on Fri, Jun 20, 2003 at 11:50:22AM +1000, Joyce, Matthew (MJoyce@ccia.org.au) wrote:
>
> I have been using Debian for about 18 months now.
> I like it and prefer it to other dristos I have tried.
>
> Today I had to install Redhat 9 on a system.
> It detected everything. A totally good experience installing this os.
>
> I'm not saying I will be moving from Debian to redhat, but I do wish Debian
> would address the install procedure.
>
> Clearly it is possible to have comprehensive hardware detection, so
> presumably somewhere someoene is choosing not to address this issue.
>
> What is the reason debian does not install like other OSs ?
The pat reason is that Debian installations are so rarely performed --
it's not like we have to reinstall our systems for minor upgrades. Some
people I know have one installation they've cloned across several, or
dozens, or hundreds, of systems. An installer can help you get started,
but there's more than one way to do it.
The base Debian installer handles 11 (at last count) architectures. It
is largely ensured to work, though it may need some handholding.
http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/
There are a number of different installation systems available, my own
preferred method lately is a chroot install from base2_2.tgz or via
debootstrap, under Knoppix, which allows you to filch configuration
settings and module lists from Knoppix.
From: http://linuxmafia.com/debian/tips
Progeny Graphical Installer can be used to do graphical (X11) or
console installs of woody/3.0 (on i386 and ia64) :
http://hackers.progeny.com/pgi/ Woody/3.0 i386 installation ISO
based on PGI is here: http://archive.progeny.com/progeny/pgi/
To clarify, PGI can be used, among other things, to construct
installable woody/3.0 CD images whose installer program is PGI.
Progeny 1.0 itself used PGI, and is a perfectly fine way to install
Debian woody/3.0 for i386:
ftp://ftp.progeny.com/progeny/debian/iso/Progeny1.0/ (But don't
forget to re-point /etc/apt/sources.list at Debian proper, since the
Progeny Debian-variant distribution is dormant.)
Installing Debian from within a chroot jail on an already-running
Linux system:
http://kmself.home.netcom.com/Linux/FAQs/DebianChrootInstall.html
Actually, the current and maintained version of that document is now at
http://twiki.iwethey.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/DebianChrootInstall ,
though the old doc will point you there.
A modified version of the instructions there are now part of the
official Debian installation manual at
http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch-preparing.en.html#s-linux-upgrade
FAI (Fully Automated Install) is a tool for stamping out Debian
machines, e.g., for a cluster:
http://www.informatik.uni-koeln.de/fai/
...and there are a number of other graphical installers. Hmm...
First result page here lists Progeny, Knoppix, and if you dig a bit, the
Stormix installer.
http://www.google.com/search?q=debian+graphical+installer
Peace.
--
Karsten M. Self <kmself@ix.netcom.com> http://kmself.home.netcom.com/
What Part of "Gestalt" don't you understand?
Integrity, we've heard of it: http://www.theregister.co.uk/
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