sign, for example here:

https://pagure.io/fedora-kickstarts/blob/f36/f/fedora-lxqt-common.ks#_15

You can learn about these groups using dnf:

$ sudo dnf groupinfo LXQt
Last metadata expiration check: 3:58:50 ago on Mon 07 Nov 2022 09:57:59 GMT.
Group: LXQt
 Description: LXQt is a lightweight X11 desktop environment designed for computers with low hardware specifications like netbooks, mobile devices or older computers.
 Mandatory Packages:
   breeze-cursor-theme
   breeze-gtk
   breeze-icon-theme
   dnfdragora-updater
   falkon
   firewall-config
   initial-setup-gui
   lxqt-about
   lxqt-archiver
   lxqt-config
   lxqt-globalkeys
   lxqt-notificationd
   lxqt-openssh-askpass
   lxqt-panel
   lxqt-policykit
   lxqt-powermanagement
   lxqt-qtplugin
   lxqt-runner
   lxqt-session
   lxqt-themes
   lxqt-themes-fedora
   network-manager-applet
   nm-connection-editor
   notification-daemon
   obconf
   openbox
   pcmanfm-qt
   perl-File-MimeInfo
   qterminal
   sddm
   sddm-themes
   upower
   xdg-user-dirs

These package groups are defined in the “comps” files:

https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/How_to_use_and_edit_comps.xml_for_package_groups

which live here:

https://pagure.io/fedora-comps

Having noted that, there are multiple ways of “customising” your install

  • install from a spin then remove what you don’t need
  • use the network installer to select only what you need
  • install the server edition then add packages on top (but note that you’ll have lots of server admin packages such as cockpit etc installed on this—it’s not a minimal install, it’s a server install)
  • modify the kickstart files and create your own installer image

If you intend to do it once or a few times, I’d go with #2. Get the network installer from here, and it lets you choose what packages/package groups you want:

https://alt.fedoraproject.org/

If you want to install on lots of computers, I’d recommend modifying the kickstarts to create your own image. We tested this out for the CompNeuro spin, the scripts and instructions are still here:

https://pagure.io/neuro-sig/neuro-scripts

Note that even if you select a small number of packages, the final set will be one where all their dependencies have been installed which will almost always be more packages than what we select.

Hope this helps to get you started, and we can always discuss more details as we go.

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3

Hi Ankur,

I really appreciate that you took the time and effort to compose your reply that is detailed and instructive.

I happened to chance upon the post titled What’s the optimal solution for performance: Fedora’s LXQt spin or install @lxqt using dnf?.

I quite like the third choice provided by Artem, which is:

sudo dnf --setopt=install_weak_deps=False install lxqt-session lxqt-panel lxqt-about lxqt-globalkeys lxqt-notificationd lxqt-policykit lxqt-powermanagement lxqt-runner lxqt-config-randr lxqt-sudo

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Here’s my answer to my own questions in my original post.

Do not make use of Fedora Server; instead use Fedora Everything. The latter is actually a network installer.

Post-installation of Fedora Everything, type the following commands in a tty1:

sudo dnf install @base-x @lxqt

After installing the above two package groups, reboot the computer and in a terminal, type:

sudo systemctl set-default graphical.target

reboot the machine and you are all set.

Total installed size is about 2.3GB.

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