Note: This post was written back when I used to have a Debian GNU/Linux machine as my desktop computer. The Debian version at that time was etch 4.0. Nowadays I have a new shiny MacBook Pro with Mac OS X Leopard that I use as my main work machine so some of the information in this page might be out-of-date or inaccurate.
Whenever I format my computer (and trust me that happens really often) I want only the programs I use to be installed and nothing else. I don’t like having my machine overloaded with crappy software that I never use (that’s the case with Microsoft Windows). So every time I have to remember which programs I want and install them one by one with apt-get. For that reason I decided to create a list with all the programs I need. In that way I can just copy – paste the list every time I format.
The following commands will create a very minimal desktop with only the packages I need installed. If you think those packages meet your needs then you might find these commands useful. I have tested them only with Debian GNU/Linux 4.0, they will probably work with other Debian based distributions like Ubuntu.
First, we install X.Org:
apt-get install xserver-xorg-video-vesa xserver-xorg-input-kbd xserver-xorg-input-mouse xserver-xorg-input-synaptics xserver-xorg-input-evdev xorg
Then we remove two packages that are installed by the previous command and are unnecessary:
dpkg -P xserver-xorg-input-all xserver-xorg-input-wacom
Finally, we install the rest of the packages including the desktop environment (Gnome):
apt-get install gnome-core file-roller gcalctool gconf-editor gdm xpdf-reader gnome-media gnome-system-monitor gnome-themes gnome-volume-manager gtk2-engines libgnomevfs2-extra xscreensaver gnome-power-manager gnome-utils msttcorefonts alacarte alsa-utils less openssh-client mtr-tiny nmap pidgin iceweasel
That’s all folks, enjoy your newly formatted, minimal system! 
