Article (almost finished) introducing Debian 2.1 aka Slink
Some weeks ago I sent an article to be showed in
http://www.openresources.com which introduces the new things Debian 2.1
brings, as well as what is expected to come before it.
After some responses (thanks Adam) and some time, I have rewritten
the article and I would like Debian developers (sorry for the crosspost to
debian-devel but I feel this is of interest to all developers) to comment
on it. I would apreciate any constructive criticism, but please don't flame
;)
Also, I have included in the article the latest "Release notes" I'm
aware of (but will try to retrieve the latest before publishing). If by any
means, the article is useful to either Debian press or any developer feel
free to use it (the magazine distributes its articles online under a free
license)
Best regards,
Javi
PD: Original source is SGML'd so viewing it online its better, but I'm
sending only a text version (easier to read through mail I hope)
Debian 2.1 'slink'
Javier Fernández-Sanguino Peña
28 enero 1999
Debian 2.1 (codename _s_l_i_n_k) will be release beginning 1999, becoming
one of the distributions with more programs in the world of
GNU/Linux.
______________________________________________________________________
Table of Contents:
1. Introduction to Slink
2. The size of Debian
3. Architectures supported
4. Things to point out in Debian 2.1
4.1. Package management
4.2. Window managers/desktops
4.3. New applications
4.4. The C and C++ compilers
4.5. The X reorganization
5. What is not included in Debian 2.1
5.1. Kernel 2.2
5.2. KDE
5.3. A substitute for dselect
6. How to get Debian
7. Installation
8. Appendix
8.1. Contents of slink installation disks
8.2. Contents of hamm installation disks
9. Release notes for Debian GNU/Linux 2.1 (included in Debian
Cds)
______________________________________________________________________
11.. IInnttrroodduuccttiioonn ttoo SSlliinnkk
Debian, the proyect whose beginning was sponsorized by the GNU
Proyect <http://www.gnu.org> of the Free Software Foundation
<http://www.fsf.org> and which currently has its own entity, is a
distribution (which has already been introduced in OperResources) that
currently stands amongst the three more important GNU/Linux
distributions (read the proyect history
<http://www.debian.org/~elphick/manuals.html/project-
history/index.html> if you are interested).
Although the previous stable release of Debian saw the light in June
last year, the developers that maintain the distribution set
themselves as a goal the release of the next version of Debian by the
end of the year. However, this has not happened due to some problems
with bug fixes of packages that make up the distribution, the need to
change the installation to user more than one CD (since the
distribution does not longer fit in a single CD, more on this
``later''), and to the fact that, in the same months, Debian
maintainers have voted their first Consitution
<http://www.debian.org/devel/constitution>, and elect a new Project
Leader <http://vote.debian.org>, that will continue forward after Ian
Jackson (a person of great importance in the growth of Debian
GNU/Linux) leaves that position.
The _f_r_e_e_z_e stage the distribution goes thorugh, before releasing a new
stable version, has continued from November 11th 1998, up until
February 1999. In January 1999 there were still some problems with the
installation disks which were being worked upon, as well as some bugs
with some of the packages. A freeze period of two or three months is
common in Debian.
22.. TThhee ssiizzee ooff DDeebbiiaann
Debian is a _h_u_g_e proyect, few (amongst them the developing of the
Linux kernel) can say that they count with equal or more volunteer
developers (around 400), and, of course, the number of programs the
distribution offers is enourmous.
That is one of the fundamental advantages that Debian 2.1 will offer
with respect to its previous release, 2.0: more than 2200 precompiled
binary packages, and almost 1500 source packages. Of course, the bugs
found in the packages that made part of the distribution have been
solved, also including changes in the upstreams sources of programs.
The priority of Debian is not, as it would seem, to make programs, but
rather to offer programs available in the GNU/Linux world making their
installation and configuring as easier as possible to the Debian user.
The programs that make up the Debian distribution are all _f_r_e_e in the
sense defined in Debian's Free Software Guidelines
<http://www.debian.org/social_contract.html#guidelines>.
The work of a Debian maintainer is to make these packages and support
them, fixing bugs that might be found, either notifying the upstream
maintainer or fixing them himself.
Thus slink includes a great number of programs in many areas: word
processing applications, graphic packages, system administration,
device handling, games...
To give an example of Debian's growth one might take the review made
by Lars Wirzenius. Taking all packages of the _m_a_i_n section in Debian,
counting the size and number of lines in files with 'c' or 'h'
extension (that belong to source code and headers of C programs), you
might get the following results:
lynes bytes packages
hamm 37.41M 865.713M 1116
slink 70.6M 1144.6M 1602
Other similar reviews can be found at:
<http://134.95.210.54/home/martin/compare/> or
<http://homey.physics.arizona.edu/reps/>.
