Yesterday I was surprised to see a Python in the packages list! A silly mistake is to use Python instead of simple shell when writing system scripts. You can even use shell for Web stuff. :)

I fealt very stupid when I found webconverger-base depended on Python. Woops! Fixed.

Then I found out that ALSA sound support depends on Python. Doh. :/ How can I remove Python without killing the music?

It gets worse. I had in mind to implement a wpasupplicant Web interface with shell CGI with perhaps mini-httpd. However wpasupplicant depends on libpcsclite1 which in turns pulls in tons of dependencies with pcscd. A slipperly slope indeed.

Debian Live has a wonderful little hooks section chroot_local-hooks and a stripped example that helped Webconverger get on a diet.

One of the most important software quality metrics is less code. One such movement is suckless and armed with sloccount you go to work, add new features (maybe not) and rework the code. If you manage to have less lines of code than what you started with, then you're really following the principle of less code. :)

So it feels particularly good to make Webconverger shed dependencies, packages and lines of code from 3.0 beta 2 as you can see for yourself in either mini or maxi download sections.

Update: I've since been pointed out many other packages in the list that could be removed from Webcoverger like the legacy X driver packages. Damn Small Linux will be the guide to take Webconverger sub-100 megs.

Update: Small size image must be experimented with!