“Debian is one of the most common Linux distributions in the world. With a possible total of fourteen CDs, it is also one of the biggest. As you may have gathered from the fact that this guide exists, Debian is not the easiest Linux distribution. However, anybody that is relatively competent with computers should be able to use Debian, and this guide is here to help you get started.”
‘see’ how to install here: http://shots.osdir.com/slideshows/slideshow.php?release=395&slide=2
“However, anybody that is relatively competent with computers should be able to use Debian, and this guide is here to help you get started.”
Exchange “is relatively competent with computers” for “is able to read and follow onscreen instructions”.
‘Exchange “is relatively competent with computers” for “is able to read and follow onscreen instructions”.’
Which, incidentally, also applies for a stage 1 install of Gentoo 🙂
And compare that to the three days I spent understanding how fdisk works, the first time I had to re-install Windows 95. Thank God/Bill/Linus for the internet.
I don’t know what is wrong with you….comparing a Microsoft OS that came out 10 years ago with a new Linux OS…..get a life….things tend to get better with time..
I guess you’re young because you’re missing years on both sides
Windows 95 was released on August 24th 1995. How is he missing years on both sides? Not sure if that is what you meant, but that is what I interpreted your comment as saying.
[i]Windows 95 was released on August 24th 1995. How is he missing years on both sides? Not sure if that is what you meant, but that is what I interpreted your comment as saying.[i]
I’m the one with the second reply, and I din’t get you either….maybe you can clarify
installing debian is now very easy. I guess anyone could have figured it out without this guide. A post-install configuration guide would be a lot more usefull for newbies. I’m still happy to see anything debian on osnews that’s not ubuntu!
Make love not war!
I love Debian, I love Ubuntu; Debian gives me an excellent base to build off of for any customized distribution I need, or works great as a server; Ubuntu gives me an awesome default install for a desktop.
There seems to be more and more Ubuntu hatred flying around; the thing is, if you don’t like it, don’t use it! It’s the best Free desktop-focused Linux out there for people who don’t like spending all day tweaking. I mean there’s Xandros, Libranet, Linspire, and others, but it seems like they all stray to far from the Linux community after a while.
There seems to be more and more Ubuntu hatred flying around
Yeah, I notice that too. Some people have got the paranoid idea in their head that I’m actally Mark Shuttleworth, and that I’m posting Ubuntu news on OSNews each and every day, in order to take over the world and kill Debian.
They ignore the fact that in the past 8 days only 3 items (2 releases, 1 review) on Ubuntu were posted. Out of a total of what? 80 posts?
LOL.
lol people get offended easily, debian isnt going anywhere no matter what people say, it may be slower moving thsn ubuntu, but it has a different focus, stability, security.
people like to ignore simple logic most of the time, keep the good work up on reporting the news thom, More people enjoy it than not.
> it may be slower moving thsn ubuntu, but it has a
> different focus, stability, security.
Exactly. If I were setting up a server, I’d like to be able to just run a cron job to get security updates and just walk away for a few years until the security patches dry up. As long as security updates are ongoing, Debian’s slow pace is a big plus.
On my desktop, however, I want the latest and greatest but I don’t want SIDs instability. I don’t mind upgrading every 6 months to 1 year, so Ubuntu’s 6 month cycle of stabilized SID is ideal.
very true, its always nice to have an up-to-date desktop, ubuntu is def looking good
What’s funny is that the people that moan about new Ubuntu posts and pretend they’re being posted all the time, wouldn’t say a word if every 3 articles was about Slackware, or Crux, or in this case, Debian.
Ubuntu is a very successful and popular disto, of course it’s going to get coverage!
Just reading Wikipedia I discovered Ubuntu was established on the Isle of Man. Anyone have any more information about this? Why would Shuttleworth establish there if he is South African? Are there tax/copyright advantages?
Thanks.
Perhaps because it’s closer to Russia?
Isle of Man has different tax benefits to the rest of the UK, but I don’t know why Ubuntu was set up there and not in South Africa.
BTW – Thom, so what if there are some moaners around ? The majority of us here know that your job is to provide links to news items. We also so that it depends on the news that is released of a day, also, it depends on the articles that are being submitted……….
