Shane C wrote:
I have a Toshiba A30 Satellite laptop currently running XP Home. I want, at minimum, to have a dual boot situation with Debian/GNU Linux. Would I be better advised to install what I have and upgrade or install a later version? The best connection I can get up here - Georgian Bay area of Ontario, Canada - is 56k. I assume a net install would be unrealistic.
You don't specify what you currently have, so it's hard to offer any suggestions. However, I've done a netinstall over a 2400 modem a few years back. It takes forever, but it works (for Testing; Unstable changes too often and by the time you've downloaded a package, a new version is already in the repository). I've done several netinstalls over a 56K modem; as long as you're not paying by the minute, and are willing to tie up your phone line all night while you sleep for two or three nights, that's a perfectly suitable way to go. Again, you may run into issues with new packages becoming available in Unstable before you can finish the upgrade process, but generally that's only a mild irritant, requiring another few hours of downloading.
-- Kent