Did the basic diskette installation that I got from ftp.kernel.org's
mirror site.
And here is a short list of the stuff that's broken straight out of
the box:
1) eepro module does not work w/ Intel Ether Express Pro/10+ (It worked
fine when I compiled it under
Red Hat)
2) There is no help available at install time for what options are
valid and/or required for each ethernet
card. I had to guess the options. Red Hat doesn't suffer
from this problem, why should Debian?
3) Using a mirror and installing via ftp, I allowed the default selections
to be installed. THE DEFAULTS FAIL!!
Here is a complete list of DEFAULT packages which won't install right
out the box and other mistakes:
-inn - requires pgp, but since that's not available, not even as a stub,
on US servers, it refuses to install
AND, the package description makes no mention of
the pgp issue or which servers to get it from or
the readme that you carefully put into the bottom
drawer of a locked filing cabinet on a planet orbiting
alpha-centuri :) (Gratuitous Hitchhiker's Guide
reference)
-debianutils_1.4.deb - predependency prob. requires libc5>=5.4.17-1
but only 5.4.13-1 installed
-base-passwd_2.0-3.deb - predep. probl. requires libreadline2>=2.1
but only 2.0.1-2 installed
-libc6_2.0.3-2 - predep. probl. requires ldso>=1.8.10-1 but only 1.8.5-1
installed
-hostname_2.01.deb - predep. probl. requires libc5>-5.4.17-1 but only
5.4.13-1 installed
-netstd_2.13-1 - predep. probl. requires netbase>=2.08 but only 2.06-1
installed
-perl_5.003.07-10 - overwrites files /usr/lib/perl5/i386-linux/5.00307/auto/Socket/Socket.so
Socket.bs and
Config.pm, Find.pm, Basename.pm, Path.pm...etc.
which are also in package perl-base. It says that it succeds
because --force enabled. However, I wonder
what damage is being done.
-perl-base - predep. probl. requires libdl1 to be configured but it
can't possibly be since this is the DEFAULT and
first package installation.
-psnfss & texpsfnt conflict but --force overcomes this conflict.
What damage is being done here??
-The tex setup produces so much output it's useless.
-teTeX is NOT the default package, yet, its installation information
indicates that it is the successor to all other
Tex's and is recommended. Why is the teTeX
stuff not installed by default??
-xserver-vga16 allows you to install w/o requiring all the essential
fonts. It fails during configuration when it goes
looking for its 75dpi fonts. I overcame this
by going back and installing every X font package in sight. Still,
it's
BROKEN! I already sent mail to package maintainer.
4) dselect uses the power of perl to create an installation package
worthy of DOS shell script. Basically, the
logic chart of dselect is:
DEPENDENCIES SATISFIED -- YES -- > install
|
| -- NO -- > THROW A FIT
The proper way to do things is to keep pitching stuff that can't immediately
be installed to the end of the list so that
prerequisites have a chance to be installed and configured. Should
be easy enough to do. At least you picked the
right tool :)
5) Any upgrades of dselect or dpkg should be done FIRST so that other
packages which depend on the installation
program knowing what is going on won't fail.
6) dselect uses perl to install. However any problems during a
perl installation (as happened to me previously ) and dselect now fails.
This is BAD, VERY BAD. dselect and dpkg are supposed to be the means
to correct installation
problems and they should not be affected by installation problems,
especially perl which is non-trivial. I would suggest a
protected copy of perl be included with upgrades of dselect.
7) Debian should really request that their description on www.linux.org be changed to:
"Debian is maintained by 120 voluteers who can't be bothered to test their stuff."
And you may think this is cruel, but Microsoft is still winning and I have a bad feeling about Red Hat. -- TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to debian-user-request@lists.debian.org . Trouble? e-mail to templin@bucknell.edu .