HD Install :: frugal, backup, mydsl home dir. and presistece

I have been relatively successful with this old laptop.
I'm posting from DSL on a frugal install Thanks to Roberts and the crew here. Thank you.

As I move to use DSL more (this will be primarily a surf station and for email) I need to understand the strategy for making changes to an Image or install? What is the strategy for making changes (persistent). Adding software that i will use (persistent) and keeping a system up and going.

I have a frugal install on this machine and now that I'm getting down to using it. I want to customized the desktop make it boot up the way I expect with only the icons I use on the desktop. I thought that I could just delete the .gif and .ink and that they would be gone from view. It seems that they come back at start up again. Additionally I though that MyDSL would keep the application that I loaded in using MyDSL on the next start up.
So i must have a setting that I need to override from the backup. and/or I must be missing a command that I need to add to Grub for myDSL.
Is there a good strategy or primer on these subjects that some one can direct me to? Can someone help sort me out? I do want to make a couple basic changes. Add a couple applications, and remove some icons that I won't use.

MyDSL - add programs.
backup retain settings
home is for ??
how do I make changes and keep them from being over written when I restart?

my current Grub is as follows:

title testing DSL fb800x600 for Dell Lattitue LM (DSL on hda5 myDSL on hdc)
kernel /boot/linux24 root=/dev/hda5 quiet vga=788 mydsl=/dev/hdc1 desktop=jwm nousb nofirewire noacpi noapm nodma noscsi frugal
initrd /boot/minirt24.gz

You cannot keep deleted files deleted from /home/dsl unless you are using a persistent home. When a frugal system boots, all files are copied from /KNOPPIX/etc/skel into /home/dsl. After this, files that you have backed up will be restored, overwriting any files in /home/dsl that are included in the backup. This process only adds to or replaces existing files,and cannot remove them. In order to automatically remove icons, you will need to add a command to /opt/bootlocal.sh to do this.
example:
rm -f /home/dsl/.xtdesktop/{icon1,icon2,icon3}.{png,gif,lnk}

Backup/restore must be manually enabled before it will work. There is a tool available in the desktop menu to specify a backup location. Enter "hdc1" and you should be fine after that.

"mydsl=/dev/hdc1" should be "mydsl=hdc1". You might also need to put "dsl" in front of it.

Icontool allows for "deleting icons" must be used with backup or persistem home. No need to add rm to /opt/bootlocal

Dsektop -> Icontool Remove Tab

I wasn't aware of this. Does that mean that removal of arbitrary icons is somehow persistent? I'mma hafta look at that.

I don't use icons myself, but it's good to know and understand how things work so I don't continue giving bad info =o)

A little trick I use. Basically one does indeed need to have a "list" of those base core icons that they no longer want to display.

So, to make it as transparent as possible for the user, the icontool allows the user to select which icon to no longer display but really I rename the lnk file with an additional suffix of 'hide'. Then refresh the icon display manager. .xtdesk ignores them.

With persistence these 'hide' items return and .xinitrc handles the removal of the returning base items from /etc/skel.

Just having fun.

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