Re: Questions (and hello) from a new (Progeny) Debian user.
"debian-user@lists.debian.org" <debian-user@lists.debian.org> wrote:
>Question 1 : -> Is there a simple blow by blow description on how to
>install a deb package which is currently in a directory on my
>hard-drive? .. or is anyone able to help me as I appear to be lacking a
>basic understanding here.
Don't use apt here, use the primary package management tool:
dpkg -i foo.deb
If you want to use apt-get on packages you've downloaded (perhaps
because their dependencies are complex), you need to set up a Packages
file for that directory. Installing dpkg-dev and typing something like
'cd /home/downloads; dpkg-scanpackages . /dev/null > Packages; gzip
Packages' should get you started.
>Question 2 : -> What do you think of Progeny? Is it really "not a
>separate distribution as Mandrake is to Red Hat"?
It's somewhat separate, but not at all in the same way Red Hat and
Mandrake are. Progeny keep their packages rather closely in sync with
the Debian archive, and even do things like synchronizing the release of
security advisories with the Debian security team (which impressed me
greatly when they contacted me about one of them). Some packages they
alter or reorganize (e.g. mozilla), but it's their stated intention to
feed all their changes back into Debian.
>The reason : -> Debian's social contract. It states (if I understand it
>correctly) that Debian will *always be 100% free ... as in free beer!
You misread the social contract, I think. Here's the excerpt (from
/usr/share/doc/debian/social-contract.txt):
1. Debian Will Remain 100% Free Software
We promise to keep the Debian GNU/Linux Distribution entirely free
software. As there are many definitions of free software, we include
the guidelines we use to determine if software is "free" below. We will
support our users who develop and run non-free software on Debian, but
we will never make the system depend on an item of non-free software.
The guidelines mentioned are the Debian Free Software Guidelines, which
describe "free" as in speech, not as in beer.
>This means that there can never be a Debian that is driven by a desire
>for commercial profit. As soon as this happens (the commercial pursuit
>of profit) the distribution has changed from Debian.
Nope. Everything in Debian main can be used commercially. There are some
Debian developers who are paid to work on Debian, and whose work
benefits their companies commercially. As long as the desire for profit
doesn't conflict with the social contract or the DFSG, there's no
problem.
Incidentally, Progeny's CEO founded Debian in the first place, and they
employ a number of prominent Debian developers, so I think it's pretty
safe to say they're our friends. :)
>Question 3 : -> Why not make Debian easier to install and to operate
>with basic functionality (ie setup Internet access etc) to encourage
>non-techie users to get their feet wet?
>The reason: -> It appears that this is what Progeny is trying to do ...
>but they are also pricing themselves beyond SuSE distro's
I thought Progeny was freely downloadable?
>and from a commercial point of view and on face value, I believe SuSE
>still has the edge with regard to simplicity of setup and availability
>of tools, at half the price.
Well, there are a number of Debian developers working on improving the
installation process (the discussions are all archived on the
debian-boot mailing list). It's a slow process because a relatively
small number of developers are working on it, and most of us
(unfortunately) don't get paid to be interested. Progress is being made,
though, and Progeny have made significant contributions.
>I like Debian, the more so that I have access to a local ftp site with
>sub 200 ms ping rates ... which means I will be able to reasonably
>perform online updates. This is for me, one of many compelling reasons
>to eventually go *pure Debian. The other compelling reason is a gut
>feeling that I'm on to something worthwhile :).
Believe me, you are. :)
Cheers,
--
Colin Watson [cjw44@flatline.org.uk]
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