This is a collection of files intended to install a close approximation of BunsenLabs Linux on a basic command-line-only Debian Bookworm system.
Bug reports are very welcome! Please visit the bunsenlabs forums: https://forums.bunsenlabs.org/viewforum.php?id=14
Or post an issue on the GitHub repository: https://github.com/BunsenLabs/bunsen-netinstall/issues
Download the latest Debian bookworm "netinst" .iso file for your architecture. i386: https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/release/current/i386/iso-cd/ amd64: https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/release/current/amd64/iso-cd/ and use it to install a basic cli system.
Make sure sudo is enabled. (See "DEBIAN NETINSTALL HINTS" below.)
Boot your Debian cli system, log in and run these commands, as a normal user: (A fresh copy of this bunsen-netinstall package will be downloaded.)
wget https://github.com/bunsenlabs/bunsen-netinstall/archive/boron.tar.gz
tar -xpf boron.tar.gz
cd bunsen-netinstall-boron
./install
The installation process will start. Follow any prompts that appear on the screen.
You will be asked to choose between a regular "full" install, a "lite" install and a "base" install.
The "lite" version installs slightly fewer packages and uses fewer system resources, for example by not using composition or menu icons. It also makes some app substitutions, notably that the web browser is dillo and the text editor is nano.
The "base" install is a minimal set of packages just sufficient to make a working BunsenLabs desktop. A lot of commonly used utilities have been omitted, and dillo and nano are substituted as with the "lite" install.
Dillo has a very limited feature set but it's fast and light, and good enough for finding online documentation.
Nano in a terminal has slightly different keyboard shortcuts from most graphical text editors, but is usable for simple edits to configuration files.
A folder called bunsen-netinstall-logs will be added to your ~/.cache folder. (The file bunsen-netinstall-logs/install.log will contain verbose information about the install process.) This folder may safely be removed if the installation was successful, and no issues arose subsequently.
A folder /backup/bunsen-netinstall on your root file system will hold backups of system files replaced during the install.
The script itself has been separated off from the files holding specific data about the installation. This is intended to make customization easier. It should not be necessary to edit "install". Even if the script is upgraded in the future, the same config files should still work.
If you want to customize the installation process before running the installer then use a cli editor like nano or vim to edit any of the files to your taste. You might particularly want to look at pkgs-recs and pkgs-norecs (or their "lite" or "base" equivalents), but there are other things you might want to adjust, eg to install on Devuan...
README.md: this file
LICENSE: a copy of the GPL3 license
install: the installation script
copyright: GNU licence statement
greeting: message to user
pkgs-recs: packages to install with recommends
pkgs-norecs: packages to install without recommends
pkgs-recs-lite: packages to install with recommends (lite package list)
pkgs-norecs-lite: packages to install without recommends (lite package list)
pkgs-recs-base: packages to install with recommends (base package list)
pkgs-norecs-base: packages to install without recommends (base package list)
sysfiles1: system files to copy in before installing packages (mainly apt-related)
sysfiles2: system files to copy in after installing packages
apt-keys: script to install the BunsenLabs Apt key
gen_sources: commands to edit /etc/apt/sources.list
preinstall_commands: commands to run before installing packages and files
postinstall_commands: commands to run after installing packages and files
config: sets some directory paths etc
bunsen-netinstall-logs: folder to copy into user's ~/.cache directory
Installing Debian Bookworm by the netinstall CD is similar to using the standard installer.
Two points to watch if you want to use this netinstall script afterwards:
-
At the "Set up users and passwords" screen, DO NOT enter a password for root. Type nothing and press "continue". Do this again at "Re-enter password to verify". Enter your own name and password as normal. You will then be given 'sudo' permissions, which will be needed in the script.
-
At the "software selection" stage DESELECT EVERYTHING except "standard system utilities". You will have a core system only, on which the netinstall installer will add what is needed.
(Some software items will be marked with an asterisk, indicating that they have been preselected. Use the up/down arrows to move, and the spacebar to toggle selection.)
The netinstall download and links to documentation can be found here: https://www.debian.org/CD/netinst/