🚀 go-pugleaf

>Is there a way as easy as this to create a minimal system to work on
>every kind of Mac?
>i.e. What exactly is the minimal system file needed to work on every Mac?
>I assume it's the System found on the utilities disk minus any extra fonts
>or DAs, but I'd love to know!
From: vogelw@bionette.cgrb.orst.edu (Walter Vogel - Biochem)
Path: bionette.cgrb.orst.edu!vogelw

If you take System 6.0.3 and remove All the fonts that you can you will be left
with 4 Chicago 12, Geneva 9 & 12, and Monaco 9. Now remove All the DA except
the clock (its the smallest) since Font/DA Mover will not allow you to remove
the last DA. This assumes that you don't want to print from this disk; if you
do then you will need the chooser DA and you will need the ImageWriter driver
also.

Now you have done everything that you can with Font/DA Mover to trim down the
System file--such a file is 232K. This can be trimed down a bit more with
ResEdit (on a copy of your system file). First the fonts: those fonts that
you could remove with DA/Font Mover above are in the ROM of Macs SE,II and
beyond (for the Plus it has Chicago 12 in ROM). Thus for the SE and greater
remove all the FONT and FOND resources. There is a caveat about this that I
will mention at the end of this message. Next remove the FKEY resources. These
allow you to print a screen and send screen shot to a file. Open the DRVR
resources and remove the DA (clock) that the Font/DA Mover would allow you to.
Next open the snds resouces and remove all but the simple beep. Close ResEdit
and save the changes. This will leave a system file of 193K. There are other
things that you could remove. By comparing the system that Apple ships on the
guided tour floppy (SE/30) at least another 27K can be pruned.

To produce the Start up disk that wanted place this system and the finder
on a floppy and a small application that you rename to the name of the
application that you want to run--I suggest TeachText but any small application
will do. No folders are needed. Boot the Mac from this disk and set startup to
the application. Reboot from another startup disk and remove the finder and
the small application then copy your large application with the SAME NAME as
the small applicaion to the disk. Now except for that 27 extra K out there
this is the best you can do.

Now for that caveat: Although those fonts are in ROM not all programs can use
them properly. Some programs allow you to switch between the three available
fonts and font sizes others may not. I tried Word 3 (Word 4 is much too big)
which is 350K and I could only use Geneva. I could choose any size I wished
including 9 and 12 which looked good or even 10 and 14 which of course didn't.
But, I wasn't able to switch to Monaco or Chicago. The system itself uses the
ROM based fonts without any trouble. Make sure that you rebuild the desktop on
the floppy you are working with (do this while another disk is the startup
disk). With the Word 3 example I had 235K left over for files.

Walter Vogel