How to Install a Bloat-Free Debian 12 for Fast Performance

Debian 12.9 is an excellent operating system known for its stability, security, and flexibility. However, for those who prefer a minimal, bloat-free installation, the default installation options are not ideal. Out of the box, Debian comes with unnecessary games, apps, and services that aren’t relevant to my needs. Whether you’re a developer, a web designer, or simply someone who prefers a lean system, you don’t have to settle for this default bloat.

In this article, I’ll show you how to install a fast, bloat-free Debian 12 setup with just the essential tools for productivity. The goal is to have a clean, minimal desktop environment (GNOME), along with only the software you actually need. This guide focuses on a bare-bones Debian installation that gives you control over what goes into your system, avoiding the typical bloat that can slow you down.

Step 1: Start with a Minimal Debian Installation

Debian provides a NetInstall ISO image that allows you to start with a bare-bones system, which is perfect for users who want to avoid unnecessary software. The key here is to boot off the NetInstall ISO and select only the essential options.

1. Download the NetInstall ISO: Visit the Debian website and download the Debian 12 NetInstall ISO. This small ISO file allows you to install a minimal Debian system over the network.
2. Boot from the ISO: Once you’ve created a bootable USB or CD with the NetInstall image, boot from it. Follow the installation prompts as usual.
3. Choose a Minimal Installation: When you get to the screen where you specify the software to install, uncheck the default options at the top. Instead, focus on selecting:
   • Web Server: Install a basic web server (Apache or Nginx) if you plan on working with websites locally.
   • SSH Server: Useful for remote access, especially if you plan on doing any server-side work.
   • Standard System Utilities: This ensures that only the most essential system services are installed.
   This will provide you with a bare-bones system without most of the unnecessary apps that come with the default setup.
4. Finish the Installation: Proceed with the installation as usual, and when it’s done, reboot your system.

Step 2: Install a Lean GNOME Desktop

Now that you have a minimal Debian installation, it’s time to add the GNOME desktop environment. However, instead of installing the full GNOME suite (which includes a lot of unwanted apps), you’ll install only the core components to ensure a lightweight GNOME experience.

1. Install GNOME Core: Once the system has rebooted, log in and open a terminal. Run the following command to install the GNOME Core package, which includes only the essential elements of GNOME:
   sudo apt install gnome-core
   
   or: sudo apt install –no-installl-recomends gnome-core
   
   This will install a clean and lean GNOME desktop, leaving almost all of the extra applications that are typically included in the full GNOME installation.
   
2. Remove ifupdown: Debian has the ifupdown networking tool enabled by default. This interferes with modern networking management. To fix this, remove ifupdown:
   sudo apt purge ifupdown
   
3. Reboot the System: After purging ifupdown, reboot your system for the changes to take effect:
   sudo shutdown -r now

Step 3: Configure NetworkManager for Internet Access

After rebooting, you will notice that the system doesn’t have an internet connection. This is because NetworkManager hasn’t been set to manage your network interfaces yet. To change this:

1. Edit NetworkManager Configuration: Open the NetworkManager configuration file with the following command:
   sudo nano /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf
   
2. Enable NetworkManager: Change the line managed=false to managed=true, which will allow NetworkManager to handle network interfaces.
   [ifupdown]
managed=true
   
3. Save and Reboot: Save your changes and reboot the system:
   sudo shutdown -r now
   
   After rebooting, you can connect to the internet via NetworkManager and no further editing is necessary.

Step 4: Remove Additional Bloat

Now that you have a lean GNOME desktop, you can further slim down your system by removing unnecessary applications that come pre-installed with GNOME.
For example, I removed Baobab, Calendar, Address Book, and other apps I don’t use, such as Weather and Maps.

1. Open GNOME Software: You can use the GNOME Software tool to manage your installed apps.
2. Remove Unnecessary Apps: Use the Software app to remove anything you won’t be using, such as:
   • Baobab (Disk Usage Analyzer)
   • Calendar (Since I use Thunderbird)
   • Address Book
3. Install Thunderbird and GIMP: These are the two applications I use for email and image editing:
   sudo apt install thunderbird gimp

Step 5: Install Brave and VSCode Without Flatpak

To maintain a lean system without Flatpak bloat, I install software directly from the official websites. Here’s how I did it:

1. Install Brave: Follow the official Brave installation instructions, which avoids the need for Flatpak.
   • sudo apt install curl
   • sudo curl -fsSLo /usr/share/keyrings/brave-browser-archive-keyring.gpg https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/brave-browser-archive-keyring.gpg
   • echo “deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/brave-browser-archive-keyring.gpg] https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/ stable main”|sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/brave-browser-release.list
   • sudo apt update
   • sudo apt install brave-browser
     
2. Install VSCodium: Similarly, I install the latest version of my go-to code editor by downloading the VSCodium.x64.1.96.3.25013.dmg and then use:
   • chmod +x codium_1.96.3.25013_amd64.deb
   • sudo dpkg -i ./codium_1.96.3.25013_amd64.deb

Step 6: Enjoy Your Lean, Fast Debian 12 Setup

With everything set up, you now have a bloat-free Debian 12 system that’s fast, lean, and tailored to your needs. The GNOME desktop will take up only around 4GB of disk space, providing a clean, efficient environment for productivity and web design.

If you install Debian the way I describe here, the you might also be interested in Debian Backports.