Hello. I know that ubuntu is debian based, my question is, can ubuntu use the apt repository on the debian cd/dvd's? would I just have to run base-config? I was just wondering

Ubuntu probably could but updating your box or obtaining packages over the net. Will ensure that you possess the latest and usually most secure packages. If you are installing older packages there might be flaws in the code.

If I had broadband, a net install would be just fine. But, I am on Dial up. I already have the debian 3.1 sarge dvd's, for most of my programs, If I did install ubuntu it would be the newest version, but there are some programs on the the debian dvd's that i like.

Ubuntu is Debian. So you should be able to use apt regarding the installation of those programs. Plus, linux program are ususally small unless you are downloading open office. So your dialup connection should not hinder too much.

Well, if you use the Debian Sarge repositories, you'll see older versions than those that might/should be available for Ubuntu (at least if you're using Breezy). Have you used Synaptic (or apt-get) to check if there are any of those programs also available for Ubuntu directly? Checking wouldn't use too much bandwidth anyway, and you wouldn't have to mix versions (regarding libs, this can be ugly, especially if you run into suggested downgrades...). If need be, you could get the needed .DEBs elsewhere, burn them to CD/DVD and carry them home - is that possible (besides, brianthegreat's right - most things are small enough to be downloadable even when using dialup).

I'm a little more convinced the answer is "not without a big headache". I tried this recently and it borked the system pretty good. I managed to get it running again, but ended up just installing debian sarge. The problem seemed to be more that you're essentially apt-pinning most packages because Ubuntu is based off of sid (from 6 months before the Ubuntu release) and Sarge is of course Debian stable.

I do agree though that you can do updates over the web even with dialup. I actually installed my first debian system this way and used a cronjob to dialin and download all the packages while I was sleeping. The base install I did off the first CD, but then downloaded x and kde over dialup. It took about a week of 8 hours a night doing apt-get install -dy blah blah blah. The -dy means to download only and assume yes... Once it's all downloaded, then you can install it all. After the initial couple of weeks of setup, I ran a cronjob for security updates weekly and it worked excellent.

You could do the same thing with Ubuntu, I assume, if you'd rather use newer packages than Sarge.