Trying Debian

rmacm

Hi there everyone. I've been using Red Hat for ages and now I want to change just to try something different. I've also tried SuSe and others.

I've heard good things about Debian so I'm going to try that. Anyway looking at the ftp downloads there's about 8 cds worth of stuff there do I need all this?

Basically what I want is enough for the basic system with a graphical installer. Something like RH9 of Fedora e.g. a 3 cd download. So how many of these images do I need to download for what I want?

Cheers
Rory

mneylon

Get the net installer for Debian testing. It's a 100 MB download.

Rambo

rmacm wrote:

Hi there everyone. I've been using Red Hat for ages and now I want to change just to try something different. I've also tried SuSe and others.

I've heard good things about Debian so I'm going to try that. Anyway looking at the ftp downloads there's about 8 cds worth of stuff there do I need all this?

Basically what I want is enough for the basic system with a graphical installer. Something like RH9 of Fedora e.g. a 3 cd download. So how many of these images do I need to download for what I want?

Cheers
Rory

I being using RedHAT for about 5 years and tried out debian
found it to be very different more manual with conf files.

You will find the apt-get command to be one of your favorities for installing
packages
3 CD should be enough to get you going even one if you want the basic install
just the command prompt then add you sources later

Your sources can be from CD or from websites
which you will found great for loading packages
Good Luck

rmacm

Thanks for the advice I'm going to go download it sometime next week.

I've been told that apt-get is the business for updates and such so I'm going to give it a try.

Cheers
Rory

mneylon

The easiest way to do it is to grab the bootable iso and use that. It will give you a minimal install.
Debian testing is fine, as the installer is nice and easy to use
The only issues you may have are with strange hardware.
Debian stable is about 2 years old, so it won't give you as many "funky" options "out of the box"

tomk

I did my last Deb install using Bonzai, formerly known as Mini-Woody. This is basically a base woody(stable) install, but with improved hardware detection. I used it because I had problems with the sarge installer (although they may have been sorted by now).

Once you have bonzai on your box, you can change your apt sources, and upgrade to testing or unstable to get up-to-date apps.

I have also recently come across Hilux, which is another updated Woody installer. Haven't tried it yet, but I'll probably give it a go for my next install.