Unidentified subject!

[Buddha Buck <bmbuck@zaphod.dhis.org>]

> Would someone please explain in words of less than two syllables 
> just what steps are required to use "dselect" ?? . I have followed 
> the instructions in the manual at least 20 times so far but it seems 
> there must be something more than "+ " and "-" involved in
> selecting packages to install / uninstall that is probably trivial to
> an expert but totally incomprehensible to a beginner :(

Well...  I pronounce "dselect" with 3 syllables, so it's going to be 
real hard ;-).  I'll try to keep it simple...

Actually, that's about it for selecting packages to install and 
uninstall.  I've been using dselect for 4 years, and I don't know many 
more tricks.

One mistake I made -once- was deciding I didn't want a package, 
unselecting all packages, selecting that one package (selecting the one 
I wanted to uninstall), and then choosing "remove" from the main menu.  
One system re-install later, I had the idea.  Keep selected the 
packages you want on the system, deselect the packages you want removed.

Since the "apt" method automatically removes deselected packages when 
you use "install", perhaps that option shoulc be thought of as "make it 
so".

What I usually do (as an expert, I've been using dselect for nearly 4 
years) is:

I select "update" from the main menu, to make sure I have the most 
recent package listings.

I go to "select", and take a look at what is new, selecting any that 
sound interesting using the "+" key.  I also sometimes decide against 
keeping certain packages, so I deselect them with "-".

Sometimes, this causes a dependency problem, and the dependency 
resolution screen comes up.  Here, I use +, -, _, or = to resolve the 
dependency problem ("=" means "hold", or "don't do anything with this 
package", and prevents upgrading, removal, or installation).  
Sometimes, I decide against my original action (say, installing a 
package would pull in another version of emacs as a side-effect, and I 
don't want that to happen (two installed emacsen is enough)), so I'll 
use "R" to say "revert back to previous state".  Sometimes, I'll decide 
I can live (for now) with the dependency problem, so I'll use "Q" to 
say "Quit the dependency screen, accepting any problems".

When I am done selecting, deselecting, etc, I hit enter to return to 
the main menu.  If there are any dependency problems, I'll (re)enter 
the dependency resolution screen, and deal with it as above.

My cursor has conveniently moved to "install" automatically, so I just 
have to hit return again.  I answer all questions, and the install 
happens.  Easy-like.

Some tips for the select screen:

The "/" key will allow you to do a substring search on the package 
names.  For instance, "/gnome" will search for any package with "gnome" 
in the name.  The "\" will continue the previous search.  This will 
wrap, so repeatedly hitting "\" will rotate through all packages 
matching the search.

The "o" and "O" keys cycle through sort options.  I don't know which 
does which, so I usually hit "o" and "O" until I find the sort option I 
like.  The default (new, updated, obsolete/local, installed, 
uninstalled) is convenient, so I usually don't bother with these.

That's about all I do.  There is a help screen ("?"), which lists these 
commands and more, so that might be more help.

Are you having any particular difficulty?

LAter,
  Buddha


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-- 
     Buddha Buck                      bmbuck@zaphid.dhis.edu
"Just as the strength of the Internet is chaos, so the strength of our
liberty depends upon the chaos and cacaphony of the unfettered speech
the First Amendment protects."  -- A.L.A. v. U.S. Dept. of Justice