new binary installation + package trouble => rebuild the kernel

[meierrj@frc.com]

Debians,

	I would like to suggest to those having trouble installing or using
packages in a new binary installation that they consider spending ~6 hours
to rebuild and reinstall the kernel.

	I have recently upgraded my system from Slackware 3.0 (linux 1.2.13) to
Debian 1.1 (linux 2.0.6) via the Dec 96 InfoMagic 6 cd set.  Of ~200 packages
selected, ~10 would not install, 2 refused removal, ~20 were tested, and
~5 worked.  Gratefully watching the help provided to other reporting similar
problems, I was able to get ~5 more packages working.

	Last year, after installing Slackware, I wasted ~3mo struggling with
printer and other problems.  I resisted recompiling the kernel because I
remembered this as a 3d-2wk operation from Vax 11/780 days.  After I finally
spent 2 hours configuring and 30min :) compiling and installing the new
kernel, my undiagnosable printer (and most other) problems disappeared.

	This year, I only wasted two weeks before recompiling the Debian
kernel.  After 5 hours reading the excellent help provided by xconfig, it
took only 30 min to compile and 30 min to install the new kernel.

	Since replacing the binaries supplied by InfoMagic with the source
supplied by InfoMagic and compiled locally, 25 of 26 tested packages have
worked with little or no additional effort.

					Hoping to contribute soon,	
-- 
						Robert Meier

	"To bend a beam of starlight,
        Relativity mechanics say,
        Watch the sky turn every night,
        Three billion miles away."
                                - Robert Meier

FANUC Robotics North America, Inc.	Internet: meierrj@frc.com
Voice: 1-810-377-7469			Fax:      1-810-377-7363