Togaware has published an extensive online book to help aspiring Debian users find their way around setting up a Linux desktop workstation. 
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From the guide:
"We have talked already about Gnome above in Section which is a session manager but uses sawfish as its default window manager."
A bit out of date!
>> A bit out of date!
We're talking about Debian here.. 
Using Linux on the desktop is a bit like a survival trip. Fun for a while, but it sures feels good to go back to modern comfort.
"Using Linux on the desktop is a bit like a survival trip. Fun for a while, but it sures feels good to go back to modern comfort."
For me, it was just the opposite experience: a bit awkward to learn, but worth every second of invested time once you get used to it.
They forgot GNUstep http://www.linuks.mine.nu/gnustep/ umf! http://www.gnustep.org/
Depends on what you do to survive. If you're out in the forest, shivering and cold for a week then it's nice to be back at home. If you built yourself a nice shelter and found enough to eat, then it might be nicer to stay free than return to the rat race.
;)
I think the rule is simpler about dselect than the version in the book: Don't ever use dselect. It will very quickly put you off apt altogether if you give it a chance.
Anyway, the section "Kernel Upgrade: 2.2 to 2.4" seems to be a bit of a hint as to the age, seeing as you can now get a sarge installer running 2.6.
Finally, in readiness for jokes about debian being out of date: just use the unstable distribution, it's not that unusual to find you have software releases installed before you've even seen a news post about it (if you update often anyway.)
For me it's completely the oposite. It feels ackward using Windows...but great to get back to the comfort Linux. 
Well...Thats my opinion...
It's obvious that Linux is not currently as "desktop-ready" as Windows XP or Mac OS X. However, it's evolving faster than the two main contestans.
It's also obvious that Debian is not primarily a desktop-oriented distro, like Xandros or Linspire. However, Debian is my choice of Linux desktop distro because it has lots of available apps and a nice gui (aptitude) to install/upgrade/remove them.
Although Debian is very easy to maintain (since it's primarily a server distro), the fact remains that it's difficult to configure Debian to make it a desktop system -- even if it's got DebConf and the Debian Alternatives system. Therefore, Debian needs a 'survival guide' to make it a working desktop system.
In this respect Debian is similar to another server-oriented Linux distro, Slackware.
Why the heck is this guy seemingly recommending Stable on the desktop? Is this guy retarded?
Even for the most paranoid of users, Testing is the very least you should go with. Most people that are knowledgable about Debian simply use SID, which is actually very current.
Articles like this are not something that promote Debian, they disrespect Debian. Stable is meant to be as (gasp) stable as possible, perhaps the best server around for this. You would have to be an idiot to use Stable as a desktop.
Umm, Xandros and Linspire, amoungst various other Debian based distro's, simply base their desktop oriented distro's on Testing.
Recommending SID to a Debian newbie without recommended tools such as apt-listbugs and introducing the concept of holding and bts is just not intelligent.
To run SID, you need to have a fairly good concept of the packaging system, no newbie should do this. Testing is very near to SID usually, however has a lesser chance to break curtain packages.
I have used Debian as my primary Desktop for about 3 years. It makes a very nice desktop if you know what you are doing. My desktop is almost always more up to date then any of the popular distro's, and is probably more stable, despite using SID.
This article is especially bad due to Sarge being due for release very shortly. After almost 20 months of Woody, I have to wonder why this guy is writing such an article on it today.
I don't think I would trust this guy to guide my desktop venture....
After almost 20 months of Woody, I have to wonder why this guy is writing such an article on it today.
I think this guide has been available for some time. I first found it by following a link from the DistroWatch Debian page about 6 months ago (or maybe more).
However, I agree that if it's actively maintained, now would be a good time to update some parts of it. ;-)
not Sarge. Work from that viewpoint instead and it makes a lot more sense. Using Woody in a corporate / serious / non-playground env also makes sense. You're free to chose Sarge / Sid / Experimental if you want to though. Just know what you're doing, and understand the risks...
