Installing Debian 2

[samsonx]

Hello,

I have been using Red Hat for about a year and want to try Debian. I am unsure of which disks I need to download Why are there seven disks? Which is best suited for me?

The Debian manual seems to be a little misleading to me. For example,

http://www.linuxiso.org

says to install disk 1 (non-us) first. The Debian manual seems to say the Vanilla disk is the one I need. Other people have told me that the bf2.4 is best suited as it has the 2.4 kernel.

I have pretty new hardware (DDR Ram, GF4MX440 video, 2.0Ghz P4) and no USB devices.

Can someone point me in the right direction?

Thanks heaps.

 

[Morsing]

Hi,
I installed Debian for the first time yesterday

I downloaded the compact disks (didn't know that bf2.4 was a 2.4 kernel and I was a bit surprised to see that Debain installs a 2.2 kernel).
Files rescue, root and four driver disks. Worked like a charm.

Cheers

Henrik Morsing
Certified AIX 4.3 Systems Administration
& p690 Technical Support

 

[samsonx]

No offence, but that didn't really answer my question. Which disks do I need?

 

[Morsing]

Then I don't understand your question.
Are you talking floppies or CDs?? Don't you want to install from the Internet or CDs??

Cheers

Henrik Morsing
Certified AIX 4.3 Systems Administration
& p690 Technical Support

 

[samsonx]

My question was asking about the CDs ISO images, hence 7 disks.

 

[skiflyer]

Depends what you want....

definately download disk1, it contains the different installs and you choose at boot.

If you want a relatively fast install and you're a normal user download disks 2 & 3 as well. (If you have a dialup definately download disks 2 & 3)

If you couldn't care less about how long it takes, or you're setting up a bare bones system, just stick with disk 1.

Don't bother with disks 4-7 unless you know you're setting up a strange system.

All the packages on all the disks can be automatically downloaded and installed during setup, however CD's are obviouslly faster if you're doing several machines (or several installs for that matter)... one machine and you're going to download to get the CD anyway.

As far as the different installs I can't speak to which is best for anyone, including myself!

Good luck,
Rob

 

[samsonx]

Hit the nail on the head.

I would like to know which install has the best hardware optimisation though.

 

[Bigchris]

There are several options for installing Debian, other than the 1--7 disks method, which are a lot to have to download. If you want a full install of all kinds of packages, including all the stuff you never heard of and never use, you can simply down load Knoppix 3.2. It gives you the 2.4.20 kernel and works great as a simple installer. It will install about 2 gig on your HD. Boot the disk, hit CTL + F2 which shuts down X and gives you the command line. Then simply type the command KNX-hdinstall 0.37. That will install it on your hard drive. Download Knoppix from here:

http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html#order

Another simple way to install Debian, but as a minimal install is to download Morphix light. It is based on Knoppix and will also run as a live CD. Once the disk has been booted, Morphix has a built in script to do a hard drive install. Get it here:

http://morphix.sourceforge.net/modules/news/

Of course, once installed, these distros have the APT-GET package manager, which allows you to install and uninstall other packages, at will, without the RPM dependency-hell that I am sure you have experienced using Redhat. Check out this APT howto:

http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/apt-howto/index.en.html

Also check out this article:

http://www.linuxworld.com/site-stories/2002/1104.barr.html

Now, if you simply wish to experience the pure, get down and dirty, Debian Woody 3.0 install, which I suggest for nothing more than the lessons it will teach, then read this article first:

http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=2016

. Print this article and treat it as your Debian install bible.

Note: if you don't have a broadband connection, this system can be tedious. If you do, you're in, man!

Don't sweat the kernel version or anything else. Once you have installed Debian and mastered APT-GET (it's a snap to learn) you can update your Debian system until the cows come home. The best part of starting with a minimal install is that you can customize your system from the get-go without tons of packages, which you have never heard of or will ever use. Like they say at Burger King, "have it your way."

Have fun, Chris

 

[Bigchris]

Oh Yeah,

About the hardware support thing, the Debian kernel can use modules for hardware driver support.

Debian uses a simple tool called modconf, which allows you to add hardware driver modules and remove driver modules.

As I said prior, APT-GET can get you the packages you want, even the driver modules you need, and then modconf can install them into the kernel. Type the command: "modconf"

Again, have fun, Chris

 

[samsonx]

Thanks for the help. I think I am in the right direction now.