Re: DEBIAN

[Harold Crouch <hcrouch@mchsi.com>]

On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 06:21:24 -0600
bntly_rhds <bntly.rhds@gmail.com> wrote:
> i was wondering what the installation process was like, and like Tom
> mentioned, which one should i get (he said testing ...)?  i was
> going to  get the 3.0r4 version, is there a different one?  i'm
> mainly going for  it because the packages say it comes with
> enlightenment, ;}.  Do you  know how i put in my refresh rates or
> sync rates for my LCD monitor when  installing?  i have a
> walkthrough i found on the internet, but i didn't  see if LCD
> monitors are different from CRT ones when inputting information.
> -- 
> bntly.rhds@gmail.com	| Google Mail!

Debian has a reputation as an absolutely wonderful distro with an
absolutely hideous installer.  Knoppix, Libranet, Mephis, Ubuntu,
Xandros and half a hundred other distros that are based on Debian
exist simply because of the difficulty of Debian's installer.  In
Debian's defense, its programmers have recognized the problem and the
new Sarge installer is a vast improvement.  It's not perfect.  Hard
drive partitioning is not especially intuitive, but it recognized and
correctly configured all my hardware.  For whatever reason, some
people think that a distro without a truly graphical installer should
be scorned.  The new installer is ncurses-based, and that's good
enough fo me!   The new installer does not install x-windows by
default.  No big deal.  Install, then "apt-get update && apt-get
install x-window-system-core" and you're up and running.

Stay away from Woody.  It was released in July 2002, and nothing has
been updated other than security issues.  Most Debian users keep their
sources list pointed towards the Testing branch of Debian.  More than
a few brave souls' computer point to Sid, the unstable branch.  I am
quite happy with testing.

Assuming you have a fast internet connection and can burn CDs, the
best place to get a copy of the Debian Sarge installer is
http://ftp.acc.umu.se/pub/cd-images/debian-weekly/i386/  You need
retrieve only ISO No. 1.

Debian people like to say that Debian usually isn't the first distro
that most people install, but it usually *is* the last distro that
they  install.  I found that to be the case for me.  Between 1999 and
2002, I must have reinstalled Mandrake on my computer at least fifty
times, and I could never get Red Hat installed without assistance from
some kind-hearted Linux guru. In summer 2002, I purchased Libranet and
knew immediately that I had made the correct choice for me.  I stayed
with Libranet until some time last year when I wiped my drive and
switched to straight Debian.  I still log on daily to the Libranet
forum -- forum.libranet.com -- which is the nicest and most helpful
forum I have ever found.  Debian is the best distro for me. YMMV.

Enlightenment... Let's see here... The version in Debian Testing is
0.16.6.  

Sorry, don't know much about LCD monitors.  That's on my list of
things to do.  Learn Russian, lose 50 pounds, get a LCD monitor.  Yep,
any day now...


-
To unsubscribe, send email to majordomo@silug.org with
"unsubscribe silug-discuss" in the body.