Debian minimal-->usable desktop install guide(UNFINISHED)
Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2009 4:51 pm
NOTE: THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS
So you have heard of debian. Heard that it was the parent to ubuntu and Ultimate Edition. And wanted to see where the os you have come to love got its roots from Or maybe you have heard it was lighter (this is only true to a point). Maybe you wanted to start with a "clean slate". Maybe you just wanna try a little something else. But your thought to yourself what the hell is debian exactly? How do i get it? How do i install it? How do i use it? Well that is the whole purpose of this howto. i will lead along as i do a minimal install (initially) and build up from there to a very useable desktop.
Before we get started ill first give a little background on debian.
WHAT is Debian?
The Debian Project is an association of individuals who have made common cause to create a free operating system. This operating system that we have created is called Debian GNU/Linux, or simply Debian for short. An operating system is the set of basic programs and utilities that make your computer run. At the core of an operating system is the kernel. The kernel is the most fundamental program on the computer and does all the basic housekeeping and lets you start other programs. Debian systems currently use the Linux kernel. Linux is a piece of software started by Linus Torvalds and supported by thousands of programmers worldwide. However, work is in progress to provide Debian for other kernels, primarily for the Hurd. The Hurd is a collection of servers that run on top of a microkernel (such as Mach) to implement different features. The Hurd is free software produced by the GNU project. A large part of the basic tools that fill out the operating system come from the GNU project; hence the names: GNU/Linux and GNU/Hurd. These tools are also free. Of course, the thing that people want is application software: programs to help them get what they want to do done, from editing documents to running a business to playing games to writing more software. Debian comes with over 25113 packages (precompiled software that is bundled up in a nice format for easy installation on your machine) — all of it free. It's a bit like a tower. At the base is the kernel. On top of that are all the basic tools. Next is all the software that you run on the computer. At the top of the tower is Debian — carefully organizing and fitting everything so it all works together.
How'd it all get started?
Debian was begun in August 1993 by Ian Murdock, as a new distribution which would be made openly, in the spirit of Linux and GNU. Debian was meant to be carefully and conscientiously put together, and to be maintained and supported with similar care. It started as a small, tightly-knit group of Free Software hackers, and gradually grew to become a large, well-organized community of developers and users.
Source:About Debian
Does it support my computer architecture?
I can almost gaurentee you that it will.
The following architectures are supported by the "stable" branch
* Alpha
* AMD64
* ARM
* EABI ARM
* HP PA-RISC
* Intel x86
* Intel IA-64
* MIPS (big endian)
* MIPS (little endian)
* PowerPC
* IBM S/390
* SPARC
Source:Stable Release Info
What are my choices?
Stable:
The "stable" distribution contains the latest officially released distribution of Debian. This is the production release of Debian, the one which we primarily recommend using. The current "stable" distribution of Debian GNU/Linux is version 5.0.0, codenamed lenny. It was released on February 14th, 2009.
Testing:
The "testing" distribution contains packages that haven't been accepted into a "stable" release yet, but they are in the queue for that. The main advantage of using this distribution is that it has more recent versions of software. See the Debian FAQ for more information on what is "testing" and how it becomes "stable". The current "testing" distribution is squeeze. This release started as a copy of lenny (the current stable), and is currently in a state called "testing". That means that things should not break as badly as in unstable or experimental distributions, because packages are allowed to enter this distribution only after a certain period of time has passed, and when they don't have any release-critical bugs filed against them.
Unstable:
The "unstable" distribution is where active development of Debian occurs. Generally, this distribution is run by developers and those who like to live on the edge. The "unstable" distribution is called sid. This distribution will never get released; instead, packages from it will propagate into testing and then into a real release. "sid" is subject to massive changes and in-place library updates. This can result in a very "unstable" system which contains packages that cannot be installed due to missing libraries, dependencies that cannot be fulfilled etc. Use it at your own risk!
Source:Releases Testing Info Unstable Info
NOTE: I STRONGLY ADVISE AGAINST USING SID (UNSTABLE)
I personally use "testing" because it has newer packages and gets updated more often than stable. Some people rather use Lenny (stable).
So what are my install media options?
Netinstall:
These small "netinst" images can be downloaded quickly. These allow you to download only those Debian packages that you actually want, but require an Internet connection on the machine being installed. If you have a permanent connection to the Internet, you can install Debian using that. You would initially download only a small portion of Debian required to start the installation process, and then install whatever else you want from within the installation program. This sort of network installation process requires Internet access via Ethernet or wireless (possibly using a PCMCIA card in your laptop). Unfortunately, it does not support internal ISDN cards. Instead of getting a full 650MB CD image, you just download a CD image file which contains the bare essentials necessary to install the rest. It is necessary to have access to a CD recorder in order to use this. The image files are up to 180 MB in size
CD/DVD SETS:
In total there are 31CD's or 5 DVD's. No you don't need them all. All you would need if you went this route would be the first cd or dvd. The rest just contain the rest of debians repo. The only time it would make sense to download them all is if you have no internet connection on the machine you will be installing to.
I always use the netinstall cd personally. Its a very small download. Contains everything i need to start with anyway (i never install xorg or gnome during initial install).
