I've been managing websites for almost 10 years, usually on a linux system with shell access, so I'm not a complete noob, but I was very limited in what I could do, which bothered me. I found linode.com and jumped at the chance to learn linux from the ground up, not just what was allowed.

I chose Centos 5 (after a few mis-steps) and the install went flawlessly (I presume). But, since it all happened "behind the curtain," I don't know what was installed by default or what options were selected. I'll be setting up a typical LAMP site, and I don't want anything I know I won't use in the foreseeable future. If I have a list of what files were installed, I can research it to see if it's something I want to keep. I've bookmarked and downloaded tons of resources, but they all seem to reference picking an install option/profile, but don't go into what exactly that option entails.

Does anyone know, or can point me to, what happens with a Centos 5 install on linode, what the defaults are, and what software/files that entails?

Hope this makes sense.

Thanks.

I haven't used Centos yet, but I'm sure an rpm -qa will list out all of the RPMs installed. That should get you somewhere, I'm sure someone will shed more light on the setup soon.

Thanks for that tip. This won't give me all the parameters, but it will help a lot.

I found a site that was very helpful in learning just what all those RPMs are. I thought I'd pass it along for those new to linux who could use a little enlightment on all this.

The main page:
http://rpm.pbone.net/

The Centos specific page:
http://rpm.pbone.net/index.php3/stat/11 ... entOS.html

I learned that *most* of what was installed was useful/needed. There are just a few I'll take off, some I'll add. But I feel better knowing what's there, and what it is.

very informative, thanks jah