It is not strange, then, that the main body of Debian 'hamm' (2.0)
could be included in one CD-ROM, and that Debian 'slink' (2.1) uses up
_t_w_o CD-ROMs.
Obiously, not all packages are of equal importance, nor they are used
by all users; there are some tools in Debian that will only be used by
a low number of users, but their availability is what matters. To
study the frequency of installation of Debian packages, a Debian
maintainer put together a popularity contest
<http://www.worldvisions.ca/~apenwarr/popcon/>, which users can
contribute to by installing a package that will send information on
their system installation forward to him.
33.. AArrcchhiitteeccttuurreess ssuuppppoorrtteedd
Debian is not a distribution only oriented towards i386 PC's (Intel's
architecture), in _h_a_m_m the m68k (architecture of Ataris and Amigas)
saw the light, and with _s_l_i_n_k the first version of the distribution
for the Sparc and Aplha architectures will be released. With them
Debian will fully support _f_o_u_r architectures.
There is also work in progress to the port to other architectures like
PowerPC, Sparc, UltraSparc and Netwinde, as well as to HURD, GNU's
kernel. More information on this effort can be read in the port pages
<http://www.debian.org/ports/> in the Debian's web server.
44.. TThhiinnggss ttoo ppooiinntt oouutt iinn DDeebbiiaann 22..11
Although there has not passed much time between Debian's latest
release, 2.0, and current 2.1 (barely seven months) there have been
important news in _s_l_i_n_k. And not only due to bug fixes or the new
packages added to the distribution.
44..11.. PPaacckkaaggee mmaannaaggeemmeenntt
Due to the fact that Debian 2.1 does not fit any longer in one CD, and
requies two (look at ``it's growth'') it has been necessary to modify
the package management system, adding a new methods to allow the user
to change CDs through the installation process as required, this has
been one of the most important problems that had to be fixed before
the distribution was released.
There is more information available
<http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~stevem/DebianCD/> on the work made
by Steve McIntyre and other Debian developers to make this possible.
The new dpkg-multicd and dpkg-mountable methods are distributed within
the base disks of Debian installation (you can take a look at ``the
contents of the base system'' if you wish).
The package selection interface will be, for the moment, the same as
in previous releases of Debian, but apt has been added, a program that
handles dependencies resolution and package retrieval in an easy and
fast way. It must be noted that package retrieval is done in a
optimum way, in view of target dependencies.
For the moment, _s_l_i_n_k provides the new apt-get program, that helps in
this tasks through the command line, and a new method for dselect.
Making use of its configuration (in /etc/apt/sources.list) the program
will retrieve packages (and packages lists) from different sources,
allowing both the use of WWW servers through the HTTP protocol, FTP
servers o local hard drives . The sintax is the same as that defined
for URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) that is, the name of a server
preceed by http://, ftp:// depending on wether its a WWW server or a
FTP server; or file: (in this case followed by a directory name) in
case of local hard disks. The dselect method of apt allows easy
configuration of this method through dselect's interface.
44..22.. WWiinnddooww mmaannaaggeerrss//ddeesskkttooppss
As window managers Debian 2.1 provides, amongs others, well-known
window managers like Afterstep, Window Maker, Enlightenment and GNOME
<http://www.gnome.org> with CORBA support, the last two are new in the
stable release of Debian.
44..33.. NNeeww aapppplliiccaattiioonnss
Debian 2.1 includes a big number of new graphic applications based
around the gtk library (the library used by GIMP), some are merely
front ends to common programs, but will be surely useful. Other
applications that can be pointed out in Debian 2.1 is the Mozilla
<http://www.mozilla.org> browser, the navigator component of Netscape
Communicator, that can be know part of Debian now that Netscape
Corporation allows the free distribution of its source code; also the
free ofimatic suite Siag can be installed and used, which includes a
word processor, a spreadsheet and other ofimatic applications.
Debian 2.1 also adds some new packages that facilitate the
installation of the Netscape Communicator suite (which includes
navigator, news reader, email interface and html editor), these
packages, however, are in the non-free section.
44..44.. TThhee CC aanndd CC++++ ccoommppiilleerrss
Developers that use both GNU's C compiler gcc, and C++ compiler, egcs,
might have had problems with conflicts in files placement between
them. For example, with RedHat 5.1 it is not possible to properly
compile if both are installed, making it necessary to unistall one or
another as needed and then install it once again.
Debian 2.1, however, does not give any problems if both are installed,
as conflicts between them have been resolved, and both can be used
together. However, it is necessary to use g++ to compile C++ code,
instead of gcc because the first one uses the egcs (egcc) machine and
the last one no longer knows how to treat C++ code.
