Re: grub configuration question
On Sat, 10 May 2003 08:03:29 -0400
Haines Brown <brownh@hartford-hwp.com> wrote:
> I _do_ break out /home, /usr, /tmp and /var as separate partitions,
> and so even then 300 Mb may be marginal. Based on this, it seems
> debian has a rather different policy than RedHat that greatly affects
> partition sizes. When I reinstall, I'll create a 800 Mb / partition.
I've never installed a system that way, so I don't know how large to make a
/ partition. You might try searching the debian-user list archives, or
asking on the list.
> You indicate you prefer the Woody installer. Debootstrap is apparently
> its core engine. When you use the installer, does it lead you through
> all the initial configuration steps? I rather prefer doing all that by
> hand (now that I gaining a little experience with debian ;-). What I'm
> trying to decide is the extent to which it is an advantage burning a
> CD.
It's not that I "prefer" the Woody installer; it's the only one I know. IMO
it would be a good idea to burn CD #1 of Woody; it has not only the
installer but all the basic stuff you need. I suspect it would be easier to
install from CD.
> The next step is to get a kernel so that the system becomes
> bootable. I assume apt-get is one of the utilities acquired by the
> installer, and so I would start by using it to get aptitude, and then
> use aptitude to get the various apps needed to recompile the kernel.
You can just use apt-get to install the stuff you need to build a kernel;
the newbiedoc article tells you exactly which ones.
> I would then get a kernel to recompile, but I lack a clear
> understanding of "stable" and "testing". Is the kernel 2.4.20
> necessarily associated with sarge and 2.4.18 with woody? Also, people
> characterize debian as tending to lag behind for the sake of
> stability, and yet woody's 2.4.18 kernel is the same as the default
> kernel with RedHat 8.0, which is plenty new for me. So are
> characterizations of debian as being old fashioned the view of someone
> who prefers the bleeding edge?
Yes, the idea that Debian is old-fashioned are IMO mostly complaints from
people who prize "new" more than "well-tested". I believe releases will be
more frequent when the new installer is wrung out, because the idea is that
"testing" can be frozen and prepared for release (by squashing critical
bugs) at any time.
> Let me ask another elementary question. To what extent do you avoid
> .deb files and seek to compile from source? Or, to put better, at what
> point in your paragraph that I quote above do you start compiling
> packages as a matter of course?
One of Debian's biggest advantages is its package management. I am loath to
install software outside the Debian package system. As Sarge now has 10,783
packages just about anything I want is (or soon will be) in Debian.
Debian has sources available, and there is a way to download sources and
make them into Debian packages to install. That way you get the advantages
of compiling on your own system, and the advantages of the Debian package
system as well. I've only used that process once or twice so I'm not really
familiar with it, but it's not too hard.
The only stuff I routinely compile from source is the kernel, and the
newbiedoc kernel-package article leads you through the steps of installing
the necessary packages and making and installing the kernel package.
For general Debian knowledge I recommend a large /usr partition
(documentation lives in /usr/share/doc). Get aptitude and wander through the
"Not Installed Packages"--"doc" section. Get dwww and everything about apt
and dpkg, debian reference, the package maintainer's guide, debian policy,
and anything else that looks interesting. That will give you a good base of
knowledge about how Debian works and how to use the package tools.
Get familiar with modconf (for managing kernel modules) and look in /bin,
/usr/bin, /sbin, and /usr/sbin for files containing 'update'. Those are
scripts that you can look at to see what they do. In particular check out
the /etc/alternatives directory and read man update-alternatives.
And of course, read debian-user. :)
Kevin
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