Charles wrote:
I've just downloaded and installed the "sarge" distribution on a
computer I use for a test bed. Since I'm used to hosing this box and
reinstalling to learn more, most of the hardware present is fairly
generic and well supported across both Linux and Windows.
So far, I have network connectivity and throughput on my DSL router
for broadband access. I have a basic load of applications installed.
Mozilla works fine, so the desktop, GUI, and network connectivity are OK.
The character-based installation threw me for a loop, and I have
rather a few more questions based on previous, now false, assumptions.
1) Is there a command line or series of command lines that will
update the fresh installation with all outstanding security updates?
I've become accustomed to using urpmi, and this is different. What I
would llike to do is issue these lines to insure I have an up-to-date
system.
2) Same as #1, but for bug fixes on installed packages.
3) What can I do with the 14 CD's and two update CD's in order to
integrate them into the system? The default GUI is going to be set to
KDE, and KDE has kpackage which I remember from previous distributions
and which also recognizes the Debian format. My eventual interest is
in being able to install and remove packages on the fly, and I
understand the 14 CD's comprise all the software available and
specifically modified for Debian.
4) Is there an online resource that will start walking me through the
differences between Debian and, say, Redhat, Mandrake, Suse, or other
distributions?
1.) There is, yes, but you must have repositories correctly set up in
your /etc/apt/sources.list file. The commands for updating your system are:
apt-get update
apt-get dist-upgrade
kpackage, or synaptic (which I prefer) provides a gui to these commands.
Check out http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/apt-howto/index.en.html (the
APT HOWTO site) for all the information you'll ever need on apt
(Advanced Package Tools, Debian's equivalent to rpm) Briefly, the
default for your sources.list, which will allow you to get security
updates (the third listing in particular), is:
deb http://http.us.debian.org/debian stable main contrib non-free
deb http://non-us.debian.org/debian-non-US stable/non-US main contrib
non-free
deb http://security.debian.org stable/updates main contrib non-free
2.) I'm not sure about bug fixes, but a good command to know if
something doesn't install correctly is:
apt-get -f install
Running this usually fixes things. Sometimes running it twice or more
is necessary. And sometime stuff just can't be fixed.
3.) I imagine it's possible to install all 14 CDs on your hard drive,
and set up a repository on your local host. I've never done it,
though. It's not really necessary to do this, since you can access all
of them via the internet. Often, cds are handled via apt-cdrom (see
http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/apt-howto/ch-basico.en.html#s-cdrom).
I prefer not messing around with CDs, and using the internet for the
repositories.
4.) I have found this mailing list is a good resource. The Debian site,
http://www.debian.org, and the Debian Help forum
http://www.debianhelp.org, are good too.
One difference I found: when installing from source (and not a
package), set your prefix to /usr. I believe many rpm distros have the
prefix as /usr/local, which sometimes doesn't work well on Debian.
To simply install a downloaded deb package, use the command "dpkg -i".
kpackage may have a mean to utilize this command too, I'm not sure (I
don't use kpackage).
If you want stuff like realplayer, acroread, mplayer (and/or kplayer),
and w32codecs, add this repository to your sources.list:
deb ftp://ftp.nerim.net/debian-marillat/ sarge main
Good luck!
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