Re: New to Debian
On Thu, Dec 3, 2009 at 08:29, <debian@toursbymexico.com> wrote:
> Hello
>
> I'm new to Debian, have used Slackware for years but latest release was a
> mess so I decided to move to Debian and give it a try, however I have some
> doubts and need to complete my configuration to keep working while
> learning to use this new distro, so these are my current doubts:
>
> 1) How can I disable the graphical login and/or avoid X11 to start
> automatically? I can't install the nVidia driver since it tells me to stop
> X11 before. And, is it possible to leave it that way, just with the simple
> text consoles, and start X11 manually when required?
Just remove gdm/kdm/xdm, and use startx - that's what I do.
> 2) How can I install KDE? Currently it is running with Gnome... I've just
> download all 5 DVDs plus the updates one... the gnome (un)install shows
> most KDE applications to install, but not the full window manager... and,
> once installed, is it safe to remove Gnome to free disk space? Just the
> window manager, not its libraries that should break some dependencies if
> deleted.
As Kumar said, kde-core and kde are KDE metapackages and will bring in
varying amounts of KDE.
Yon definitely remove all or part of Gnome. I have a fair amount of Gnome
and a small amount of KDE on my system, but not the metapackages
for either one.
Instead of the Gnome installer, you might try using Aptitude in interactive
(ncurses) mode. I find that is the best way to work with complex package
selection.
> 3) There are some programs/drivers that independently of the distro, I
> prefer to install them by hand from sources. Does it affect in some way if
> I do this? The most common ones are kernel, MySQL, msn, irc, some
> multimedia stuff, etc. but at least the kernel and MySQL that I don't like
> to use packages for them...
You can do that, but if other packages needs MySQL, you either need
the equivs package to let the system know you have MySQL, or you
need to turn your compiled version into a .deb (shouldn't be too hard,
with debhelper).
> 4) Is it possible to install LILO instead of GRUB? I know it is better and
> advanced, but I like LILO... would it be safe to install it without
> breaking some kind of dependence?
Should work, but I have never gone back to lilo before.
> Well, that's enough by now, today I need at least to setup the nVidia
> driver and hopefully the latest kernel (no matter if it is GRUB by now)...
Good luck!
Cheers,
Kelly Clowers
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