Re:
Ray Woodcock wrote:
>
> Making a little progress here. Many thanks to John Pearson for the most
> recent increment.
>
> Next:
>
> 1. Not sure whether my installation completed. I was looking at someone's
> comments about editing a file in /usr/src/linux, so I tried to go there. But
> I don?t seem to have any such directory. Here?s what I get at the command
> prompt:
>
> debian:/usr/src# dir
> debian:/usr/src#
This directory is for the source files for the kernel. They are not
installed during the base install, unless you select one of the
"profiles" that contain them. If you do want them, you can use dselect
or apt-get to install them. Eventually you'll probably want them,
because you'll want to recompile your kernel (if for no other reason
than the learning experience it provides).
What I'd do is to use dselect to search for the kernel-source packages,
then make a mental note of the highest numbered package (say
'kernel-source-2.2.12' or something); then exit dselect and as root
enter the command 'apt-get install kernel-source-2.2.12' and the source
files will be installed.
Then look in /usr/src and you should see a directory named
'kernel-source-2.2.12' with the source files. For compatibility with
some of the documentation you might find in bookstores/on the web/etc,
you might want to make a symbolic link to this dir, like 'ln -s linux
kernel-source-2.2.12' (or is it 'ln -s kernel-source-2.2.12 linux'?).
> In other words, there seems to be nothing in there. Is this normal? Also,
> when I type ?man? at the prompt, I get ?command not found.? In general terms,
> is there a diagnostic that verifies I got the whole enchilada installed?
Again, man is not installed as part of the base install (because the
base needs to be kept as trim as possible to reduce the number of
floppies needed for a floppy-based install). Again, use dselect and/or
apt-get to install the (I believe) 'man-db' package.
>
> 2. I am making spiritual preparations for the long trek through dselect, in
> the hope that if I strictly control what files get installed, I can avoid
> Microsoft-style bloat. Am I correct in thinking that dselect is structured in
> such a way as to support this fond hope? Will I bloat if I instead use a
> profile? Is there a way to invoke the profiler outside of the installation
> sequence? (It didn?t arise during installation, for some reason.)
dselect will allow you to install only what you want installed. However,
if it sees that one package depends on another, it'll bring up a screen
saying in essence, "I need these other packages also", and you can just
hit <ENTER> to accept its recommendations, which as a general rule
you'll want to do. But you do have the capability to override anything;
unlike in the MS world, YOU have control.
The profiler is only available during the installation (which every
newbie complains about (as did I), but once you're over the newbie
stage, that no longer seems important enough to bother reprogramming it
so it's availabe at any time, so no one has done it AFAIK (As Far As I
Know).
>
> 3. Is there a good source of reviews on Linux software: (a) Am I correct in
> surmising that I must choose from among more than several Linux windowing/GUI
> schemes? (b) Point-by-point objective comparisons of versions of Emacs? (c)
> High-quality discussions of various utilities, office suites, etc.?
Can't say much here. You might want to repost this question as its own
thread.
> 4. Am I roughly correct in thinking that, after the installation is done, the
> next thing is to install the windowing/GUI software, and then after that it?s
> a free-for-all in which I will just install as many pieces of application
> software as I can stomach? Along those lines, can I rest my faith in Emacs as
> my do-all Swiss Army knife, or should I be expecting to install eight trillion
> utilities and gizmos?
Sortta kindda no yes. My guess is that you've just installed the base
OS. If you want you can next install the X Window System, but it's by no
means required. It is pretty much a free-for-all in that you can install
whatever you want. However, things like StarOffice and Netscape and
X-based games, etc, require X, and X is nice, so yea, you'll probably
want to install it.
I've never used Emacs, so can't answer that question specifically, but I
get the impression that some of the old-timers (excuse me, experienced
Linux users <grin>) pretty much live in Emacs exclusively.
> Thanks all ...
>
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