I'm thinking of switching to Debian

Ekim Gram · 05-28-2003, 07:14 PM

But I'm still sort of a newb at this, I've been using Mandrake 9.1 for almost 2 months now and I used Red Hat 9 for a day (I didn't like it much). Now I would like to try a Debian system. Anybody got anything I should read up on before I do? Or anything to help me through the installation because I've heard it's pretty grim.

iceman47 · 05-28-2003, 07:31 PM

Installation is pretty easy, just don't use dselect, it really sucks.
Don't be intimidated by the installer, it's just an installer without any fancy X windows in.

kazuni · 05-28-2003, 08:44 PM

yeah, it's a very stable system, only thing is that the modules aren't as updated (i think the last distro is dated december or something... but do give it a try)

CodeWarrior · 05-28-2003, 09:10 PM

You might have already been there but

http://www.debian.org

I have heard nothing but good things about the distrobution and the apt-get package upgrade system.
But remember that Debian doesn't always use the newest Kernels and versions of software, which is ok if you have a older PC. I was thinking of getting Debian myself, but found that since my PC was pretty new(less than 8months old) I might run into hardware detection problems.

iceman47 · 05-28-2003, 09:19 PM

You have 3 Debian sorts: stable, testing and unstable.
Unstable is pretty stable though, quite happy about it.
'bout the kernels: you can apt-get any kernel you want, including a 2.4.20. But it'sq always better to compile your own.
The story about Debian being for older pc's or that Debian is outdated is simply not true, apt gets you everything you need.

Ekim Gram · 05-28-2003, 09:20 PM

Well, uhh...my computer is less then a month old. To try to avoid the same things that you did, what else would you suggest I try?

Steve Cronje · 05-28-2003, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ekim Gram
Well, uhh...my computer is less then a month old. To try to avoid the same things that you did, what else would you suggest I try?

DEBIAN!!!

It's great. After you have used the apt-get system, you will have a tough time going back to dependency-hell. What is said about Debian not being for newer systems is simply not true.

I have Debian running on my home network on everything from a 486 to a HP Pavilion laptop.

HTH

Steve