Installed FBX on a Dell WYSE with 2GB RAM. Want it to use with Home Assistant. When installing Home Assistant, it ran out of memory. I expected a warning that there would be not enough space (Haven’t experienced yet if this is general issue or Home Assistant specific)?
It’s the Home Assistant app; you need at least 2GB for it.
Ref: Home Assistant Hardware in 2026: Requirements and Recommendations | InfluxData
Thanks for the reply, but it I think it misses the point I’m trying to make. I already suspected things wouldn’t work out, but to get to know FreedomBox better, I decided to try installing it anyway.
What I expected was a message saying the service couldn’t be installed due to insufficient space. I was surprised when the installation started regardless.
In my view, this doesn’t align with FreedomBox’s philosophy (FreedomBox’s major contribution to the Debian ecosystem is providing a user interface that simplifies and automates otherwise complicated administrative tasks associated with running a server, like installing applications and applying updates). Wouldn’t Debian’s apt have warned me? Now I’m left with a system where I have to figure out what to remove, etc. It’s a good way to learn more about FreedomBox, but in my opinion, that doesn’t exactly fall under making it easier to run a server 
.
On the plinth page for GNOME, the description mentions that it requires at least 4GB memory, 4GB disk and a processor with GPU and 3D accelaration.
Perhaps it would be sufficient to indicate in a similar way the requirements for home assistant? (Looks easier to do than a warning when trying to install).
Personally, I use multiple devices with freedombox, one with things I know take limited resources and I want to work no matter what (email, ejabberd, radicale, syncthing, quassel), and others on which I may try to install new apps and risk that they stop working. Besides, I use home assistant but I purchased a home assistant green device, as I use it for temperature monitoring, heating control at home and I don’t want it to break because of another app. I also use it to remotely power off and on a freedombox device if it becomes unreachable while I am away.
I agree with everything you wrote.
The philosophy of FreedomBox is what puzzles me. I expected that this philosophy should mean: “When I click on install, it will run.” Now, instead, I’m left with a system that is in a “half-configured” or resource-starved state.
For an admin—especially the “regular people” FreedomBox is aimed at—figuring out how to remove half-installed packages and reclaim that space won’t be an easy task. To me, that’s the exact opposite of “simplifying complicated administrative tasks”.
Your expectation is right, being in a half-configured resource-starved state should not happen. You could create a bug report (or whatever the name exactly is) for this in I Challenge Thee