Re: Newbie's experience Installing Debian
On Mon, 14 Feb 2000, Darrington, John wrote:
john.d >OK, so after 5 years of playing with slackware and Red Hat, I decide that my
john.d >next OS will be Debian --- I've seen the web page, and like the philosophy
john.d >and want to get started. The usenet reports that Debian is so difficult to
john.d >install can't all be true can they? Unfortunately I've found they are.
if it makes ya feel any better my first debian install took 3 long days, 1
day was wasted because of a broken CD(curropted files i will never order
from cheapbytes.com again) the second day was wasted because of a broken
FTP mirror(at the time, metalab.unc.edu i think since the debian mirror
there was removed it was missing at least half of the distribution) the
last day was successful because of a good CD :)
john.d >I take another look at the Debian Web Site. I see that the words `Official'
john.d >are reserved for the set that the Debian team produce so I decide that I
john.d >ought to be getting these. I phone around my home town, but no-one has a
john.d >set of Debian CDs with the word `official' on the cover. Indeed the guy on
john.d >the phone seems to think I'm a bit wierd for insisting on this. After about
john.d >an hour of acute embarrassement I give up and have another look at the
john.d >Debian web site.
yeah... i think even cheapbytes may be an official distributor, but their
CDs were so broken, and they never replied to my emails or
phonecalls. bastards.. linuxmall.com has good stuff, sofar anyways.
john.d >There's a list of recommened books which come with CDs. That's what I
john.d >really need thinks I. So I phone around the technical bookshops and low and
john.d >behold one of them has a product that I think will get me going:
john.d >Debian GNU/Linux: Guide to Installation and Usage
john.d >Author: John Goerzen and Ossama Othman
john.d >Publisher: New Riders Publishing
john.d >CD Included: one CD
haven't tried that one, but the one from O'reilley (sp) www.ora.com is
good, step-by-step instrucitons, even an online version available. very
good quality cd.
john.d >I don't know where that is? I see there is an option `list' which
john.d >automatically detects it so I try that. Apparently it's not there. Back to
john.d >my other machine, and do a "find" . Sure enough it's not there. What do I
john.d >do now? I press <F1> like the start up screen told me. nothing happens. I
john.d >turn to the book. No hints. I spend the next 2 hours rebooting and trying
john.d >every possible path though the menu. including mounting the CD manually and
john.d >pointing the install process to the archives. It still wants this
john.d >non-existent file.
john.d >It's time to conclude that perhaps my hardware has some funny configuration
john.d >which this CD doesn't support. So, I borrow a machine and try again. Exactly
john.d >the same symptoms.
bad cd. since debian is non commercial theres no gaurantee made that there
are all good CDs out there, which is too bad at times, it happened to me,
it happened to you..im sure it happens to a lot of people.
john.d >So after 2 days and $65 I have not managed to get even a login prompt. For
john.d >that price I could have got RedHat 6.1.
john.d >It's quite a demoralising experience. Are these problems common in Debian
john.d >installation or is it just me ??
john.d >
i wouldn't go so far as to say its a problem with debian, their ISO images
are freely available to download and there are scripts to build an ISO
based on specific packages. clearly some vendors download curropted files
and/or burn bad cds, or burn incomplete CDs. It can cause a major
headache. I have downloaded many debian ISOs since i had access to a fast
net connection and every single one burned perfectly. vendors don't take
enough care(some do, seems linuxmall does) in ensuring that their CDs are
of good quality.
i have bought 2 copies of the book from www.ora.com and highly reccomend
it. i have done many many installations with those CDs and it goes great
everytime. it is backed by both ORA and VA Linux, and the profits go to
the debian project(it runs about $40) or you can get a good cd from
linuxmall(it was good last time i ordered) for about $2. i dont know if
they ship overseas.
nate
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