Sorry if this is asked/answered elsewhere but I couldn’t find anything (probably more due to my poor “eyesight” than anything else).
What’s the difference (if any) between doing a KDE Workstation (iso) install versus a Minimal (iso) install and then manually putting KDE (ie dnf install) on top (with the appropriate/wanted extras)?
The “Minimal image” boots to installer; its only function is to install.
The “live images” boot a OS that offers live desktop, where one of the applications is the installer; to install is merely one option.
Personally, I prefer the minimal – haven’t used live images for install – and I do have Ansible playbooks to automate the “install&configure appropriate/wanted extras”.
So as I understand your reply you install using Minimum and then use ansible plays/playbooks to add extras. That’s pretty much what I do for my Rocky servers, and by sounds of things it’s probably the way to go to install on some workstations (feel free to confirm or deny)
Thank you
As a side note: I don’t suppose you’d feel comfortable sharing your ansible plays/playbooks, would you?
Yes. I do actually oversee multiple systems, of which some are “servers” (of different types) and some are “workstations” (with GNOME or MATE DE – no KDE, and heterogenous hardware).
@microlinux has used KDE, and (IIRC) has a public playbook too.
For quite some time I’ve been using a bone-headed shell script to turn a minimal installation into a full-blown KDE desktop with bells and whistles:
More recently I’m learning to use Ansible, so I’ve written a series of roles and playbooks to replace this script:
This is still a work in progress and not usable as is for the general public, since all the variables are stored in encrypted files. I’m planning to write a publicly usable Ansible-based standalone installer version in the future though.
That description does apply to my plays too. An evolving heap of learn by doing. I too have intention to make something public … mostly for my own convenience. The issue with heaps is that one easily forgets what is in the bottom (and why).