Although I'm not new to many Linux distributions, I am a Debian .

I have an old computer that I would like to install Debian Unstable (Sid) on just to experiment with some of the latest and greatest software releases. Sid seems to have such a huge software base, and I feel Debian's packaging tools and installers work very well once you learn them.

I've got Woody running on another machine that I did a ground-up net-install on. It turned out very well except for a couple of configuration problems that I need to learn about. (I've got those questions in another thread)

I was wondering what is the recommended procedure for installing Sid on this other machine? I would prefer a net-install since I'm fortunate enough to have a fast Internet connection, but can pre-download it as files or a CDROM if needed. Can I just use same minimal installer I used for Woody and just modify the "sources" list? or should I just install the Woody base system then do an "apt-get --dist-upgrade" (or what ever the correct syntax is)? I tried the net-install floppy image that was part of the new Sarge installer, but it seemed to get confused and wouldn't mount the target file system and I haven't figured out how to make it work. Are there any documents other than Debian Installation Manual that explains how to do all this?

Starting from woody and going to sid can be done and would be the best thing for you to do now imho (as you allready have the woody cd and you'd prefer a net install)
Modify your sources.list for use with sid (can't give the correct one atm, not at home ) and then do a dist upgrade.
I will post you my sources.list asa I get home.
[edit] put this in /etc/apt/sources.list : deb http://ftp.debian.org dists/sid/main/binary-i386/ then do an apt-get update and an apt-get dist-upgrade

I want to download sid on my windows machine so I can burn an iso image ready for my new machine. I have downloaded the jidgo tool, but i'm unable to work out how to use it.
All the instructions seem to refer to the tool running under linux. The furthest I can get is to run sh.exe, which opens a bash like shell.
I run jigdo-lite which then prompts for a file/url, but whatever I enter there seems to be incorrect.
Has anyone done this in windows before???

I never got Jigdo to work in Windows.

Just install a minimal net-install Woody, then insert those lines in your /etc/apt/apt.conf :

APT::Default-Release "testing";
APT::Cache-Limit 67108864;

The seconds is here because having downloaded lists for stable/testing/unstable is too big for the default cache size.

Then insert those lines in your /etc/apt/sources.list :

deb http://security.debian.org/ stable/updates main
deb http://security.debian.org/ testing/updates main
deb ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian/ stable main
deb ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing main
deb ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian/ unstable main

Then, as root, run :

apt-get update && apt-get dist-upgrade

I recommend trying testing first, as it is far less dangerous than unstable, and it benefits from security updates... When you want the bleeding edge version of a package, try :

apt-get install my-killing-app/unstable

You'll find my apt.conf and sources.list here, if you want some more big ones :
http://arcanes.homelinux.net/~pierre...n/sources.list

Are you able to estimate the size of this (in Mb)? This is sort of important considering I'll be on dial up

It's impossible without knowing what do you have installed ! But try it, it will give you that information and ask you confirmation...

Oh, well that will be cool then.
Thanks.

Hello
How can I install debian sid from a cdrom. I have downloaded sid iso from ftp://ftp.uni-bremen.de/pub/mirrors/...unofficial/sid and burned them.
Cd boots ok I see few options but there is no install menu where I would create partitions, mount them and install the system. Are there any other ways of doing it? I know I might be wrong but this is my first attempt to install sid.

Thank you for help!

I think, it is not possible to boot from sid iso image. It is clearly written in "http://www.debian.org/CD/jigdo-cd/" that you can't intall form this iso images. you have to install first woody. Then, you can upgrade.

Those sid isos are bootable please try it yourself. However the thing is that I only get 5 options under Debian installer
1 Chose language
2 Detect a keyboard and select layout.
3 Detect cdrom devices ………...
4 Load installer modules
5 verify the cd contest
and that’s it cannot do anything else.
Please try it yourself and tell me if you had any luck.

It's been a while (over a year) since I used any of the UNOFFICIAL sid iso's. From personal experience I can say that even when meeting md5 checks that they're sometimes buggy & unusable. My preferred method for a clean install is a net install:
http://www.debian.org/CD/netinst/
I've used Eduard Bloch's netinst images with great success. His "bootbf2.4.iso" is less than 40 megs & boots nicely from a cdrw. Just use vi or nano to edit /etc/apt/sources.list to point apt toward "unstable" sources.
You said this is your 1st time installing sid; so I'm assuming you've been through a standard Debian install? If not it might be easier to try Knoppix or Morphix as a starting point instead.
Regarding the options, they're slightly different than what I remember. You should be able to install following the sequence listed (although some may be skipped). You should also be able to arrow down to view other options such partitioning & initializing, etc.

Thank you for your advice Dylan. And Yes I've been through a standard Debian install. Now,I am going to forget about sid iso and I will install Debian 3.01 from the cdrom and I will do exactly as moinefou said to get the latest software on my sys……….


Or maybe you have a better idea or different way of doing it.
Regards,
Tom

AFAIK the Debian security team only OFFICIALLY supports stable, although I read that may change to include testing. Unstable receives its security & all of the other package updates together. Testing IIRC are just packages from unstable that've been through a certain time period (10 days?) without any major changes/bugs. So if you run testing you may not receive any security patches for a number of (11?) days, unless the security team finds time to do it.
IMHO the "dangers" of running unstable as a desktop are somewhat exaggerated, less if you subscribe to the mailing lists. YMMV.
Finding a fast mirror can make a huge difference when upgrading. Install netselect or even better apt-spy to help you determine what mirrors work best for you. To increase the amount of packages to choose from add " non-free contrib" after "main". Also add a mirror that provides non-US packages.
I use unstable & upgrade frequently, but I always test before I run dist-upgrade. Finally check http://www.apt-get.org/ to find any unofficial .debs you may want (e.g., mplayer).

Hey, thanks guys.

I had almost given up on this thread do to poor activity.

I just now need to learn how to keep the Debian packaging system from trying to uninstall large parts of my OS when I just try to upgrade a package or two from "unstable". I've got another thread started on this subject and have already gotten some good tips, but I'll gladly take more.

Although Debian seems harder to learn than the Slackware that I'm used to, it seems to be a lot more versitile.

I've been using a lot of Knoppix lately.