Bug#860447: installation-reports: successful (but operator confusion concerning desktop software installation options)
Package: installation-reports
Severity: normal
Tags: d-i
Boot method: USB stick
Image version: http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current/amd64/iso-cd/
debian-8.7.1-amd64-netinst.iso
Date: March 1st, 2017 at 6pm EST
Machine: Virtualized x86_64 environment on QEMU/KVM
Processor: Intel Ivy Bridge i5-3230M CPU @ 2.60GHz
Memory: 512MiB
Partitions:
Filesystem Type 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/vda1 ext4 19620732 4373912 14227072 24% /
udev devtmpfs 10240 0 10240 0% /dev
tmpfs tmpfs 101232 4904 96328 5% /run
tmpfs tmpfs 253076 160 252916 1% /dev/shm
tmpfs tmpfs 5120 4 5116 1% /run/lock
tmpfs tmpfs 253076 0 253076 0% /sys/fs/cgroup
tmpfs tmpfs 50616 12 50604 1% /run/user/117
tmpfs tmpfs 50616 12 50604 1% /run/user/1000
Output of lspci -knn (or lspci -nn):
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation 440FX - 82441FX PMC
[Natoma] [8086:1237] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc Qemu virtual machine [1af4:1100]
00:01.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation 82371SB PIIX3 ISA
[Natoma/Triton II] [8086:7000]
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc Qemu virtual machine [1af4:1100]
00:01.1 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82371SB PIIX3 IDE
[Natoma/Triton II] [8086:7010]
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc Qemu virtual machine [1af4:1100]
Kernel driver in use: ata_piix
00:01.3 Bridge [0680]: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI
[8086:7113] (rev 03)
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc Qemu virtual machine [1af4:1100]
Kernel driver in use: piix4_smbus
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Red Hat, Inc. QXL paravirtual
graphic card [1b36:0100] (rev 04)
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc QEMU Virtual Machine [1af4:1100]
00:03.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Red Hat, Inc Virtio network device
[1af4:1000]
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc Device [1af4:0001]
Kernel driver in use: virtio-pci
00:04.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW
(ICH6 Family) High Definition Audio Controller [8086:2668] (rev 01)
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc QEMU Virtual Machine [1af4:1100]
Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
00:05.0 Communication controller [0780]: Red Hat, Inc Virtio console
[1af4:1003]
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc Device [1af4:0003]
Kernel driver in use: virtio-pci
00:06.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family)
USB UHCI Controller #1 [8086:2934] (rev 03)
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc QEMU Virtual Machine [1af4:1100]
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:06.1 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family)
USB UHCI Controller #2 [8086:2935] (rev 03)
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc QEMU Virtual Machine [1af4:1100]
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:06.2 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family)
USB UHCI Controller #3 [8086:2936] (rev 03)
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc QEMU Virtual Machine [1af4:1100]
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:06.7 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family)
USB2 EHCI Controller #1 [8086:293a] (rev 03)
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc QEMU Virtual Machine [1af4:1100]
Kernel driver in use: ehci-pci
00:07.0 SCSI storage controller [0100]: Red Hat, Inc Virtio block device
[1af4:1001]
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc Device [1af4:0002]
Kernel driver in use: virtio-pci
00:08.0 Unclassified device [00ff]: Red Hat, Inc Virtio memory balloon
[1af4:1002]
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc Device [1af4:0005]
Kernel driver in use: virtio-pci
Base System Installation Checklist:
[O] = OK, [E] = Error (please elaborate below), [ ] = didn't try it
Initial boot: [O]
Detect network card: [O]
Configure network: [O]
Detect CD: [ ]
Load installer modules: [O]
Detect hard drives: [O]
Partition hard drives: [O]
Install base system: [O]
Clock/timezone setup: [O]
User/password setup: [O]
Install tasks: [O]
Install boot loader: [O]
Overall install: [O]
Comments/Problems:
An aspect of the installer options I found confusing was the
distinction between "Debian desktop environment" and "GNOME" on the
software installation screen. I don't follow why GNOME is listed as a
separate option if in fact it gets installed by default if only
"Debian desktop environment" is selected. This is counterintuitive.
I couldn't find any useful documentation about this selection menu in
chapter six of the installation guide. There is documentation on the
wiki about this, but it appears out of date (how it describes the
installation menu doesn't align with what I saw). I know I'm not the
only one who has been confused by the menu, per this forum thread:
http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=125037.
(Coming from a primarily BSD background, my expectation would be that
"Debian desktop environment" without a further selection below would
result in a minimal X.org installation with some sort of lightweight
window manager, not a full GNOME installation with LibreOffice and
every other bell and whistle.)
Reply to: