KDE Workstation vs Minimal With KDE Installed

Hi All,

Sorry if this is asked/answered elsewhere but I couldn’t find anything (probably more due to my poor “eyesight” than anything else). :smile:

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)?

Thanks in advance

Cheers

Dulux-Oz

Convenience?

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”.

Hi @jlehtone, and thanks for replying so quick

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) :slight_smile:

Thank you

As a side note: I don’t suppose you’d feel comfortable sharing your ansible plays/playbooks, would you?

Anyway, thanks again

Cheers

Dulux-Oz

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.

Cheers,

Niki

@microlinux Cool! Thanks for that Niki.

I’ll check that out and see how it stacks up against ours.

(Always nice to compare how someone else does their logic/coding :technologist:)

Cheers

Dulux-Oz

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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).

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Our local university has asked me to teach a course about Ansible starting October, so that will force me to learn things in an orthodox way.

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