Re: Newbie's experience Installing Debian
Unfortunately the install side of things i have found to be rather rough at the edges
myself.
Installed debian over a year ago. And dumped the other OS.
Ive been trying to create potato cd's from a copy on my HDD using "debian-cd" package.
Finally mamaged to get it to a state where it creates images. They boot ok but the
install seems to
have some problems ( may be due to my modifying "debian-cd" trying to get it to work.)
Anyway ive given up. Which is unfortunate as ive got 3 mates who now have redhat /
mandrake installed.
<sigh> and ive got a copy of potato on my HDD bugger. I dont see much point giving them
my slink CD's :(.
Anyway DEBIAN rocks :) keep up the great work guys.
cheers
aphro wrote:
> 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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