[PLUG] Debian installation

[Paul Mullen]

On Tue, Dec 21, 2004 at 10:50:04PM -0800, Robert Kopp wrote:
> Many people on this list use Debian, so maybe I should
> try it. There are 7 CD's for each architecture, so I
> suppose I should get all seven. With a fast
> connection, that isn't too much of a problem.

If you have a fast connection, don't bother downloading a boatload of
ISOs. Just download one of the net-install ISOs and install everything
else via one of the package repositories. That's one of Debian's finer
points. There really is no need to think in terms discrete "releases"
when you're only an "apt-get upgrade" away from the latest packages.

> "Woody" is said to include KDE 2.2. That must be a
> joke. If they're serious, I suppose there's some way
> to upgrade easily to 3.x?

Last I looked "Sid" offered KDE 3.3. Don't bother with Woody (AKA
"stable") unless you're really paranoid about security and stability
(*really* paranoid). Stick to Sid (AKA "unstable", and anything but)
if it's a normal user machine (workstation, laptop, etc.).

NB: In my experience, the Debian maintainers use "stable" and
"unstable" in a different way than one would normally expect in the
context of personal computers. They don't mean that Sid is unstable in
the sense that your computer will be crashing a lot. Rather, it means
that the package tree is in flux, and that individual packages can and
do change quite often (meaning you may want to upgrade every week or
so).


Paul