44..55.. TThhee XX rreeoorrggaanniizzaattiioonn
There has been a lot of work made in reorganizing the packages that
make up the X interface, it began in version 3.3.2.3a-2. Previously
xbase was a package containing many other things, from programs to
data and documentation. Now this is no longer the case since many new
packages have been made and its contents has been redistributed
amongst others. The new packages created are: rstart, rstartd, twm,
xbase-clients, xdm, xfree86-common, xfs, xmh, xproxy, xserver-common,
xsm, and xterm.
Some of the files of the old xbase package have moved onto the xlib6g
package (XKB and locale data) and xlib6g-dev (development tools).
xbase is now just an empty pacckage that allows the package system to
take the new packages (and the latest version of the X libraries)
availables. Once the upgrade from _h_a_m_m to _s_l_i_n_k has been made it can
be removed without further problems.
Some changes and renamings have taken place, with the intention to
make the package names less cryptic:
· xfntbase -> xfonts-base
· xfnt75 -> xfonts-75dpi
· xfnt100 -> xfonts-100dpi
· xfntscl -> xfonts-scalable
· xfntbig -> xfonts-cjk
· xfntcyr -> xfonts-cyrillic
· xfntpex -> xfonts-pex
· xslib -> xlib6-static
· xslibg -> xlib6g-static
Due to the fact that the packages have changed names, it is possible
for old packages to not be upgraded automatically to the new versions,
this is because the package system has not yet an easy way to indicate
that a packages has been renamed. Although there is no problem in
leaving them as they are since their contents have not been modified,
although this might change in the future. The installation of the new
renamed versions is recommended in order to be able to use any future
changes. The full note of the Debian developer in charge can be read
here <http://www.debian.org/Lists-Archives/debian-
devel-9901/msg01722.html>.
This is not the only package reorganization that has been made,
although it is by far the biggest, to read more about it look at the
``release notes for Debian 2.1'' which are included in all official
55.. WWhhaatt iiss nnoott iinncclluuddeedd iinn DDeebbiiaann 22..11
Some things can be pointed out for _n_o_t being in Debian 2.1. One has to
take into account that the development of a distribution that includes
so many programas, and the time taken to assuer that all programs
interoperate correctly, makes it impossible for the stable release to
include all the lastest programs in the GNU/Linux world.
However, the work in a stable release does not stop the work in an
unstable release based on the previous and where many new packages can
be found. This unstable release can be used by all those that want to
be using the latest versions of programs, the future Debian 2.2 is
codenamed _p_o_t_a_t_o.
55..11.. KKeerrnneell 22..22
Debian 2.1 _d_o_e_s _n_o_t include Linux kernel 2.2 as it default kernel.
This does not have to be understood as a negative side, since this
kernel was released after the stable release was frozen, and modifying
the kernel over which the distribution is based is risky business
since it is not yet tested with all the applications that make up the
distribution, and its hasty inclusion would bring new bugs. However,
since the release of this kernel some Debian developers have been
working hard to try all possible incompatibilities and problems with
other software, but the release of Debian 2.1 will probably not be
hindered. Linux kernel 2.2 will be the default kernel in Debian 2.2.
In any way, even though Debian 2.1 does not make use of the kernel 2.2
for instalation and system bootup, this kernel is provided in source
code so interest users can compile and install it.
Robert Woodcock maintains a list of all that does not work with the
new kernel <http://www.debian.org/~rcw/2.2/>, it is not official
information, but it might be useful to those interested in using it in
Debian 2.1.
55..22.. KKDDEE
Debian does not include KDE <http://www.kde.org> either will since
during the development of Debian 2.1 it had not yet resolved the
problems encountered with the QT library's license, used by this
window manager.
55..33.. AA ssuubbssttiittuuttee ffoorr ddsseelleecctt
Dselect still is the package selection interface for Debian 2.1
However, work is being done in a new user interface, both in text and
graphic version, with apt, and will become, in the future, the
substitute for dselect; its prototipe works now, but is not tested to
assure it works 100%.
The future package selection interface will be similar to gnome-apt,
an interface written by Havoc Penningtom using the libraries used by
Gnome. More information on gnome-apt can be read here
<http://www.debian.org/~hp/gnome-apt.html>, to obtain it visit the the
gnome-apt server <http://www.debian.org/~mblevin/gnome-apt/>, it
requieres the latest apt version in order to work, which can also be
retrieved there. It is a program under development, although it is of
interest in order to see the line of work that is carried on by some
Debian developers.
