On Mon, Sep 04, 2000 at 06:26:13PM +0200, Helgi Örn wrote: > I installed Debian 2.1 (slink) several times but I was never able to > configure it to my satisfaction...[snip]... I've installed it, > Debian 2.2 'potato' and it's a total mess ...[snip]... I used > dselect ...[snip]... took me around two hours ...[snip]... Are > there bugs in dselect?
Doesn't sound like you've had a lot of luck there, have you? Here's
what I suggest for people new to Debian. Forget what you "know" about
Redhat, Caldara, and especially SUSE. I'm speaking in terms of the
distributions themselves, not in the software used. Also, forget what
you "know" about linuxconf and don't install it (AT ALL!!!).
Take a deep breath and hold it to the count of four, then exhale to
the count of six. ;-) There! Now you're relaxed and ready to try a
logically organized and tastefully distributed Linux Operating System,
Debian.
On to the meat of the suggestion. First, we need better details about
why you think Debian is a "mess" and how you weren't able to
"configure [insert name of specific package *HINT HINT*] to [your]
satisfaction". We need to know successes and failures along the
timeline of the install so we can help narrow down the possible points
of failure.
GENERAL SUGGESTIONS
1. Don't use dselect on your first install.
It it entirely too much fun to select all the packages you want in
one step.
2. Install ONLY the base packages at first. Quit out of dselect and
DO NOT choose a "template" computer setup.
These have always given me problems (well, not always, but when I
was a newbie and didn't understand how to recover from
installation failures, it did).
There's an added advantage of being able to install a smaller set
of packages at a time, allowing yourself more intimate knowledge
of the packages themselves and the success or failure of their
installation.
3. Concentrate on installing ONLY the tools that you NEED at first.
This helps to narrow down the field of possible failures to those
areas that would concern you most. Whether or not a game installs
on your new server should probably not be on the top of your list
of priorities.
(hmm...starting to see a trend here?)
4. LEARN YOUR TOOLS!
Yes, this means read the man's, FAQ's, and Guides concerning your
distribution of choice and its tools. If you can't figure out how
to recover from installation failures or configuration failures,
then you've either not learned enough about the system you're
working with or you've got a bad package. Just from experience,
it's usually the former rather than the latter, especially where
Debian is concerned.
5. Realize up front that package installations WILL fail from time to
time.
Expecting this up front will save you a bit of a headache.
6. Report to this email list your SPECIFIC concerns.
We really can't help out with requests like the one you put forth.
Sorry, but we're not mind-readers.
--
Chad "^chewie" Walstrom <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
http://wookimus.net/chewie
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