Why our Kubernetes UI installer used to be 500 MB (and isn't anymore)

Background

Every ROZOOM release used to ship one installer per platform, and it bundled the full CLI toolset whether you used it or not - kubectl, helm, plus about 20 more tools like velero, trivy, doctl, stern, kustomize.
On Linux that meant a build pushing half a gig for a tool most people run against a cluster they already manage day to day.

Slim vs Full‑offline in 0.25.0

0.25.0 splits that into two builds.

Slim

• Still bundles kubectl and helm right inside the binary, as sidecar tools - no system install, no PATH dependency.
• Drops the extended CLI set: velero, trivy, doctl, stern, kustomize and about 16 more.
• Those features aren't broken in slim, they're just hidden in the UI.
• It's the default download.

Full‑offline

• Ships everything: the full CLI set and all assets, for machines with no internet access at all - air‑gapped clusters, restricted networks.
• Across platforms it runs 199‑486 MB.

Platform‑specific Slim sizes

Platform	Slim
Windows (.exe)	31.6 MB
Windows (.msi)	46 MB
macOS (.dmg, Apple Silicon)	42.3 MB
Linux (.deb/.rpm)	47.1 MB
Linux (.AppImage)	115.4 MB

Update behavior

• If you already installed ROZOOM before 0.25.0, you're on full‑offline.
• Slim installs from 0.25.0 on update themselves automatically going forward; anything on 0.23.1 or older gets the full‑offline build until you switch by hand.

Comparison with Headlamp

We checked what a comparable open‑source desktop Kubernetes UI ships.

• Headlamp's Linux .deb (v0.45.0) is 124 MB.
• ROZOOM's slim .deb/.rpm is 47.1 MB - same package format, about 2.6× smaller.
• The Linux .AppImage build doesn't get the same win: 115.4 MB, barely under Headlamp's 124 MB.
• We're still checking with engineering why AppImage doesn't shrink the way the other slim builds do - if you're on Linux and size matters, .deb/.rpm is the smaller path right now, not AppImage.

Admission about previous size

That gap between 47 MB and 486 MB on the full‑offline end is the same admission either way: we shipped that size by default for months before splitting the build.
The split exists because bundling everything by default was the wrong tradeoff for the common case.

Release notes and repository

Full release notes app‑v0.25.0 on GitHub - platform‑by‑platform artifact table, checksums, signatures.
ROZOOM is Apache 2.0: github.com/ceh13‑community/rozoom.
https://rozoom.app

Repeated background (as in source)

Every ROZOOM release used to ship one installer per platform, and it bundled the full CLI toolset whether you used it or not - kubectl, helm, plus about 20 more tools like velero, trivy, doctl, stern, kustomize.
On Linux that meant a build pushing half a gig for a tool most people run against a cluster they already manage day to day.
0.25.0 splits that into two builds. Slim vs full-offline Slim still bundles kubectl and helm right inside the binary, as sidecar tools - no system install, no PATH dependency. What it drops is the extended CLI set: velero, trivy, doctl, stern, kustomize and about 16 more. Those features aren't broken in slim, they're just hidden in the UI. It's the default download. Full-offline ships everything: the full CLI set and all assets, for machines with no internet access at all - air-gapped clusters, restricted networks. Across platforms it runs 199-486 MB. | Platform | Slim | |---|---| | Windows (.exe) | 31.6 MB | | Windows (.msi) | 46 MB | | macOS (.dmg, Apple Silicon) | 42.3 MB | | Linux (.deb/.rpm) | 47.1 MB | | Linux (.AppImage) | 115.4 MB | If you already installed ROZOOM before 0.25.0, you're on full-offline. Slim installs from 0.25.0 on update themselves automatically going forward; anything on 0.23.1 or older gets the full-offline build until you switch by hand. How that compares We checked what a comparable open-source desktop Kubernetes UI ships. Headlamp's Linux .deb (v0.45.0) is 124 MB. ROZOOM's slim .deb /.rpm is 47.1 MB - same package format, about 2.6x smaller. The Linux .AppImage build doesn't get the same win: 115.4 MB, barely under Headlamp's 124 MB. We're still checking with engineering why AppImage doesn't shrink the way the other slim builds do - if you're on Linux and size matters, .deb /.rpm is the smaller path right now, not AppImage. That gap between 47 MB and 486 MB on the full-offline end is the same admission either way: we shipped that size by default for months before splitting the build. The split exists because bundling everything by default was the wrong tradeoff for the common case. Full release notes app-v0.25.0 on GitHub - platform-by-platform artifact table, checksums, signatures. ROZOOM is Apache 2.0: github.com/ceh13-community/rozoom . https://rozoom.app
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