All the "hot, new" distros seem to be Debian based [Knoppix, Ubuntu, Xandros, etc...] BUT, where are all the ".deb" packages, to be downloaded ???

I am anxious to try apt-get, but all the download sites I see only have ".tar" and ".tar.gz" packages.

Just use apt on the repositories for your distro. Most sites don't give packaged formats.

apt-get.org: Unofficial APT repositories
http://www.apt-get.org/

If you use all three of the "official" debian repositories; stable, testing, unstable, you will find you have access to tons of apps. If you cannot find one search apt-get.org then add the repository to your sources.list.

You can also use "alien" to convert a rpm package to a .deb package. If all of the above fails compiling from source is not that difficult. See the tutorial here at LQ.org

obviously u do not know the concept of apt.
why bother seraching websites? its a waste of time.
just add the repositories into your /etc/apt/sources.list and you are ready to go.

as root,
apt-get install blahblahblah

It is easier to use synaptic to search yours packages or apt-cache. If you don't find it then you can look for a repository to add or install the downloaded deb.

Thanks for responses.

For the past year I have been "struggling" with Red Hat/Mandrake. My .tar attempts usually "take-off like unguided missles" !! Where they end up I have no idea, but "nothing" gets installed.

I thought apt-get was a fresh approach. This is the first I heard of "repositories".

I have no idea what "...use apt on repositories for your distro..." really means !!
For example, where would I find repositories for Xandros ??

And "....just add repositories to /etc/apt/sources.list..." is way above my present Linux/Debian skill level.

Can anybody recommend an apt/Debian tutorial ????

APT HOWTO
http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/ap....html#contents

The basic idea behind apt-get and software repositories is that YOU don't go out and get software, the COMPUTER goes out and gets software.

You can run synaptic if you want a GUI interface for getting software packages. Alternatively, you can learn how to type in:

apt-cache search blahblahblah

and

apt-get install blahblahblah

The former searches for packages by keyword. The latter installs a package. You need to use a root terminal or use the command "su" to temporarily log in as root to run apt-get install.

There are numerous places where you might find a .deb package to download (for instance, KDE-Look has a lot of them, and many games are in downloadable .deb packages). To install those, use the command:

dpkg -i filename.deb

As with "apt-get install", you need to run it as root.