What are the GNU programs that I need with Linux if I only edit files?

Question

What are the minimum number of programs that someone can use to edit files with the Linux kernel?

I mean reading a file from some storage device, changing it, and storing it. Maybe by specifying the address on the storage device to save the file (if that will reduce the number of programs used).

EDIT: just to clarify. I am asking mainly for a list of programs (and their dependencies if there are) that are needed to just edit text files nothing else.

Would you include commands like ls that allow you to see what files you're dealing with? Or bash to give you a shell to work in? — glenn jackman, Oct 27 '17 at 20:31
Actually, no. Is there an alternative to bash for editing files? @glennjackman — Ahmed Elsawy, Oct 27 '17 at 20:33
take a look at busybox, it's the goto solution for most of embedded linux distributions with limited storage and memory — Dalvenjia, Oct 27 '17 at 20:36
This sounds like an XY problem. Please tell us in more general terms what you're trying to do. — glenn jackman, Oct 27 '17 at 20:38
@glennjackman Actually that is true. I am asking to figure out why some people insist on calling the operating system GNU/Linux. — Ahmed Elsawy, Oct 27 '17 at 20:40
@AhmedElsawy Because linux is the kernel, and the operating system is gnu/linux: https://www.gnu.org/gnu/linux-and-gnu.en.html — William Pursell, Oct 27 '17 at 21:45
One could argue that minimum is kernel itself, and edit files via syscalls, modules, etc, but that's redundant and not practical. And really depends on the extent ro which you want to edit files, whether or not you need to move file, use regex, etc. — Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy, Oct 27 '17 at 23:56
@JeffSchaller I know it is not a text editor. I wanted to know whether the editor can run without bash? — Ahmed Elsawy, Oct 28 '17 at 00:01
@SergiyKolodyazhnyy That is interesting. But how to do that in practice? — Ahmed Elsawy, Oct 28 '17 at 00:04
@AhmedElsawy It's purely theoretical, and as i said not practical — Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy, Oct 28 '17 at 00:08

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 27 '17 at 23:37

The minimum number of programs is one: a text-based text editor. If you don't want user accounts, networking, a graphical user interface, backups, the ability to upgrade the editor, or the generally ability to do anything but edit files, then you can boot the Linux kernel with an argument like init=/bin/nano, and have absolutely nothing else on the system — just the nano executable, the libraries it depends on, and whatever files you've been typing.

This is not a very useful operating system, but it meets your requirements. A general-purpose operating system has a lot more functionality, which requires a lot more programs.

See also What are the minimum root filesystem applications that are required to fully boot linux?

What are the GNU programs that I need with Linux if I only edit files?

1 Answers1