[Gnu-arch-users] Please recommend a simple open source Unix for arch

[Andrew Wilcox]

I'm looking for a suggestion for a simple, modular, open source Unix
to run arch on.  With no extra cruft, packages, install scripts, or
"helpful" user interfaces.

Few months ago I installed arch for the first time, took a used
computer and installed a fresh version of Debian to run it on.  Why
Debian?  No particular reason, it seemed to be a distribution strongly
in the spirit of open source volunteerism.  Anyway, I found the Debian
install painful for a programmer such as myself... too many layers of
"helpful" user interface (I'd rather just edit the config file, thank
you very much), backports needed, Debian complaining I needed
something when I didn't or vis. versa... I ended up wasting my time
debugging the Debian install scripts.

So I'm looking for a simplier, more old-fashioned Unix variant,
something where if I want to install something I say "tar xfz foo.tgz;
./configure; make".  And if I configure something, I do it directly
rather than run some helpful script that second-guesses me.

As I write this, I imagine someone is going to say, "but you can 'tar
configure make' on Debian too", and that's true.  But why carry around
that bloat (helpful or not) if I'm not using it?  Frankly, I find
having extra stuff around makes tracking down problems harder, because
it multiplies the possibilities of what could have gone wrong.

I think I remember Tom saying sometime that he liked FreeBSD.  Or was
it OpenBSD?  Anyway, that's what I'm looking for, a suggestion for a
simple, modular open source Unix to run arch on.

Thank you,

Andrew Wilcox