Re: auto completion with TAB key

[Andrew Schulman <andrex@alumni.utexas.net>]

> after installing Debian on a new machine the completion
> with the TAB key does not work. On my other Debian
> system I can hit TAB after "aptitude install" and get 
> the available packages.

Make sure that the following code is executed at bash startup:

# enable bash completion in interactive shells
if [ -f /etc/bash_completion ]; then
    . /etc/bash_completion
fi

This code is present in /etc/bash.bashrc, but is commented out by 
default.  You can uncomment it there to enable completion for all bash 
users, or just put it in your personal .bashrc file.

Of course you'll need the file /etc/bash_completion.  It used to come in 
a separate bash-completion package, but it's now been merged into the 
main bash package.  You should also find a directory 
/etc/bash_completion.d, where you can put your local customizations.

Good luck,
Andrew.