66.. HHooww ttoo ggeett DDeebbiiaann
Debian can be obtained throught the net, through the main server of
the proyect <ftp://ftp.debian.org> or from any of its mirrors
<http://www.debian.org/distrib/ftplist>.
There are also commercial vendors
<http://www.debian.org/distrib/vendors> from which you can buy a
Debian CD set, although you can make your own Debian CD, look in the
official Cd image server <http://cdimage.debian.org> for information
on how to get Debian CD images.
77.. IInnssttaallllaattiioonn
This article will not go into details of how to install Debian, if the
reader is interested he can find in OpenResources
<http://www.openreources.com/> an article on how to install Debian.
You can also take a look at slink's installation manual
<ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian/dists/frozen/main/disks-
i386/current/install.html>, which can be browsed online in Debian's
documentation proyect server
<http://www.debian.org/~elphick/ddp/manuals.html#install>. Also,
Debian offers
more information of the different releases
<http://www.debian.org/devel/release_info> in its main server.
The installation document offered for Debian has been completely
rewritten for this new release, and contains information of great
interest for those that are going to install Debian _s_l_i_n_k. You can
also read more information on how to upgrade from _h_a_m_m to _s_l_i_n_k in the
``relese notes'' or in TDYC <http://www.tdyc.com/archive/debian-
tutorial/index.html>.
However, it can be pointed out that Debian 2.1 installation has
improved from the previous release by improving the profiles selection
system, which were new in _h_a_m_m, and that try to help a new user so
that he does not have to browse through the package selection
interface (remember that now Debian has over 2000 packages). Now
there are profiles and tasks, a user can select one or more tasks
(``Perl Programing'', ``Internet Navigation'') that are associated
with a fixed way on how to use the system (and thus, to certain
packages being available), or select a profile for the full system
(``Internet server''). Only one profile can be selected.
It is also worth noting the new methods available for dselect, which
ease up installation, they have been ``previously introduced to the
reader''.
88.. AAppppeennddiixx
88..11.. CCoonntteennttss ooff sslliinnkk iinnssttaallllaattiioonn ddiisskkss
Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge
| Status=Not/Installed/Config-files/Unpacked/Failed-config/Half-installed
|/ Err?=(none)/Hold/Reinst-required/X=both-problems (Status,Err: uppercase=bad)
||/ Name Version Description
+++-===============-==============-============================================
ii adduser 3.8 Add users and groups to the system.
ii ae 962-21.1 Anthony's Editor -- a tiny full-screen edito
ii apt 0.1.9 Front-End for dpkg
ii base-files 2.1 Debian Base System Miscellaneous Files
ii base-passwd 2.0.3.3 Debian Base System Password/Group Files
ii bash 2.01.1-4.1 The GNU Bourne Again SHell
ii bsdutils 4.4.1.1 Basic utilities from 4.4BSD-Lite.
ii debianutils 1.10 Miscellaneous utilities specific to Debian.
ii diff 2.7-18 File comparison utilities
ii dpkg 1.4.0.31 Package maintenance system for Debian Linux
ii dpkg-mountable 0.8 Enhanced access method for dselect
ii dpkg-multicd 0.11 Installation methods for multiple binary CDs
ii e2fsprogs 1.12-4 The EXT2 file system utilities and libraries
ii elvis-tiny 1.4-7 Tiny vi compatible editor for the base syste
ii fdflush 1.0.0-12 A disk-flushing program.
ii fileutils 3.16-5.3 GNU file management utilities.
ii findutils 4.1-33 utilities for finding files--find, xargs, an
ii gettext 0.10.35-6 GNU Internationalization utilities
ii grep 2.2-1 GNU grep, egrep and fgrep.
ii gzip 1.2.4-27 The GNU compression utility.
ii hostname 2.04 A utility to set/show the host name or domai
ii isapnptools 1.16-4.1 ISA Plug-And-Play configuration utilities.
ii kbd 0.96a-12 Linux console font and keytable utilities.
ii kbd-data 0.96a-12 Data files for kbd.
ii ldso 1.9.10-1 The Linux dynamic linker, library and utilit
ii libc6 2.0.7.19981211 GNU Libc: shared libraries
ii libgdbmg1 1.7.3-25 GNU dbm database routines (runtime version).
ii libncurses4 4.2-3 Shared libraries for terminal handling
ii libreadlineg2 2.1-12 GNU readline and history libraries, run-time
ii libstdc++2.9 2.91.60-2 The GNU stdc++ library (egcs version)
ii lilo 20-0.1 LInux LOader - Loads Linux from the hard dis
ii login 980403-0.3 Sign on to the system.
ii makedev 2.3.1-12 Creates special device files in /dev.
