Is games.txz essential for base system?

blazingice

blazingice

I am trying to modify a PC-BSD script that I can use to install a vanilla version of FreeBSD. At the moment I have:

Code: 
distFiles=base doc games kernel lib32

My plan was to remove games, however I find it a bit odd that games.txz is part of the FreeBSD base system. So, I was wondering whether games.txz does more then just provides entertainment to system administrators. Is it safe to remove it and why is it part of the base system?

Thanks
 
Only kernel and base are necessary. lib32 is optional for 64-bit (amd64) systems. The rest is not required.

The games are there for historical reasons. As hier(7) says, they're "useful and semi-frivolous programs". You may like to use fortune(6) for example.
 
blazingice said:
So, I was wondering whether games.txz does more then just provides entertainment to system administrators. Is it safe to remove it and why is it part of the base system?
Click to expand...
games.txz contains fortune(6) and is therefore an essential part of any FreeBSD system ;)

Seriously, though: there's hardly anything in there to begin with: fortune, some random stuff, a caesar cypher cracker, a morse code thingy and a few other silly things. games.txz can safely be omitted (except you may have to check /etc/csh.login, /etc/profile and such for calls to fortune).

Why it's in base I do not know (except history/tradition maybe), but games.txz is very small: 3.5 MB unpacked. I always "just" install it.
 
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