Minimal Install - Ubuntu 9.10 LXDE on a 256mb RAM Intel Celeron desktop

These are my notes on this install. A working Internet connection is a must, the faster, the better - especially for step 2 with about 100mb+ worth of downloads to do.
I tried several distros based on Ubuntu 10.04 but for some reason, the video always gets borked. And wanting a kernel more recent than Knoppix 6.2, I settled for Ubuntu 9.10 - having a kernel 2.6.31-14 after installation, and a 2.6.31-22 after the post-install update.

1. Followed instructions here BUT only up to the point where you do a reboot (currently step 21).
2. On a terminal window, type the following in sequence:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get -y install xorg xinit gdm lxde network-manager-gnome abiword gnumeric update-manager

Compared to the author's original script, this list of packages is more bare-bone for my specific need, that is, to have a desktop whose primary purpose is to be a router for my Internet access, can do wordprocessing and spreadsheets, can do surfing for non-flash websites like Facebook, no need for multimedia - take away alsa, no need for games...
For a future experiment, if ever, instead of the gdm package - which required a whopping 89mb download - try the slim login manager instead.

3. Reboot the computer.
4. During login, right before entering the password, select LXDE in the session dropdown.
LXDE shaves off about 20mb RAM compared to GNOME

5. Fix the network manager applet so it shows in the LXDE bottom panel.
Type in a terminal window:

gksu leafpad  /etc/xdg/autostart/nm-applet.desktop

Then edit the OnlyShowIn option to be like:

OnlyShowIn=GNOME;XFCE;LXDE

6. Save the file and again reboot. The network manager applet should now appear in the panel.
7. Fix the "device not managed" for the wired network connection.
Again, in a terminal window:

gksu leafpad /etc/network/interfaces

then comment out the two lines under the primary network interface, like so:

#auto eth0
#iface eth0 inet dhcp

8. Install a lightweight browser. This is a toss-up right now, so I installed two browsers.

sudo apt-get install epiphany-browser midori

end of install

9. Configure the shared Internet connection. and yes (!) it works.

If this lasts 1 month of operations, it may seem I finally got the silver bullet.