'ackward'? I think I like this new word.
Windows is ackward.
It's obvious that Linux is not currently as "desktop-ready" as Windows XP or Mac OS X.
Hmmm...well that depends on your definition of "desktop-ready". If you buy a machine that has Linux preinstalled, which means it has been tested to work with the hardware in the box, then it is certainly "desktop-ready". If all the average user does is use email, browsing the WWW, and word processing then GNU/Linux is damn very well "desktop-ready" for those average users. If we introduce a GNU/Linux box to someone with no previous experince with Windows or computers, I am pretty sure Linux is "desktop-ready" for them. I use Debian GNU/Linux as my desktop. It's ready.
Hehe... Pardon me. I am not a native english speaker
I actually used Experimental for a while...
Its not that bad, many changes in apt that I like, however it is much less likely that a bug report has been filed if you upgrade regularly... so you should be prepared to be patient, things stand a chance of breaking.
This even requires knowledge to enable access, this is very simular in contents as Gentoo Unstable, in that KDE HEAD was in there (my main purpose for the upgrade at the time) during the Beta process. GNOME 2.7.92 is in there currently if I remember correctly.
Ian Murdock did promise in his Debian Announcement that Debian would be up to date, and Experimental certainly is that. He also said it should be stable... you get to pick your ratio of stability and features, something that is very handy depending on task.
</end_ramble>
Sorry, 5 days till Sarge due date though, wonder how many packages I will have to upgrade? 8)
Great repository for source.
Up to date source, however you must compile yourself. They are packages that need compiling, a good way to get involved
My desktop is almost always more up to date then any of the popular distro's
not quite. sid is a lot less far behind the popular distros than stable, but it's still lagging behind by at least a few weeks at all times. "a few weeks behind" doesnt translate to "more up to date" in any language
While pure Debian might be a bit rough around the edges (very involved installer, little flash or extras) for newbie desktop users and experienced users alike, Debian based distos such as Mepis, Knoppix, Linspire, Xandros and Libranet are each tremendous desktop distros.
I have personally used Mepis, Knoppix and Linspire (LindowsOS). I'm using Mepis regularily on my eMachines PC, and it's great - easy install, good look and feel, plenty of speed, good extra utilities. And it can apt-get to both Mepis and Debian (sarge and sid) repositories, with no fuss.
I just had my Mom, a 70 year old computer illiterate, get a $179 PC from Fry's with LindowsOS pre-installed. With me giving her a basic "Computer Usage 1A" tutorial (which she would need with any OS, since she has hardly ever used a PC in her entire life), she is now easily and happily using LindowsOS (Debian based).
The point is, Debian based distros make fantastic desktop OS's, because they add the extra goodies that a the average desktop user needs and wants, like a super easy installer, easy visual (usually KDE based) config tools, and extra polish in the visual environment.
With rare exceptions, "desktop Linux" distributions have two things in common; they are built on top of Debian, and KDE.
Manually satisfying RPM dependancy requirements (yes, I'm aware that Fedora etc. have ported apt-get. Moot point unless it's used by default though, and it's not.) is a pain in the ass for technical users, and is a showstopper for everyday folks. GNOME is also too basic an environment, and has too many silly dependancies of it's own to be a serious contender in the desktop arena.
There are reasons that desktop oriented distributions are based on Debian and KDE. I'm not trolling, I'm a DragonFly user, not a Linux one. I'm just telling it how it is.
Here are some Debian specific utilities that can make Debian on the desktop a bit more accessible:
apt-listbugs http://packages.debian.org/testing/admin/apt-listbugs
aptitude http://packages.debian.org/testing/admin/aptitude
configure-debian http://packages.debian.org/testing/admin/configure-debian
dfontmgr http://packages.debian.org/testing/admin/dfontmgr
galternatives http://packages.debian.org/testing/admin/galternatives
menu-xdg http://packages.debian.org/testing/admin/menu-xdg
rcconf http://packages.debian.org/testing/admin/rcconf
