Quote:
Originally Posted by Eireannach
@widget - thanks for the info about the unofficial live image. For a newbie this makes it as easy to install Debian as downloading any other distro
Great post for anybody starting into Debian
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Yes it does.
It is really not that hard to enable the non-free repo even if your box will only boot to a tty prompt because of the need for non-free firmware as my box (specs in sig) would do up until Wheezy. That is if you know what the /etc/apt/sources.list is for, the path to it, nano text editor exists and is always there in an install and the package name for what you need. Many noobs do not have this knowledge which is not really surprising.
Quite a few of the respins are really pretty good. The problem with all respins, based on any distro, is that they are set up to the people putting them out to fit what they think is what is needed on everyones box. As this can't possibly be true what you get is a lot of bloat.
Any package, not needed for the basic opporation of the OS, can be considered bloat. It is not bloat if I install it on my box. It is not bloat if you install it on your box. It is bloat if you have no use for it.
This is not only true of applications but of things like themes and icon sets, images used for boot loader menu backgrounds, log in screen backgrounds and wallpaper.
The applications are all available in the repos of the base OS. Just about any image you want for any purpose is available on line and many people like to use their own images.
Themes, icon sets, wallpaper are available on the Xfce, Gnome and KDE "Looks" sites.
Debian, like all the base distros provides a tremendous number of themes and icon sets with a default install.
I have added a couple that I like and removed most of the rest, I still have 11 icon sets and 3 of the icons used on my sparse panel (Xfce) are ones I made with Gimp.
I actually left all the themes in and added a couple. 128 themes.
Besides the addition of applications that many users will never use and the inclusion of non-free packages by default all most respins are offering is their choice of wallpaper, icon set and theme, usually ones already included in the default install except for the images for wallpaper.
Most of the folks that recommend one respin or another have found one that they particularly like for some personal reason. This is fine and good. They are welcome to do that and it may actually be a great suggestion for a reader.
If there are Live images available people really should download and burn them to disk or copy to a stick and give them a try.
If really compared to the base OS they will generally be found to simply be preconfigured with little more added. And they will be a bigger image usually if they are appealing to a noob.
Some are absolutely great show cases for the more obscure DEs and can introduce you to things you know nothing about. The Manjaro OpenBox version I think is really great.
Thing is that these DEs are, while very good, not as easy to learn to use as the more widely used ones. You really need to learn some very new things to use them to your advantage.
The more commonly used DEs are commonly used because they are similar enough to what you are familiar with to be easier to learn to use. This leaves you free, if you so desire, to then learn more about the OS under the hood.
Once that has been done you are much more likely to have a great time trying out other things.
Debian leaves Xfce pretty much alone. The default packages added to all Debian installs are ones that have been proven popular with Debian users through the Popularity Contest (pop con). That will, if you opt in (no need to opt out, that is the default) that keeps track of what you, as a user, have installed on your system. I think this is a great thing for a noob to get.
Many will decide that they don't need LibreOffice or Gimp or any number of other things.
You can install with the Debian netinstall image. If you don't tell it, at the end of the install process, to install anything you will end up with an OS that will boot to the tty prompt with just enough of a system to boot that way and to use the command line at the prompt, once logged in, to finish the install with only the packages you want.
This is not an approach to recommend to a first time user but should be more widely known as it is not hard to do once you have a list of what you want and know how to get them.
This is, for people that want to learn some basic things and utilize the flexibility of GNU/Linux, a lot more fun and much more satisfying than to get someone elses custom built respin. This is your version of the OS that you have customized to fit you the best you can figure it out at the time you install it. It, like the offered respins, will not turn out to be exactly right. You can do better the next time because now you know how to do it.
That is the "best Debian based Xfce or Lxde OS" that you can possibly have. Starting with the Debian default Xfce or Lxde install is just the start of a very pleasant and educational relationship with the Debian project.
I mentioned OpenBox earlier. Part of the reason is that if you install Lxde and then at the login page click on the "Session" button on the login box, OpenBox session will be offered. This is because Lxde is built on top of OpenBox.
WattOS R8
