Re: faq on choosing a debian distribution - draft 1

[Jim Hall <volunteer@revealed.net>]

Kamaraju Kusumanchi wrote:
> Hi all
>    I read this list regularly. I find that people who want to try
> Debian for the first time are often confused about the fact the there
> are three debian distributions and do not know which one to choose. As
> usual, everyone wants to do the right thing the first time. I made
> this small FAQ to help them and would like to seek your expert
> opinions. This is just a rough draft and will post the updated version
> next week after receiving suggestions from all of you.
>
> My questions are
> 1) Is it worth to make such a document/HOWTO? Do you think it will be
> useful/useless?
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Considering the number of distros available, giving someone resons to 
consider Debian can't help but be useful.
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> 2) Obviously the set of questions is not a complete list. I would like
> to receive suggestions about new questions. If you can attach both
> question and corresponding answers that would be great.
> 3) Any other advice?
>
>
> ***************************************
>      choosing a debian distribution
> ***************************************
>
>
> 1. How many Debian distributions are there?
>
> Read http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-faq/ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-dists
> . As it says, Debian comes in 3 distributions - stable, testing, unstable.
>
> 2. Which Debian distribution is better for me?
>
> The answer is a bit complicated. It really depends on what you intend to do. The
> best solution would be to ask a friend who runs debian. The following are
> intended to supplement the information.
>
> If you are worried about security and stability issues, install stable. period.
> This is the most preferred way.
>
> If you are a little bit daring, adventurous and do not mind having a system that
> breaks once in a while then use unstable. Unstable is for experts who know what
> they do.
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In the first sentence change "unstable" to "testing".
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> If you are unsure, stick with the stable distribution.
> If you are new to Debian, install stable.
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From my limited experience, this may not be so cut and dried. Sarge is 
an easy install. Proceeding from a base install is where things can get 
complicated for someone who's never installed any Linux distro. Here is 
where you can list the documentation needed to finish the install. 
Things like the APT Howto, and anything else that explains Debian's 
unique terminology and procedures.
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> 3. You asked me to install stable, but in stable so and so hardware is not
> detected/working. What should I do?
>
> Try to google around and see if someone else is able to get it working in
> stable. Most of the hardware would work fine with stable. But if you have one of
> those state-of-the-art cutting edge hardware, it might not work with stable. If
> this is the case, you might want to install/upgrade to unstable.
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Again, change the last word to "testing"
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> 4. Will there be different different versions of packages in different
> distributions?
>
> Yes. Unstable has the most recent (latest) versions. But the packages in
> unstable are not well tested and might have bugs.
>
> On the other hand, stable contains old versions of the package. But this
> package is well tested and (99.999999%) will not have any bugs.
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Add another paragraph saying something to the effect that testing is 
somewhere inbetween.
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> For example, when I started writing this document the different versions of apt
> package are as follows
>
> stable   --- 0.5.4.0.1
> testing  --- 0.5.27
> unstable --- 0.6.25
>
> 5. If I were to decide to change to another deistribution, Can I do that?
>
> It is a one way process. You can go from stable --> testing --> unstable.
> But the reverse direction is not "possible". So better be sure if you are
> plannning to install/upgrade to unstable.
>
> 6. Did anyone really ask these questions?
>
> Oh yeah. Too many to list here. Read the debian-user mailing list archive and
> you know what I am talking about.
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Link to the list?
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> 7. I am still confused. What did you say I should install?
>
> The safest bet would be stable distribution