ii mawk 1.3.3-2 a pattern scanning and text processing langu
ii mbr 1.0.0-6 Master Boot Record for IBM-PC compatible com
ii modconf 0.2.24 Device Driver Configuration
ii modutils 2.1.121-13 Linux module utilities.
ii mount 2.8a-1.2 Tools for mounting and manipulating filesyst
ii ncurses-base 4.2-3 Descriptions of common terminal types
ii ncurses-bin 4.2-3 Terminal-related programs and man pages
ii netbase 3.11-1.2 Basic TCP/IP networking binaries
ii newt0.25 0.25-3 Not Erik's Windowing Toolkit - text mode win
ii passwd 980403-0.3 Change and administer password and group dat
ii pcmcia-cs 3.0.5-10 PCMCIA Card Services for Linux.
ii perl-base 5.004.04-6 The Pathologically Eclectic Rubbish Lister
ii ppp 2.3.5-2 Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) daemon.
ii pppconfig 1.1 pppconfig is a text based utility for config
ii procps 1.2.9-3 The /proc file system utilities.
ii sed 3.02-1 The GNU sed stream editor.
ii setserial 2.14-3 Controls configuration of serial ports.
ii shellutils 1.16-6.3 The GNU shell programming utilities.
ii slang1 1.2.2-2 The S-Lang programming library - runtime ver
ii sysklogd 1.3-30 Kernel and system logging daemons
ii syslinux 1.42-2 Bootloader for Linux/i386 using MS-DOS flopp
ii sysvinit 2.76-3 System-V like init.
ii tar 1.12-7 GNU tar
ii telnet 0.12-4 The telnet client.
ii textutils 1.22-2.4 The GNU text file processing utilities.
ii timezones 2.0.7.19981211 GNU Libc: Timezone data and utilities
ii update 1.3-2 daemon to periodically flush filesystem buff
ii util-linux 2.7.1-3.3 Miscellaneous system utilities.
ii whiptail 0.25-3 Displays user-friendly dialog boxes from she
88..22.. CCoonntteennttss ooff hhaammmm iinnssttaallllaattiioonn ddiisskkss
Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge
| Status=Not/Installed/Config-files/Unpacked/Failed-config/Half-installed
|/ Err?=(none)/Hold/Reinst-required/X=both-problems (Status,Err: uppercase=bad)
||/ Name Version Description
+++-===============-==============-============================================
ii adduser 3.8 Add users and groups to the system.
ii ae 962-21 Anthony's Editor -- a tiny full-screen edito
ii base-files 2.0 Debian Base System Miscellaneous Files
ii base-passwd 2.0.3.3 Debian Base System Password/Group Files
ii bash 2.01.1-3.1 The GNU Bourne Again SHell
ii bsdutils 4.2.0.1 Basic utilities from 4.4BSD-Lite.
ii data-dumper 2.07-1.1 Store and retrieve perl data structures
ii debianutils 1.9 Miscellaneous utilities specific to Debian.
ii diff 2.7-16 File comparison utilities
ii dpkg 1.4.0.23.2 Package maintenance system for Debian Linux
ii dpkg-ftp 1.4.9.6 Ftp method for dselect.
ii dpkg-mountable 0.7 Enhanced access method for dselect
ii e2fsprogs 1.10-17 The EXT2 file system utilities and libraries
ii elvis-tiny 1.4-5 Tiny vi compatible editor for the base syste
ii fdflush 1.0.0-12 A disk-flushing program.
ii fileutils 3.16-5.3 GNU file management utilities.
ii findutils 4.1-28 utilities for finding files--find, xargs, an
ii grep 2.1-8 GNU grep, egrep and fgrep.
ii gzip 1.2.4-27 The GNU compression utility.
ii hostname 2.04 A utility to set/show the host name or domai
ii isapnptools 1.13-3.1 ISA Plug-And-Play configuration utilities.
ii kbd 0.95-16 Linux console font and keytable utilities.
ii ldso 1.9.9-1 The Linux dynamic linker, library and utilit
ii libc6 2.0.7t-1 The GNU C library version 2 (run-time files)
ii libgdbmg1 1.7.3-25 GNU dbm database routines (runtime version).
ii libnet-perl 1.0502-1.1 Implementation of Internet protocols for Per
ii libreadlineg2 2.1-10.1 GNU readline and history libraries, run-time
ii libstdc++2.8 2.90.29-0.6 The GNU stdc++ library (egcs version)
ii lilo 20-0.1 LInux LOader - Loads Linux from the hard dis
ii login 980403-0.3 Sign on to the system.
ii makedev 1.6-32 Creates special device files in /dev.
