On Mon, 2 Nov 2015 23:58:24 -0700 Glenn English <g...@slsware.net> wrote:
> > On Mon, Nov 02, 2015 at 08:45:27AM +0000, Joe wrote: > >> Not in the base system, no, but I'd expect it to be included in any > >> system which might be used by newcomers to Linux. > > One reason is that the Aptitude semi-GUI hauls in a lot of libraries > and dependencies and stuff. That fills up the 5MB ST-506 disk Debian > was designed for :-) That's why I said 'not in the base system'. It is the merest drop in the ocean in a desktop system of a few GB, which is what a newcomer would be comfortable with. > > But 'apt-get install aptitude<CR>' as root at a terminal/console will > get it for you. If you don't have apt-get, something went wrong in > the install. Try it again. As I said, I've been doing that for some years now, when working up from a minimal stable netinstall. Sudo isn't there to start with, either. I was a beginner once, and I've been a beginner at many things over the years. I've always been glad of all the help I could get on that first ascent of the foothills of the learning curve. > > I spent quite a while in RPM-hell before I learned enough to install > Debian, and I've still got lots to learn. Hang in there. It's worth > the trouble. > > But stay away from Sid, aka GuaranteedBugs. Stable is (probably) what > you need. Stable doesn't have the bells and whistles and bleeding > edge software that Sid does, but it works good. A newcomer doesn't > need 'surprises'. > I do indeed use stable for my server, and wouldn't consider anything else. But on my desktop and mobiles, it's unstable, and has been for more than a decade. Somebody has to help clean up the next stable, and I can live with the occasional 'beyond repair' hiccup, as I have other computers and all my data is on my server. With backups, before anyone puts finger to keyboard. -- Joe
