[ale] Debian. Grr.

[Joe Knapka]

I'm trying once again to install Debian. My last attempt was in maybe
'98 or so, and ended in frustration before I even got the machine to
boot. This attempt is on the verge of ending in frustration, though
the machine *has* booted a minimal Debian system from the HD.

The main problem I'm having is that "tasksel" and "dselect" seem to be
user-unfriendly in the extreme.  So far I have not gotten "apt" to
install *anything* but the minimal system. I boot the machine, run
"base-config", and then I have to sit in front of the machine swapping
CDs (*seven* of them) while it "scans them for index files"
(presumably to figure out which packages are on which disks), taking
about a minute per disk to do so. This is just enough time for me to
get distracted by something else, so it probably amounts to more like
five minutes per disk.  It may not be the case that I must sit through
the "scanning" process every time I run "base-config", but I see no
indication that it's *not* a requirement, so I don't feel safe
skipping this.  Then I get into tasksel and/or dselect, and I
invariably press some wrong key that causes it to start installing
stuff before I've managed to select what I want to be
installed. Oopsie, abort, run base-config, drat, have to scan all
those bloody CDs again...  It's really a drag. Apparently I've been
spoiled by Red Hat and Slackware installers.

Do I *really* need to let it scan every CD every time?

Thanks,

-- Joe Knapka