Ramblings about Debian GNU/Linux

Grokking Debian GNU/Linux

Posted 08-06-2010 at 02:58 AM by craigevil
Updated 02-08-2021 at 09:08 PM by craigevil (added link)

Tags aptitude, debian, gdebi, packages, synaptic

Before asking here or on the <debian-user> mailing list, you should read the Installation Guide,
or if you already have Debian installed, the Debian Reference.
Also take the time to read:
Linux is NOT Windows : http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm
What we expect you have already Done. : http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=47078

Please read "How To Ask Questions The Smart Way" - http://catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html before posting any questions.The more you know the better you can explain your problem(s), which in turn makes it easier for everyone to help you.

The Debian Installation Guide for Squeeze 6.0 can be found at:
Debian GNU/Linux Installation Guide : http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/
Can also be installed, the package name uses the architecture, i.e. installation-guide-i386, installation-guide-amd64 , etc

Code:

aptitude install installation-guide-i386

Before installing you will also want to read the Release Notes:
Debian 6.0 -- Release Notes : http://www.debian.org/releases/squeeze/releasenotes

You'll get more out of Debian and *nix if you learn some of the fundamentals.
Read the "Unix and Internet Fundamentals" HOWTO at http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Unix-and-Inter...mentals-HOWTO/
Then, read the Debian Reference at http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/reference/ Or install it.

Code:

aptitude install debian-reference-en

Newbiedoc is Debian documentation FOR newbies BY newbies (and not-so-newbies). Can be found online at http://newbiedoc.berlios.de/ -- newbies check it out! Veterans too, so you can contribute!

Code:

aptitude install newbiedoc

The Debian Wiki covers many questions. It can be found at http://wiki.debian.org/

The Debian reference card is a cheat sheet of Debian commands - quite useful for someone new to Debian - can be found at
http://www.debian.org/doc/user-manuals#refcard and packaged for Debian as debian-refcard.

Code:

aptitude install debian-refcard

Frequently Asked Questions. The #debian FAQ is at http://wiki.debian.org/DebianIRC .
The Debian GNU/Linux FAQ is at http://www.debian.org/doc/FAQ/ . Can also be install.

Code:

aptitude install debian-faq

Basics of the Debian package management system
http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/de...basics.en.html

The Debian package management tools
http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/de...gtools.en.html

Debian package management
http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/re...ent_operations

Debian survival commands
http://qref.sourceforge.net/Debian/r...tml#s-survival

Aptitude is the recommended package management tool in Debian.
Documentation for aptitude can be found in the aptitude-doc package (to see the languages in which it is available, apt-cache showpkg aptitude-doc) or at http://people.debian.org/~dburrows/a.../en/index.html

Code:

aptitude install aptitude-doc-en

The Aptitude On-Line Help is in /usr/share/aptitude/help.txt

The APT, Dpkg Quick Reference sheet has a list of APT and dpkg commands. It can be installed, also online at http://www.cyberciti.biz/ref/apt-dpkg-ref.html

Code:

aptitude install apt-dpkg-ref

See Aptitude - Debian Wiki http://wiki.debian.org/Aptitude for a comparison between aptitude and apt-get commands. As well as http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/re...ent_operations

Synaptic - Graphical package manager - http://wiki.debian.org/Synaptic

Code:

aptitude install synaptic

gdebi is tool to install manually downloaded .deb packages. It is useful as it automatically resolves dependencies for you.
https://launchpad.net/gdebi

Code:

aptitude install gdebi

If you are running KDE

Code:

aptitude install gdebi-kde

for the command-line utility

Code:

aptitude install gdebi-core

More general Linux information:
The Linux Documentation Project: Guides http://www.tldp.org/guides.html

The Rute User's Tutorial and Exposition. A fantastic book that is available at http://rute.2038bug.com/, or install the rutebook package from <non-free>. It covers Linux in a very non-distribution specific method.
The start of the book is "Binary and Octal" and ends with "Security Auditing".

Code:

aptitude install rutebook

General Command Line info:
http://linuxcommand.org
http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/html_node/
http://tldp.org/LDP/GNU-Linux-Tools-...tml/index.html
Debian packages that will help you learn how to use bash:
bash-doc - Documentation and examples for the The GNU Bourne Again SHell
abs-guide - The Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide

Linux lessons:
(1) Don't change the permissions
(2) back up your data
(3) KISS - keep it simple, stupid
(4) read the fscking manual
(5) don't fsck with package management
(6) don't type anything you don't understand
(7) always have a boot floppy or CD
(8) read your log files
(9) the FIRST error is the one that counts
(10) don't leave your root shell until you TEST your changes
(11) don't be root when you don't have to be

last but not least this comes up often " How do I install packages on a system that isn't connected to the internet?".

There are a few ways to install packages on a computer that isn't connected to the internet.

Keryx Project « Updates for offline Linux users

Quote:

Keryx is a portable, cross-platform package manager for APT-based (Ubuntu, Debian) systems. It provides a graphical interface for gathering updates, packages, and dependencies for offline computers. Keryx is free and open source.

apt-zip
Description: Update a non-networked computer using apt and removable media
These scripts simplify the process of using dselect and apt on a
non-networked Debian box, using removable media like ZIP floppies and
USB keys.
One generates a `fetch' script (supporting backends such as wget and
lftp, in a modular, extensible way) to be run on a host with better
connectivity, check space constraints of your removable media, and
then install the package on your Debian box.
Homepage: http://alioth.debian.org/projects/apt-zip

APT HOWTO Basic Configuration

Quote:

Adding a CD-ROM to the sources.list file

If you'd rather use your CD-ROM for installing packages or updating your system automatically with APT, you can put it in your sources.list. To do so, you can use the apt-cdrom program like this:

# apt-cdrom add

with the Debian CD-ROM in the drive. It will mount the CD-ROM, and if it's a valid Debian CD it will look for package information on the disk. If your CD-ROM configuration is a little unusual, you can also use the following options:

-h - program help
-d directory - CD-ROM mount point
-r - Rename a recognized CD-ROM
-m - No mounting
-f - Fast mode, don't check package files
-a - Thorough scan mode

For example:
# apt-cdrom -d /home/kov/mycdrom add

You can also identify a CD-ROM, without adding it to your list:
# apt-cdrom ident

Always check the Debian BTS when you find a app not working the way it should.

Also make sure you have reportbug or reportbug-ng so you can report any bugs with packages. Bugs only get fixed if the Debian Devs know about them.

"Debian has a bug tracking system (BTS) in which we file details of bugs reported by users and developers. Each bug is given a number, and is kept on file until it is marked as having been dealt with."

Debian -- Debian BTS - reporting bugs

Quote:

How to report a bug in Debian using reportbug

We strongly recommend that you report bugs in Debian using the reportbug program. To install and start it, simply run:

aptitude install reportbug; reportbug

It will guide you through the bug reporting process step by step.

Check out http://www.debian.org/support for more in-depth support, including forums, mailing-lists, documentation, Usenet groups, IRC.

Other useful links:
# Apt-Pinning for Beginners - http://jaqque.sbih.org/kplug/apt-pinning.html
# Search Debian -- Packages - http://www.debian.org/distrib/packages
# Debian Sources List Generator - http://debgen.simplylinux.ch/
# smxi - unofficial Debian maintenance script http://smxi.org/site/install.htm

Grokking Debian GNU/Linux

Comments