Minimal (no GUI) install, then KDE
 

I am running Debian testing with KDE via KVM.

I love GNOME to pieces but I also enjoy KDE, and I decided to try Debian with KDE. It was a positive experience but a pain in the rear to set up. I installed KDE, and then had to manually remove most GTK packages, as I had installed KDE-full and was overloaded with KDE and GNOME apps.

I would like to do a minimal, CLI-only installation of Debian testing and then install KDE. My machine accesses internet via wireless, which I read the Debian installer does not support. I'm assuming I will have to go with a netinstall...?

Furthermore, once I attain this CLI-only environment, how difficult will it be to get my hands on KDE? A simple apt-get install kde-full ?

The netinstall CD should work with most NIC's. Never tried it with wireless though, it might be a good idea to wire the machine, just to be sure. As for KDE, I'd recommend kde-core over the full version, as that's the one pulling in so many Gnome apps too. Apt-get will work, aptitude is the preferred method, IIRC...

If your wireless connection has WEP encryption, or no encryption, you can do a netinstall (it supports WEP). You can also download the debian kde iso; it's available for both, the stable branch and the testing branch (stable-i386, testing-i386; if you want another architecture, simply go to the parent directory and choose the one you need).

Regards.

Thank you gentlemen. Will do.