ii mawk 1.3.3-2 a pattern scanning and text processing langu
ii mbr 1.0.0-6 Master Boot Record for IBM-PC compatible com
ii modconf 0.2.17 Device Driver Configuration
ii modutils 2.1.85-11 Linux module utilities.
ii mount 2.7l-5 Tools for mounting and manipulating filesyst
ii ncurses-base 1.9.9g-8.8 Video terminal manipulation - Minimum termin
ii ncurses-bin 1.9.9g-8.8 Video terminal manipulation - associated pro
ii ncurses3.4 1.9.9g-8.8 Video terminal manipulation - shared librari
ii netbase 3.11-1 Basic TCP/IP networking binaries
ii newt0.21 0.21-8 Not Erik's Windowing Toolkit - text mode win
ii passwd 980403-0.3 Change and administer password and group dat
ii pcmcia-cs 3.0.0-9 PCMCIA Card Services for Linux.
ii perl-base 5.004.04-6 The Pathologically Eclectic Rubbish Lister
ii ppp 2.3.5-2 Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) daemon.
ii pppconfig 1.1 pppconfig is a text based utility for config
ii procps 1.2.7-1 The /proc file system utilities.
ii sed 2.05-22 The GNU sed stream editor.
ii setserial 2.12-6 Controls configuration of serial ports.
ii shellutils 1.16-6 The GNU shell programming utilities.
ii slang0.99.38 0.99.38-6 The S-Lang programming library, shared libra
ii sysklogd 1.3-26 Kernel and system logging daemons
ii syslinux 1.40-2.1 Bootloader for Linux/i386 using MS-DOS flopp
ii sysvinit 2.75-3 System-V like init.
ii tar 1.12-6 GNU tar
ii textutils 1.22-2.4 The GNU text file processing utilities.
ii timezones 2.0.7t-1 Time zone data files and utilities.
ii update 1.3-2 daemon to periodically flush filesystem buff
ii util-linux 2.7.1-3 Miscellaneous system utilities.
ii whiptail 0.21-8 Displays user-friendly dialog boxes from she
99.. RReelleeaassee nnootteess ffoorr DDeebbiiaann GGNNUU//LLiinnuuxx 22..11 ((iinncclluuddeedd iinn DDeebbiiaann CCddss))
What's New in Slink?
Debian Gnu/Linux was originally based on the i386 architecture,
but efforts to port it to other architectures have been ongoing for
some time. The hamm (2.0) release included the m68k architecture as
well as i386. Slink includes Alpha and Sparc architectures, as well
as i386 and m68k.
Debian/Sparc is based on a prerelease of the shining new
glibc2.1. So it's probably _the_ first distribution which is glibc2.1
based. Remember: glibc2.1 is binary compatible but not source
compatible; almost everything compiled for glibc2 will run on glibc2.1
but if you recompile with glibc2.1 headers sometimes you've got to fix
a couple of constructs which aren't allowed anymore in glibc2.1.
The other changes from hamm to slink are incremental and
evolutionary, not revolutionary. The total number of packages in the
distribution has increased greatly, so that two CDs are necessary to
accomodate the binary packages. This has necessitated upgrading the
installation tools to deal with multiple CDs.
Upgrading
If your system has not yet been upgraded to Debian 2.0 (hamm),
you should first read /upgrade-i386/README-upgrade on this CD.
Regardless of the method used for upgrading, it is recommended
that you check the status of all packages first. This can be done by
dpkg -l|less or dpkg --get-selections> filename, or it can be done
in dselect. It is desirable to remove any holds before upgrading. If
any package that is essential for the upgrade is on hold, the upgrade
will fail. Holds can be removed in dselect, or by editing the file
produced by dpkg --get-selections > filename to change "hold" to
"install". Then, with root permissions, do:
dpkg --set-selections < filename.
Any package installation operation, including the autoup script,
must be run with superuser privileges, so either login as root or use
su or sudo to gain these privileges.
It is strongly recommended that you use /usr/bin/script to record
a transcript of the upgrade session - in fact, it is a good idea to
use script to record any dselect session (and anything else you do
that it is desirable to record). Then if any problems develop, you
can see what happened. script will write this transcript to the file
Specified as an argument - `script -myfilename', or to the default
filename `typescript'.
There are two methods of upgrading to slink - using apt-get
directly, or using dselect.
Using apt-get
If you have not already installed apt, do so by doing, as root:
dpkg -i <cd_mount_point>/debian/dists/slink/main/binary-i386/admin/apt*.deb
It is recommended that you read the apt-get and the sources.list
man pages at this time. Before beginning the upgrade you must set
up apt's configuration file, /etc/apt/sources.list. Add as the first
line after the instructional comments:
deb file:<cd_mount_point>/debian stable main
If you do not yet have internet access (or do not want to
download any new security fixes) on the machine then comment out the
other two lines. Otherwise you may select a closer mirror.
