Re: apt-get build-deps <package> or -b switch
>
> I've written hundreds, probably thousands of lines of reports
> complaints etc. Received piles of helpful replies. And still no
> stable sytem in working order.
>
Woody may not quite be ready yet. Maybe you need time too. I hope you give it
another try some time. Good luck wherever the path leads.
As an aside and to make you feel a little better I would like to tell a story
about how I came to Debian.
As the 2.0 kernel was being finished I was a freshman in college. Had been
using a computer for about 6 months or so and was working at an ISP doing phone
support and had been assisting with admin chores for a few weeks. I decided a
great way to learn more about unix was to have one at home.
I went to a Barnes and Noble and bought a linux book. At the time these were
mighty tomes by Sams that explained all about Slackware. How to install, what
tcl/tk was, how to compile a program, setup X. Literally all of linux was
explained. I read the book and followed the install instructions on my 486
dx2/66 with 16mb of RAM (I upgraded for this from 8). Everything was going
well, even had X working after calling support for my monitor and getting my
modelines (I was cared to death of ruining my monitor). Then the snag happened
-- ppp just would not work. I used the install kernel, I compiled my own.
Every damn time I would get "no ppp support in kernel". It drove me mad. I
posted on news groups and on lists to no avail. Everyone said "compile your
kernel again". I got so mad I reinstalled win95 on top of it. That cd was
only a few months old.
6 months later I was in the CS department of my college and was doing daily
admin on the BSD machines at work. The admin I worked with was mocking me. So
since my Slackware cd was out of date (the book was on sale because the contents
were stale) I went hunting for a new set. www.cheapbytes.com was the answer. 4
bucks, 4 Debian cd's. Source and all. Bo was to be my first Debian install.
Install went a little smoother. My machine also had 32 mb of RAM (work was
upgrading and I got the old sticks). Then once again ppp mocked me. Harassed
me. Once again "no ppp support in kernel". My monitor almost went through the
window. Determined not to fail I went to the Debian website and found the
debian-user list. My first few responses were like linux kernel "just compile
it again, you missed something".
Then another poster said he had seen this before. The real culprit was the
permissions on my modem were wrong so it was trying to dialout with
/dev/console. Sure enough, there is no support in the kernel for using
consoles as ppp devices. I was bitten by a bad error condition and a weird
edge case. Over the weeks I received more help. Eventually I gave that help
back over and over. Then I wanted programs I used packaged and became a
developer.
The point of this is not "Debian is your saviour, repent". My point is
sometimes you come in at the wrong time. Out time, your time, it doesn't
matter. Just don't give up.
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