MOANERS, either, accept that your favourite OS company or distro maker has got no news for that day… or write an article yourself and submit that. Until then shut up with this,
“Ubuntu/Windows/MacOSx/Debian/Mandrake/BeOS is crap and why do we read about it everyday ?”
I have read enough of your gripes
Note that, IIRC, if you use the netinst CD or the businesscard ISO, there’s no “linux26” boot option. Using those images, you can just apt-get install the 2.6 kernel after the OS is installed and running.
You are very far from truth actually. I use netinst cd all the time and I ALWAYS using expert26 or linux26 boot option for install. Matter of fact im also using “debian-installer/framebuffer=false” cause it looks more pretty to me
Yuo’re right, I’ve never considerd that initial boot: prompt!
I’m those of “just to say” :~/
This is the second article on the theme I’ve seen recently. Rather odd, as there is an excellent installation manual already: http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/installmanual
With net-install minimal cd in my hardware ‘testing’ is able to install in a very simply/autohwdetect. way. While I’m unable to install that’s crap of Sarge.
Now, while is it simple to select packages with apt-get I think that would be a good idea a way to select the kernel, this because 2.4 is even useful and someone can’t afford that overbloated 2.6 in some old machines!
Word…
Now, while is it simple to select packages with apt-get I think that would be a good idea a way to select the kernel, this because 2.4 is even useful and someone can’t afford that overbloated 2.6 in some old machines!
apt-get install kernel-image-XXXXXXX
Where XXXXX depends of the architecture, kernel version, etc.
It will remove the old kernel with no need to (re)-compile nothing at all. Even my mother could do it using synaptinc… with some luck.
Oh!, and you may need to reboot like in the old windows times.
Why is there always such a focus on installing linux distros? I guess for some distros it might be important, but I think my Debian unstable install is around 3 years old now and it’s still working perfectly.
There’a bit of wishful thinking in that article. Imho, Debian isn’t easy for a “relatively competent” computer user unless the user has taken the trouble to learn Debian’s dpkg/debconf and init.d configuration system. Otherwise, they are going to find post-install a mighty pain. In addition, Debian Sarge is not updated regularly. Whether that matters or not is another question. More pertinent might be to suggest some criteria for choosing Debian and Sarge in the first place.
A really good, illustrated article somewhere on the net about post-installation issues on Debian-based systems would be a boon, right down to “what is cups or an xserver and how do I set it up?” Perhaps there is one or several already?
Once you know your way around, though, Debian strikes me as the Holy Grail of f/oss software, a brilliant system that you need never stray from again. If only it was a bit easier, especially for folks new to Linux, many more users might get to know and love it. But I guess that’s where the many good Debian-based distros come in.
I think all the flamewars over the years coming from people comparing apt-get to rpm proves that apt-get has effectively isolated many Debian users from the underlying packaging system. In fact, I don’t know many people who even use apt-get preferring one of the many front-ends available–aptitude is quite nice if you haven’t seen it yet.
As for knowing init.d, you could make the same argument for most Linux distros. Of course, if you’re making that argument because you don’t think Debian comes with utilities to manage it then you aren’t familiar with managing Debian.
As for knowing init.d, you could make the same argument for most Linux distros. Of course, if you’re making that argument because you don’t think Debian comes with utilities to manage it then you aren’t familiar with managing Debian.
There’s a very nice GUI app for managing services (in testing & unstable) called “bum” (Boot-Up Manager).
Quote: “comparing apt-get to rpm proves that apt-get has effectively isolated many Debian users from the underlying packaging system”
huh? The packaging system is dpkg. apt-get is simply a command line frontend to it. Much as dselect is (but is ncurses based).
Quote: “In fact, I don’t know many people who even use apt-get preferring one of the many front-ends available–aptitude is quite nice if you haven’t seen it yet.”
mmm, well you’ve just met one. I don’t use kpackage, synaptic (can’t stand it), aptitude or dselect. Plain good ole apt-get does it for me!
Quote: “As for knowing init.d”
Well, that’s what LSB is for…Redhat does it’s thing, and other distros do theirs…Debian tends to follow the Sys V init style, which imho is most probably the most logical and best way of doing it.
