Re: Debian Sid first time user

On Thu, 2008-08-07 at 14:32 +0100, Rodolfo Medina wrote:
Rodolfo Medina <rodolfo.medina@xxxxxxxxx>:

Now for particular needs I want to try to use Sid with a > =
2.6.25-2-686 kernel.

Please can anybody indicate how to fetch and install a Debian Sid
distribution and how to manage it after installation (packages and so
on)?


Tuesday 05 August 2008, Javier Barroso wrote :

Rodolfo, Sid hasn't got a installer, you have to install lenny / etch
and then upgrade / full-upgrade to sid changing /etc/apt/sources.list
as people said.



Thomas Preud'homme <thomas.preudhomme@xxxxxxxxx> writes:

you can install a Debian with a business card and then you have
the choice in the release you want to grab (stable, testing or
unstable).



Thanks. But in Debian internet site I only found stable and testing business
card images, not sid ones. E.g.:

http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/daily-builds/daily/arch-latest/i386/iso-cd/debian-testing-i386-businesscard.iso

. There's nothing like:

http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/daily-builds/daily/arch-latest/i386/iso-cd/debian-sid-i386-businesscard.iso

. So, after downloading and installing the testing business card iso image, I
suppose I have to do `apt-get update' and `apt-get dist-upgrade' as well, to
pass from testing to sid?

Besides, I read that a business card image does not include any packages; but
on the other hand I need the ppp package to download the rest: is ppp included
in a business card image?

Besides: what are, in general with a Debian upgrade, the proper commands?
`apt-get update' and `apt-get dist-upgrade' or instead full-upgrade or
safe-upgrade?

Excuse so many questions.

Thanks
Rodolfo

Rodolfo,

If I recall correctly, you would, after the boot of the cd type linux
expert in order to have the choice of installing Sid from the start.
However, from time to time, I have had issues with that method. I wrote
up a (very poorly written) howto to upgrade to Sid. You can find it
here: www.damtek.com on the left side is a link titled Installing
Debian. Click on that link, it will tell you how to go from stable to
testing.

I would not use a testing net-install image as I have also had issues
with those in the past. I.e. They break from time to time and you as a
newbie installing would not know the difference between an installer
break and a machine issue and might well chase your tail for hours
trying to "fix" a machine that was not broken.

Yes, the net-installer should have PPP software that you need, however,
it has been years since I have had to use it so I am unable to advise
you there.

I would also deviate from my own howto in that I would only install the
base system (When you get to the ncurses "select software to install" do
NOT select anything (except laptop, if you have a laptop). Deselect
desktop and anything else selected (except laptop, if you have a
laptop). This will save you HOURS of downloading via a phone line and
give you a system that you can then upgrade to Sid.

Once you reboot from the install, log in as root and
"nano /etc/apt/sources.list" to edit your sources to point them to Sid.
Keep in mind, the sources listed in my howto work well for me as a
person in the US. All you would need to do is modify yours by replacing
stable (or etch) with sid or unstable and commenting out anything about
security updates (put a # in front of the line).

Once you have upgraded from stable to testing, from testing to sid (and
yes, I recommend not jumping from stable to sid directly) or if the
testing install works for you, from testing to sid, then you should
re-run the "additional software" tool by running as root "tasksel". You
would then select things such as "Desktop" to install additional useful
components.

After that, follow the guide on a perfect desktop listed in my howto.
The reason for this deviation is, again, because of your limited
bandwidth, no need to download all that stuff, only to have it upgraded
and downloaded again and again.

I hope this helps.

--
Damon L. Chesser
damon@xxxxxxxxxx
http://www.linkedin.com/in/dchesser

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