GOTTA RUN FOR NOW. ILL CONTINUE ADDING TO THIS GUIDE OV ER THE NEXT FEW DAYS SO STAY TUNED
So you have heard of debian. Heard that it was the parent to ubuntu and Ultimate Edition. And wanted to see where the os you have come to love got its roots from Or maybe you have heard it was lighter (this is only true to a point). Maybe you wanted to start with a "clean slate". Maybe you just wanna try a little something else. But your thought to yourself what the hell is debian exactly? How do i get it? How do i install it? How do i use it? Well that is the whole purpose of this howto. i will lead along as i do a minimal install (initially) and build up from there to a very useable desktop.
Before we get started ill first give a little background on debian.
WHAT is Debian?
The Debian Project is an association of individuals who have made common cause to create a free operating system. This operating system that we have created is called Debian GNU/Linux, or simply Debian for short. An operating system is the set of basic programs and utilities that make your computer run. At the core of an operating system is the kernel. The kernel is the most fundamental program on the computer and does all the basic housekeeping and lets you start other programs. Debian systems currently use the Linux kernel. Linux is a piece of software started by Linus Torvalds and supported by thousands of programmers worldwide. However, work is in progress to provide Debian for other kernels, primarily for the Hurd. The Hurd is a collection of servers that run on top of a microkernel (such as Mach) to implement different features. The Hurd is free software produced by the GNU project. A large part of the basic tools that fill out the operating system come from the GNU project; hence the names: GNU/Linux and GNU/Hurd. These tools are also free. Of course, the thing that people want is application software: programs to help them get what they want to do done, from editing documents to running a business to playing games to writing more software. Debian comes with over 25113 packages (precompiled software that is bundled up in a nice format for easy installation on your machine) — all of it free. It's a bit like a tower. At the base is the kernel. On top of that are all the basic tools. Next is all the software that you run on the computer. At the top of the tower is Debian — carefully organizing and fitting everything so it all works together.
How'd it all get started?
Debian was begun in August 1993 by Ian Murdock, as a new distribution which would be made openly, in the spirit of Linux and GNU. Debian was meant to be carefully and conscientiously put together, and to be maintained and supported with similar care. It started as a small, tightly-knit group of Free Software hackers, and gradually grew to become a large, well-organized community of developers and users.
Source:About Debian
Does it support my computer architecture?
I can almost gaurentee you that it will.
The following architectures are supported by the "stable" branch
* Alpha
* AMD64
* ARM
* EABI ARM
* HP PA-RISC
* Intel x86
* Intel IA-64
* MIPS (big endian)
* MIPS (little endian)
* PowerPC
* IBM S/390
* SPARC
Source:Stable Release Info
What are my choices?
Stable:
The "stable" distribution contains the latest officially released distribution of Debian. This is the production release of Debian, the one which we primarily recommend using. The current "stable" distribution of Debian GNU/Linux is version 5.0.0, codenamed lenny. It was released on February 14th, 2009.
Testing:
The "testing" distribution contains packages that haven't been accepted into a "stable" release yet, but they are in the queue for that. The main advantage of using this distribution is that it has more recent versions of software. See the Debian FAQ for more information on what is "testing" and how it becomes "stable". The current "testing" distribution is squeeze. This release started as a copy of lenny (the current stable), and is currently in a state called "testing". That means that things should not break as badly as in unstable or experimental distributions, because packages are allowed to enter this distribution only after a certain period of time has passed, and when they don't have any release-critical bugs filed against them.
Unstable:
The "unstable" distribution is where active development of Debian occurs. Generally, this distribution is run by developers and those who like to live on the edge. The "unstable" distribution is called sid. This distribution will never get released; instead, packages from it will propagate into testing and then into a real release. "sid" is subject to massive changes and in-place library updates. This can result in a very "unstable" system which contains packages that cannot be installed due to missing libraries, dependencies that cannot be fulfilled etc. Use it at your own risk!
Source:Releases Testing Info Unstable Info
NOTE: I STRONGLY ADVISE AGAINST USING SID (UNSTABLE)
I personally use "testing" because it has newer packages and gets updated more often than stable. Some people rather use Lenny (stable).
So what are my install media options?
Netinstall:
These small "netinst" images can be downloaded quickly. These allow you to download only those Debian packages that you actually want, but require an Internet connection on the machine being installed. If you have a permanent connection to the Internet, you can install Debian using that. You would initially download only a small portion of Debian required to start the installation process, and then install whatever else you want from within the installation program. This sort of network installation process requires Internet access via Ethernet or wireless (possibly using a PCMCIA card in your laptop). Unfortunately, it does not support internal ISDN cards. Instead of getting a full 650MB CD image, you just download a CD image file which contains the bare essentials necessary to install the rest. It is necessary to have access to a CD recorder in order to use this. The image files are up to 180 MB in size
CD/DVD SETS:
In total there are 31CD's or 5 DVD's. No you don't need them all. All you would need if you went this route would be the first cd or dvd. The rest just contain the rest of debians repo. The only time it would make sense to download them all is if you have no internet connection on the machine you will be installing to.
I always use the netinstall cd personally. Its a very small download. Contains everything i need to start with anyway (i never install xorg or gnome during initial install).
GOTTA RUN FOR NOW. ILL CONTINUE ADDING TO THIS GUIDE OV ER THE NEXT FEW DAYS SO STAY TUNED