Then run: apt-get update
apt-get -f dist-upgrade
If new versions of packages currently installed are available,
apt-get upgrade retrieves and upgrades them; under no circumstances
are currently installed packages removed, or packages not already
installed retrieved and installed. New versions of currently installed
packages that cannot be upgraded without changing the install status
of another package will be left at their current version. Therefore,
it may be necessary to use dpkg or dselect to remove and reinstall
some broken packages or dependencies.
The -f (Fix) option causes apt to attempt to correct a system
with broken dependencies in place. APT does not allow broken package
dependencies to exist on a system. It is possible that a system's
dependency structure can be so corrupt as to require manual
intervention (which usually means using dselect or dpkg --remove to
eliminate some of the offending packages).
If apt reports some broken packages after these two commands, try
to repair the system (perhaps removing the broken packages or
installing missing dependencies). If you can not repair the system to
apt's satisfaction, you must use the cd_autoup.sh method to upgrade.
Using dselect
This section assumes that you have some knowledge of
dselect. After all, you did install the system you are trying to
upgrade, didn't you? There is a beginner's tutorial for dselect
in the directory debian/dists/stable/main/disks-i386/current/ in
case you need to refresh your memory.
The first step in using dselect is to choose an [A]ccess method.
The apt access method for dselect is the fastest one presently
available. It installs and configures the packages in the proper
sequence, so all dependencies are resolved when the packages are
unpacked, making a second pass unnecessary. If any packages on your
system are so broken that 'apt-get upgrade' can not be used, the
apt access method will also fail.
The "mounted" access method for dselect installs and configures
any "pre-Depends" first, which reduces the number of [I]nstall passes
necessary. The "mountable" access method also attempts to install and
configure "pre-Depends" first, and is relatively fast.
It is recommended that you first upgrade your existing
packages before adding any new ones. Run the [A]ccess, [U]pdate,
[Select} modules of dselect initially. As soon as you enter
[Select] you should press [ENT] immediately. A conflict/depend
resolution screen will probably be presented. After resolving
the conflicts (usually you can just press [ENT], run the
[I]nstall, and [C]onfigure to just upgrade all installed
packages. After that you may use the [S]elect and [I]nstall
modules to install additional packages, if desired.
When dpkg/dselect upgrades many packages, it is usually necessary
to repeat the install and configure steps several times before the
whole system is configured. Depending on the access method chosen, it
may be desirable to repeat the [U]pdate step between install passes.
It may be helpful to exit dselect and restart it immediately before
the [U]pdate step.
General Cautions
You should not run the upgrade from an X terminal or a remote X
server. xdm and xfs are stopped on upgrade, so you would end up with
a half-upgraded machine when X suddenly shuts down. If the machine is
configured to start X automatically on boot, it may be difficult to
fix.
You should not do the upgrade over a remote telnet connection,
unless you install net/telnetd from slink first. When the old netstd
package is removed. the telnet connection will be broken, and you
won't be able to reconnect until telnetd is installed.
The Great X Reorganization
The Great X Reorganization happened at version 3.3.2.3a-2, which was a
Debian 2.1 ("slink") release.
xbase used to be a catch-all package, containing all kinds of miscellaneous
data, programs, and documentation. That is no longer the case. Its
contents have been redistributed among other packages, and in many cases,
completely new packages have been created.
New packages were created for a variety of reasons:
1) In some cases, there were undeclared dependencies on other programs.
For instance, the rstart and rstartd programs depend on rsh.
2) There are several programs which are daemons and should be split out
for easier management. This includes xdm and xfs. I believe the
programs provided in xproxy (new package) would also work well this
way, but they are not yet handled like other daemons in Debian.
3) Some of the X clients provided in the former xbase package, like twm,
xmh, and xterm, have very popular replacements, and may just be a
waste of disk space for some people. (It's worth keeping in mind that
all of the X source code, even the libraries, was originally intended
to be only a "sample implementation" of various standards.)
4) It is desirable to have a common foundation for both systems designed
to be X terminals (which run all their X clients from a remote
machine) and for application servers which may not need to run X
servers on their own display hardware. That is the purpose of the new
xfree86-common package. It also simplifies the task of dealing with
any large changes in the X directory namespace that may arise in the
future (e.g., X11R7, or simply putting all of X in /usr).
