just how hard is debian?
 

i have heard the common remark that debian is impossibly hard to install, but I browsed through the installation manual and it seems no harder than installing FreeBSD, NetBSD or Slackware. What's with the hype?

I am gonna try installing it myself to see whether the comments are true.

I also heard comments that Debian's hardware detection is not very good.

I'll be honest, I like handholding for hardware detection cos I can't be arsed to put up a great effort to get a distro to work on my hardware, so I hope this comment is unfounded.

Hardware detection is quit good. Some handy-work is needed, but not that difficult if you're familiar with Slack. There is of course 'the debian way', debian had many tools to make it actually easy using debian.

It's difficult for beginners (still recommended, it's a good learning process), not for intermediate/advanced users. I like the package management and the administration on debian, which is really easy to handle and control.

I don't find the installation very difficult, but I have had very little success with getting an xserver configured properly on Debian even though I was using the same configuration tools and settings that I used on other distros. I've just installed FreeBSD recently and I found the installation easier than some other Linux distros.

Debian is hard to install? Hahaha. I have installed about most known distros, including the BSD's. Debian isn't hard to install at all. In fact, it's one of the easiest text-based distros to install. For a newbie, the partitioning part could be confusing, but other than that, the installation is almost automated. In fact, the partitioning part is the trickiest part in text-based distros. Once you master that part, the rest is piece of cake. Debian's partitioning is a bit easier than FreeBSD's. NetBSD's is easier than Debian's. OpenBSD's is the trickiest.

Read this:

HOWTO install Debian with the net-installer-rc2
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...hreadid=261506

After dealing with RedHat 6.0 and leaving the Linux scene, I came back and installed Mandrake and Slackware. I still don't see why they call Slackware hard to install. I can only think that people are NOT reading the manual. HA think of that! I am going to soon install Debian and from what I've read in the manuals, it won't be that difficult. Most of the Hype that surrounds a distribution I believe should be taken with a grain of salt.

I am planning on using the net install with the rc2 installer to install Sarge.

debian is a cake walk compared to gentoo and is just as easy as a slackware install.:D

debian isn't hard at all, one of the easiest installs i've done..

Hear, hear.

I just installed debian successfully without even reading the manual. It was really a piece of cake.

I still haven't got sound working, but KDE and the DHCP client works.

Er...but i didn't realize it would install KDE 2.2.2. Quite surprised by that. I think i will try installing Sarge instead of Woody.

It's not a MS point and click install, but it's not as esoteric as it once was. Linux installs in general are getting much more user friendly and debian is no exception to this. A rudimentary understanding of how you want your harddrive partitioned is necessary. After that it's as simple as answering questions correctly. There is a great deal of info online (almost too much to sort through), about installing debian. It's well worth it. Apt-get alone is worth the work.
You might consider ubuntu. It's debian based and will experience some growing pains in the next six months, but it definitely has the potential to push linux into the mainstream as a desktop OS.

One final caveat: hardware support is not as ubiquitous in linux as it is for MS. Cutting edge hardware is not always immediately supported. Also some odd pieces of hardware were never really supported, so if you have a rare video or sound card that wasn't supported four or five years ago, and still isn't, it ain't going to happen. Other than that, your good to go.

I think the new Debian Sarge installer is GREAT. Debian is MUCH easier and intuitive to install and setup than it used to be. I find aptitude much better than dselect.


If you want to install Debian, install Sarge with the new installer. Debian is no harder than Slackware to setup, it just different. Debian is my new favorite distro; i just started using it over slackware

I hope they don't ruin Debian by putting anaconda into it. I heard that Progeny is thinking of doing that. I like the simple text installation that exists.

When i first heard about the new debian installer that's exactly what i thought. I said "oh no not a GUI based install!" Having tried it, I must say I am impressed. It is text based, but with better hardware detection and an overall better feel. Plus aptitude has replaced dselect. I don't think Debian will ever go graphical.

SimplyMEPIS == Debian == Easy Install.

www.mepis.org

Hi
Well i've just been trying to install debian recently and i have to say im not at all impressed. I've installed many different distros and many times so i know what i'm doing. I know that debian must be doing something right to be where it is but i got pretty standard hardware and the installation was just one abortion after the next.

The lilo configuration sucks really bad, my X server is broken, installation returned a message about debian not being perfect (clearly the case), another message about how certain packages didn't install propely (used cd first time, and later ftp to ensure it wasn't media problems). And the menus, is it possible to make them any more counter intuitive ? At the part where you select the type of system you want ie X, desktop enviroments, servers etc i was only able to select all or nothing, fair enuff i can trim the packages later but i've never come across menus not actually responding propely. Then after installation i get the message, 'nothing worked, you want to try again, it might work ?' ok lets try again, oh nothing works again. And a crptic message about errors 'there were errors, you should fix them and press i to carry on the install. Ok so i get control, wow i can sort this mess out. Oh, how im supposed to fix the errors, theres no console, no key responds, not even 'i'.

That being said it does have some very nice features, and if you know what you doing and the installation actually works you can save yourself time configuring later cos its very consise.

So in sumary, debian not too hard and if installation works you're laughing. If not you're cursing and wondering why you ever left the cosy land of slack.

Not flamebait, just an opinion and answer to a question