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Re: Debian maintenance question: apt-get vs. dselect vs. dpkg-- help!



On Fri, 15 Mar 2002, wells wrote:

> So I have been running Debian for a month now after jumping ship from Red 
> Hat and I'm trying to devise a solid method of maintaining my system.
> 
> What's the best way of installing things? Apt-get? Dselect? Compiling from 
> source?
> 
> Moreover, what's the difference? I see apt-get, dselect, dpkg-- what do 
> these do and how are they different?
> 
> Opinions, thoughts, insights, methodologies appreciated.
> 
hi

i just did the same thing.... potato cds, then after commenting out the cd
lines in /etc/apt/sources.list and adding all the debian and ximian sites,
about 30 hours of a combination of apt-get update && apt-get upgrade and
dselect by itself, i have a wonderful "up to date" potato system with all
the ximian desktop wonders.  my isp connection, however has proven so slow
that i despair of upgrading my other six systems!!!  my biggest asset has
been a friend at the isp who has done this for himself.

there is a simple intro to the package programs in dale sheetz's book:
http://people.debian.org/~psg/ddg/

and i have found: 
http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/quick-reference/
to be very valuable.

my next project is to get the kernel up to date and then to convert to 
ext3.  fortunately, i have an almost unlimited amount of time to devote.

i think i have identified an opportunity for someone here:

take a look at the krud distro for red hat.  they produce a set of full 
installation cds every month with the latest patches, etc in place, plus a 
wide variety of extra packages.  this could be a great boon for those with 
severely restricted dial in bandwidth.  i am sure that i can keep up to 
date on potato via the bandwidth available, but will have to use cds for 
the transition to woodie, or be run out of town by my isp. (i live in 
extremely rural new mexico.. there is no other means save satellite).

the thing that lead me to jump ship from r/h was after spending a day 
getting a new usb scanner working, i applied a krud update that upgraded 
the kernel and that was the end of scanning.  i realized i needed more 
control over what went into my machines.

so to answer your original question:  i can keep this machine up to date 
by doing apg-get update&& apt-get upgrade every few days and using dselect 
to find and install other new packages.

good luck

dave


-- 
Dave Mallery, K5EN  (2.2r5 potato - current+ximian)
PO Box 520
Ramah,  NM  87321

no gates                     .~.
  no windows...              /V\
                            /( )\
running Debian GNU/Linux    ^^-^^  (Linux is a trademark of Linus Torvalds)
  free at last!




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