[SlugLUG] Help Me Choose

[Sean Kellogg]

On Friday 29 September 2006 13:24, Rohan Sheth wrote:
> Ah thanks for the message, the verbosity helped quite a bit.  So Debian
> Unstable sounds like quite the plan,  now I need to go abouts actually
> getting it.  Should I install testing and dist-upgrade to unstable or
> install stable and upgrade to unstable?  I image there is not much
> difference in the two...I'm just asking.

If you can find an iso image of testing, go with that.  (net install is 
usually best, as the ISO is small and you're going to get all new packages 
anyway.) After you install the base, you'll reboot and take out the CD to 
complete the install process.  At this point, go in with your favorite editor 
to modify the /etc/apt/sources.list.  I encourage the following items:

---------------------------------
### Santa Cruz Debian Mirror Repository ###
deb http://sluglug.ucsc.edu/debian/	unstable	main contrib non-free
deb http://sluglug.ucsc.edu/debian/	testing		main contrib non-free
deb http://sluglug.ucsc.edu/debian/	stable		main contrib non-free

### Mplayer Repository ###
deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org	sid		main
---------------------------------

Once you've saved, make sure to run 'apt-get update' so apt knows about the 
new repositories.

Debian will always get the newest stuff, so it will get from unstable 
automatically.  However, I have noticed with an initial install that 
somethings which are in stable are not in testing/unstable.  I don't know 
why.  So, if you don't have the stable entry, some things can't be found and 
the whole upgrade goes wonky.  Once you've done the install, get the big 
packages you want (X.org, KDE, apache, etc) and then once you're happy, 
remove the stable line.  Most everything you'll ever need can be found 
between testing and unstable.

Good luck,
Sean

p.s. remove 'non-free' if you're a true GNU/Linux purist.  I need it for 
nvidia drivers and my wifi drivers.  Remove the Mplayer repository line if 
you fear indiscriminate patent litigation.

-- 
Sean Kellogg
c: 831.818.6940    e: skellogg at gmail.com
w: http://blog.probonogeek.org/

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