Dave
The packaging system is dpkg
Yes…but people don’t have to, and often don’t, know that. The parent post, to which I was replying, suggested that people needed to understand dpkg/debconf after installation which is untrue.
apt-get is simply a command line frontend to it. Much as dselect is (but is ncurses based)
Apt-get does dependency resolution along with being a front-end to dpkg. Dselect is a front-end for apt and, though I can’t recall its name, there is also a meta-package front-end to apt that lets you select functionality.
mmm, well you’ve just met one. I don’t use kpackage, synaptic (can’t stand it), aptitude or dselect. Plain good ole apt-get does it for me!
I, too, prefer using apt-get directly but my point was that, in addition to not having to know dpkg, you don’t even have to deal with apt to do post-install package installations.
Debian tends to follow the Sys V init style, which imho is most probably the most logical and best way of doing it
You have no argument with me. There is no need to know init.d/rc.d to manage Debian. Someone mentioned bum in testing/unstable but Debian has had other utilities for quite a while.
The parent post, to which I was replying, suggested that people needed to understand dpkg/debconf after installation which is untrue
Er, how on earth are folks going to configure or reconfigure parts of their system if they aren’t aware of dpkg-reconfigure or a gui frontend like gkDebconf? These are essential basics.
Dselect does not work to the same criteria as apt. It is not an equivalent.
There is no need to know init.d/rc.d to manage Debian.
Er, “There are a bunch of crucial scripts somewhere on your pc that start and stop services but you don’t need to know where they are.” Sounds a great recipe for getting hacked, even though, yes, there are utilities for managing them (not installed by default).
Debian is a great system, but that doesn’t mean there is no room for improvement. It has often been compared to a big city with no street signs. When you asked someone the way, they say “Oh, if you lived here you’d know where you were going.”
how on earth are folks going to configure or reconfigure parts of their system
Which parts of a standard Debian install need to be reconfigured post-install and can only be reconfigured through dpkg?
Is this knowledge necessary competency? Sure. Is it necessary for the average computer-knowledable user to use Debian? No.
Sounds a great recipe for getting hacked
A “relatively competent” computer user already knows not to connect a computer directly to the internet if it isn’t a server.
not installed by default
sysvinit provides its own utilities.
Debian is a great system, but that doesn’t mean there is no room for improvement
Nobody claimed otherwise. All things being equal with supported hardware, Woody was slightly more difficult to install than NT4. Sarge is much easier than XP and post-installation is not as difficult as you want to make it out to be.
Anyone has news about it ? When will it go live, so that we can have KDE3.4.2 in etch ?
Is there a page to trace the evolution ?
I have a very old Compaq Armada which only boots from floppy. Debian testing installer running from 2 floppies detected the PCMCIA network card and proceeded to install without a hitch downloading all it needed as it went.
If you type ‘expert’ when asked for boot options you later get to choose which branch you want to install so, you can go straight to unstable if that floats your boat.
I’m new to Linux so I only have experience with the new Debian installer, but from what I’ve seen it’s easily the best (ease of use, speed and everything just working when you’ve finished) there is.
I wish there would be an article on installing Debian on amd64 soon…for some reason the amd64 port has been taken off the installer page…probably because of the recent gpg key problems??…hopefully it will be fixed soon!
I am I missing something here, Where’s the little next icons? They’re there, but I can see em!
Also, it’s a step by step walkthrough, is it possible for him to precis this down a bit,why mention Etch on the first page? Why confuse people by wittering on about Stable and unstable, blah blah,just tell people the basics and don’t hide the important stuff in the guff.
“A “relatively competent” computer user already knows not to connect a computer directly to the internet if it isn’t a server. ”
Yes, so everyone has a DHCP Firewalled up server at home that they can run their internet connection through. Not everyone runs a home LAN, nerd.
“Sarge is much easier than XP”
No, that simply not true. I put a XP (which I hate, incidently) in a PC once went down the pub and it was (almost) finished by the time I got back, it did not ask me anything as involved as Xserver-Xfree86 Vese/VGA/ER/THINGY/VIRGE/Blah-blah go, on pick one, and see if it works.. What’s your DHCP server? GO on? You’ve got one havn’t you?