The new packages in the Debian XFree86 distribution are rstart, rstartd, tw=
m,
xbase-clients, xdm, xfree86-common, xfs, xmh, xproxy, xserver-common, xsm,
and xterm. Some files from the old xbase package were also placed in
xlib6g (XKB and locale data) and xlib6g-dev (development tools).
xbase is now an effectively empty package that exists only to have the
package management system automatically "pull in" the new packages (and the
latest versions of the X libraries). Once it has been upgraded, it may be
safely removed.
Furthermore, the X font and static library packages have been renamed. The
following list summarizes these changes:
xfntbase -> xfonts-base
xfnt75 -> xfonts-75dpi
xfnt100 -> xfonts-100dpi
xfntscl -> xfonts-scalable
xfntbig -> xfonts-cjk
xfntcyr -> xfonts-cyrillic
xfntpex -> xfonts-pex
xslib -> xlib6-static
xslibg -> xlib6g-static
I believe the new names are less cryptic. Note, however, that the old
packages may not necessarily be automatically upgraded to the new versions.
This is because their names have changed, and as yet there is no easy way
to tell the packaging system that a package has changed its name. However,
there are no serious consequences of leaving the old X fonts and static
libraries around. The contents of these packages have not changed. The X
font server, for instance, formerly in xbase but now in its own package,
works just as well with xfntbase as with xfonts-base.
Still, it is advisable to install the renamed versions of these packages as
soon as is convenient, in the event that their contents do change in the
future.
Renamed Packages
NOTE: There is some overlap between this section and "The Great X
Reorganisation" above.
The following packages have been renamed as shown. In most, if
not all, cases, Conflicts:, Depends:, and Provides: have been provided
so the new package will be installed automagically to replace the old one.
libc6-doc -> glibc-doc
xfntbase -> xfonts-base
xfnt75 -> xfonts-75dpi
xfnt100 -> xfonts-100dpi
xfntbig -> xfonts-cjk
xfntcyr -> xfonts-cyrllic
xfntpex -> xfonts-pex
xfntscl -> xfonts-scalable
xslib -> xlib6-static
xslibg -> xlib6g-static
Split Packages
NOTE: There is some overlap between this section and "The Great X
Reorganisation" above.
Between 2.0 (hamm) and 2.1 (slink) a number of packages have been
split into two or more packages. The reason for these splits, in
general, is that the original package provided a diverse set of
functionalities, and that few, if any, users used all of these
components. Some packages display a notice warning of the split during the
installation, some mention it in the package description, and some
ignore it.
At the time of writing, provisions are being studied to ensure
that the necessary packages are installed to prevent problems due to
these splits. It is not known at this time if these measures will be
included in the CD.
If you find that a familiar package is lacking some or all of its
functionality, check the list below to see if you need to install more
packages to restore the original functionality.
Following is a list of packages that have been split (this list
may not be complete):
graphics/ivtools-bin_0.6.2-4.deb split into 2 packages:
devel/ivtools-dev
graphics/ivtools-bin
mail/imap_4.2-1.deb split into 2 packages:
mail/imap
mail/ipopd
misc/plan_1.6.1-7.deb split into 2 packages:
misc/netplan
misc/plan
net/netstd_3.07-2.deb split into 10 packages:
mail/vrfy
net/bwnfsd
net/netstd
net/nfs-server
net/rexec
net/talk
net/talkd
net/telnet
net/telnetd
non-free/net/pcnfsd
news/slrn_0.9.4.3-4.deb split into 2 packages:
news/slrn
news/slrnpull
text/a2ps_4.10.2-4.deb split into 2 packages:
net/mime-support
text/a2ps
utils/nosql_0.9-0.deb split into 2 packages:
utils/nosql
utils/nosql-fastops
web/apache_1.3.0-2.deb split into 2 packages:
web/apache
web/apache-common
web/php3_3.0-2.deb split into 2 packages:
web/php3
web/php3-cgi
x11/wmaker_0.14.1-7.deb split into 2 packages:
x11/asclock
x11/wmaker
x11/xbase_3.3.2.2-4.deb split into 16 packages:
mail/xmh
x11/rstart
x11/rstartd
x11/twm
x11/xbase
x11/xbase-clients
x11/xdm
x11/xext
x11/xf86setup
x11/xfs
x11/xlib6g-dev
x11/xmodmap
x11/xproxy
x11/xserver-common
x11/xsm
x11/xterm
x11/xserver-vga16_3.3.2.2-4.deb split into 2 packages:
x11/xf86setup
x11/xserver-vga16
imap_4.4-4.deb deb split into 2 packages:
imap
ipopd
Bob Hilliard <hilliard@debian.org>
$Id: Release-Notes,v 0.6 1999/02/11 21:16:10 bob Exp bob $
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