I agree -- there are plenty of reasons to use a minimal Ubuntu install. My point was that if size constraints are so tight that you feel trimming kernel modules

I agree -- there are plenty of reasons to use a minimal Ubuntu install. My point was that if size constraints are so tight that you feel trimming kernel modules out is a reasonable use of effort, then Ubuntu starts to be a more awkward fit. If you constantly have to trim away bits left by the package manager (man pages, examples, extra kernel modules), your time is probably better spent with a distro that allows you to avoid ever laying those into the rootfs to begin with. Also worth noting:these images are full minimal root filesystems. "installer" images refer to the images containing software --the debian/ubuntu installer for bootstrapping a root filesystem onto a mounted volume. The minimal images from thearticle do not contain this installer, and are stanalone root filesystems.