@axtremus said in "No pre-installled apps":
With some strict definition, "bash" and "curl" can be considered "applications" rather than "operating system".
What definition would that be? A shell to start OS commands has been part of basically every OS in the last 50 years. The ability to download (curl) and install applications is also a core functionality of an OS. Even embedded systems such as routers have those commands preinstalled. Obviously there's no sharp definition of what is core OS functionality and what isn't, but these two are pretty close to "core".