When I install fedora or mandrake it works out of the box, codecs, xmms, dvds, fonts are nice, and overall everything works.

With debian, sure its nice with the apt-get but it seems like id be doing that forever to get most of everything i need. Things like gxine not working even though i did apt-get gxine, can't get out of kde and into init 3, can't get a mozilla icon for some reason, missing a lot of programs, grub won't boot my 98, java, flash will not work yet.

Can anyone recommend like a list in order of what to apt-get for the typical desktop system.

It's hard to explain. Fedora and Mandrake work out of the box, debian doesn't. I just want a guide/list to make debian work like mandrake and fedora.

Thanks

debian woody is awesome for the mission-critical server, but it sucks on the desktop...

a debian-based distro might be a better idea for a desktop debian system... some examples:

http://www.libranet.com/

http://www.mepis.org/

http://www.knoppix.com/


if the main thing you like about debian is apt, note that you can install an apt clone on lots of distros... for example:

fedora, apt4rpm: http://yarrow.freshrpms.net/rpm.html?id=1047

slackware, slapt-get: http://software.jaos.org/



you might also be interested in something like bonzai linux... it's a low-fat debian woody with a few nice tweaks to the installer (hardware auto-detection among other things), and a full-blown kde out-of-the-box... it all fits on a 180mb cd... the cool thing about bonzai is you end-up with a more "pure" debian... it's not so much a debian-based distro, it's more like a modifed debian woody...

http://developer.berlios.de/projects/bonzai/


some bonzai reviews:

http://cahtech.beigetower.org/reviews/bonzai32.php

http://technotux.com/html/modules.ph...rtid=55&page=1

i am runnning debian right out from the box.......the main difference is that debian is really not a beginners linux.....i have been using linux for years....started with RH5 and fininished with fedora.....all were good...but debian runs flawlessly....and never had a problem with recompiles.......only problem i had was installing nvidia video card.....i had to manually tell debian the location on the bus for the card...no big problem....

i have abandon RH / Fedora.....too much like M$oft marketing stategy....

you will only learn linux by using it...and not by letting it install itself....

Thanks for the replies. I will try it for a little while longer, few weeks to a month I guess. Then if I don't end up with a good desktop debian system, I will just switch over to suse or mandrake, or a debian based distro.

Thanks again.

let us know how it goes, anything you need please don't hesitate to post here!!!

=)


also, consider Slackware, LQ's Member's Choice Awards Distribution of the Year...

=)

You might like Mepis.I do.

2004.05 beta 3 Mepis is great! I've dumped my 2003.10 Mepis system for the latest beta because it works better than the nonbeta and I now have the 2.6.4 kernel with kde 3.2.2 working perfectly together and all my hardware detected. Before I could never get my printer to work and it was recognized right out of the box with the new beta. Also, sound and ethernet worked out of the box with the 2.6.4 kernel where before whenever I wanted to install and use that kernel, I could never get the sound at least to work. Try the latest beta of Mepis if you want an out of the box debian unstable based distro that works great, at least it is for me.

Ok, I am trying debian and I just have a few questions.

When I do apt-get remove mozilla, how come mozilla still works?
I did apt-get clean mozilla (hope that didn't brake anything..) Do I have to delete the folder?

Also, when I do apt-get install gimp, I don't see the icon in the kde menu. Is there a way to put it there?

How do you install .deb files?

Thanks

In terminal try ; man dpkg
I have the beta 3 also and I'm in hog heaven!!!

so using apt-get it would be:

apt-get install pkg <name>.deb

I tried that but it did not work.

I also tried

apt-get install <name>.deb

with no luck

Debian isn't really easy to setup if your used to distros like mandrake. I just switched to debian a while ago (used to use mandrake). There's a lot to learn but it's worth it. Debian is far superior imo.

I usually start with just a base install and then use apt-get for everything. I download these: vim, x-window-system, gcc, g++, linux-kernel-headers, module-init-tools, kernel-kbuild, locales, xfonts-base, xfonts-base-transcoded, xfonts-75dpi, xfonts-75dpi-transcoded, xfonts-100dpi, xfonts-100dpi-transcoded, libmikmod2 (for xmms, otherwise it won't work), cdrdao, make, irssi-text, alsa, alsa-base, alsaconf, alsa-utils, xmms, vorbis-tools, gnome, grip, k3b, mplayer-i586, xine-ui, ssh and the newest kernel-image. Then you might want to use bastille for automatic security hardening. If something doesn't work you can reconfigure the package by typing dpkg-reconfigure packetname

And check /etc/rc[enter a number here].d <-- the service links are there. You can edit those. The default initlevel is set in /etc/inittab. I for example prefer to have my system boot to the command line mode, and then manually start x. Much easier to install nvidia drivers etc then.

This isn't really a good guide or anything but I hope this helps Also you might want to check out distros like MEPIS

edit: about apt-get: you don't have to type the .deb. First add good sources to /etc/apt/sources.list and then run apt-get update. After that you can install software by typing apt-get install xmms , for example. (and remove with apt-get remove xmms)

Try apt-get update and then
apt-get install synaptic then type
synaptic
let me know what happins,david

to apt-get install any package, all you need is the package name without the.deb at the end.

For example:

apt-get update (do this first!)

apt-get install mozilla

apt-get install mozilla-firefox

apt-get install (any other name of a package that you want)

If you want to install whatever upgrades are available do:

apt-get upgrade

or

apt-get dist-upgrade

To remove packages:

apt-get remove mozilla (or any package name you want to remove)

I believe you can also use

apt-get remove --purge mozilla

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong...I have just used the apt-get remove command and had the package removed.

Thanks, I was refering to installing a .deb file that I downloaded. I use apt-get for everything else though.

Also, thank you for the small guide vrin. Is there a site that tells you what most of the programs you mentioned do? I would think the xfonts give you new fonts. G++ is a compiler. K3b burns cds.

Although I am not sure what some of the other stuff like alsa, ssh, vorbis-tools, inux-kernel-headers, module-init-tools, kernel-kbuild, locales.

There also seems to be a lot of stuff that has the word font in it. Is it to make the fonts look better?


Other than that, all is well.
Only thing is the nvidia drivers. Not sure why those don't want to install when 53.36 linux driver says it supports 2.6 kernels. Anyone else have these installed?

And the dual boot with 98 on the other hd, which just says whats posted in the grub config file i think it is. Which is chainloader +1 and whatever else is in the file.

vorbis-tools helps you when you want to work with ogg audio files. alsa is a sound system module that you can use with your sound card. linux kernel headers will give you the headers files for your kernel, mod-init-tools is what you need to install if you are upgrading your kernel to 2.6 series.