[ale] Debian. Grr.

[Greg]

I have been installing Debian on 2 boxes since yesterday in preparation for
a big RH --> Debian switch in my home servers and I would suggest installing
Libranet and then apt-get update and apt-get -upgrade to a stable system.  I
then went into my sources and used the "testing" directories to get to a
"testing" (Sarge) OS since I need more modern versions of Samba, apache,
mdadm (couldn't get it to work on Woody - even after upgrading to Sarge on
another machine).  It is running now, but I feel I am close to getting
*everthing* updated to Sarge.

I would suggest starting with Libranet for an initial install.

Greg

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ale-bounces at ale.org [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org]On Behalf Of Joe
> Knapka
> Sent: Sunday, February 22, 2004 1:40 PM
> To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts
> Subject: Re: [ale] Debian. Grr.
>
>
> James Sumners <james at sumners.ath.cx> writes:
>
> > 1) Forget 'dselect' even exists. If you want to use something
> like it then use
> > 'aptitude'.
> >
> > 2) Use http or ftp sources.
>
> (1) I'm doing a first-time install, and the installer wants to run
> tasksel and dselect. I don't seem to have much of a choice about
> this. I have to run one or the other, it seems. (What happens
> if I choose to do neither?)
>
> (2) But what if I'm on a 28K dialup link? (I'm not, but it's the
> principle of the thing...)
>
> Anyhoo. I finally got through the "selecting packages" bit, but
> it refuses to install anything because "Some errors occurred while
> unpacking" ("parse error in file /var/lib/dpkg/status near line
> 18090: missing package name"). This seems to happen no matter
> what configuration I choose in the tasksel menu.
>
> Bleagh.
>
> I know, I know, I'm one of those irritating people who bitches and
> bitches about stuff when the real problem is that I can't get
> with the program and learn to adapt to a new environment. There's
> some truth to that, I guess. Thanks for responding to me at
> all :-)
>
> -- Joe
>
> > On Sun, 22 Feb 2004 02:59:04 -0500 (EST)
> > Joe Knapka <jknapka at kneuro.net> wrote:
> >
> > > 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
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Ale mailing list
> > > Ale at ale.org
> > > http://www.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
> >
> >
> > --
> >
> > I used to be interested in Windows NT, but the more I see of it
> the more it
> > looks like traditional Windows with a stabler kernel. I don't
> find anything
> > technically interesting there. In my opinion MS is a lot better
> at making money
> > than it is at making good operating systems.  -- Linus Torvalds
> > _______________________________________________
> > Ale mailing list
> > Ale at ale.org
> > http://www.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>
> --
> Barney comes to play with us whenever we may need him;
> Someday we will hunt him down and chop him up and eat him!
>    -- Annze, age 7
> --
> If you really want to get my attention, send mail to
> jknapka .at. kneuro .dot. net.
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