Joel Roth <joelz@???> writes:
> dev1fanboy@??? wrote:
>> 2) Configure minimalism in the system
>>
>> Thanks to a tip given to me by a fellow minimalist from #debianfork (unnamed
>> for now until I talk to them) you will be able to debloat your system in a
>> very neat way.
> (...)
>> First use an editor to make the necessary changes:
>>
>> root@devuan:~# nano /etc/apt.conf.d/01lean
>>
>> Add the following lines:
>>
>> APT::Install-Suggests "0";
>> APT::Install-Recommends "0";
>> APT::AutoRemove::SuggestsImportant "false";
>> APT::AutoRemove::RecommendsImportant "false";
>
> This led to losing quite a bit of fat in my system.
> I'm waiting to see what breaks!

It shouldn't break anything: 'Recommends' expresses an opinion of the
package maintainer that one should "unless in unsual circumstance" also
install certain other packages. The usual recommendation is 'avahi' (Mac OS
X compatible 'zeroconfig networking' daemon). Since I grew tired with
deinstalling this package, I've been running with

APT {
        Install-Recommends "false";
};

for a long time.

'Suggests' is a weaker form of that, relying on "authoritative nagging"
instead of "Let's install that and see who dares to remove it!" There's
a 'classic' Jack Nicholson reply to unwarranted suggestions: "I didn't
ask".