Ubuntu in 1 CD, but Debian in 3 DVDs ?

anjanesh · 11-09-2007, 04:53 AM

Hi

Hows that Ubuntu comes in 1 CD, but Debian comes in 3 DVDs ?
Hows Debian 20 times more in size than its flavour ?

Thanks

KrahnacK · 11-09-2007, 05:58 AM

i'm not sure about that, but i think there are many, many tools in the 3 dvd that come with debian (for example, you can choose between gnome, kde, maybe xfce and others)
instead of that, ubuntu comes only with gnome, if you want kde, there is kubuntu, xubuntu comes with xfce, etc...

that's just an example, may be a whole snapshot of the debian repositories comes with these 3 dvd, i'm not sure about that...
know that, if you don't want to download 3 dvd, there is also a debian minimal install cd.

pixellany · 11-09-2007, 06:20 AM

It's all about the package manager and repositories. If everyone had a hi-speed internet connection, there would be no need to have anything but small CDs.

Different distros make different assumptions about the connection you have and what you might want to install. Debian has CDs also....

If you have a reasonable connection start with one CD or one DVD and a minimal install. Then get everything else over the net

rjlee · 11-09-2007, 06:49 AM

I am looking at a copy of Ubuntu from a few years ago that comes on about 10CDs. It's all a question of what you include on the CDs and what you don't.

Currently, Ubuntu uses a Live CD installer, that runs on a single CD and copies the files to the hard disk if you choose to install it. But it still uses an Internet connection to download more software from a repository.

Because Ubuntu is based on Debian, it actually has far more software than would fit on 3 DVDs; they could distribute more but this would make it harder to get hold of (longer to download, more hastle to burn to disk, more likelyhood of getting a scratch in the wrong place, etc.). And then there's the question of what to leave out...

anjanesh · 11-09-2007, 07:18 AM

Thanks rjlee for confirming that.
Im looking for the full install as I want to do an offline install. Want to install this on my friend's PC but no internet connectivity.

Is there no multi-DVD version that contains all the stuff like Debian/Fedora ?

LostOverThere · 11-09-2007, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pixellany

It's all about the package manager and repositories. If everyone had a hi-speed internet connection, there would be no need to have anything but small CDs.

That doesn't make sense, because you've got to download the DVDs/CD in the first place, and then you choose between the stuff you want and dont want, meaning you've downloaded useless stuff (say you pick GNOME over KDE - what was the point of that 250mb extra to download?)

Having said that, I understand your point.

vmelkon · 11-09-2007, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LostOverThere

That doesn't make sense, because you've got to download the DVDs/CD in the first place, and then you choose between the stuff you want and dont want, meaning you've downloaded useless stuff (say you pick GNOME over KDE - what was the point of that 250mb extra to download?)

Having said that, I understand your point.

Or you can borrow someones DVD or just make a copy of the DVD yourself.

rjlee · 11-10-2007, 09:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vmelkon

Or you can borrow someones DVD or just make a copy of the DVD yourself.

…or (in the case of Ubuntu and varients) you could buy the CDs (3.50GBP for the DVD version) from
http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/purchase

…or you can even get the CDs shipped to you for free worldwide if you're prepared to wait for ten weeks (https://shipit.ubuntu.com/)