Minimal Install Guidelines

[dan]

Hello, all -

I've been working with a few documents that describe how to go about 
making a minimalistic install, but they all seem kinda hoakey.  I know 
you guys probably have a lot of experience doing this sort of thing, so 
I'm hoping that I might be able to get some answers from you all.

Is there some sort of template that you guys use to create and install a 
minimalistic install set, that is small but functional?  I'm about to 
start going through the comps.xml template and picking and choosing what 
I want/need, but I'd rather not re-invent the wheel if necessary.

Thanks!
-dant