Re: which debian i should install?
On Sat, 6 Feb 2010 10:49:35 -0800 (PST)
rosy cutie <rosy_qutie@yahoo.com> dijo:
>i want to install debian on my computer.by searching its website i
>reaches at the page
>http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/5.0.4/i386/iso-cd/ but i am not
>able to decide which debian? i dont understand the computer jargon.i
>cannot install it via internet or through any network. i think i can
>install it by a cd and debian-504-i386-CD-.iso will work for me but
>why there are cd-1 to cd-31. i also want to know what to do with
>MD5SUMS. is it also nessacery to download it. may be it is not
>nessacery but i want to know how to use it. please help me.
It sounds as though you are completely new to Linux. People on this
list are very kind and helpful, but there are a lot of issues to
consider. For example, do you already have an operating system on the
computer that you want to keep so you can dual boot (Windows, MacOS,
some other Linux)?
This is a Debian list, so I know someone is going to jump on me for
saying this, but if you are brand new to Linux Debian may not be the
best distribution for you to start with. Linux is famous for giving
people choices, and one of the choices is which distribution you
install. There are literally hundreds of different distributions,
although the popular ones number only a dozen or so. Debian is in the
top dozen, but so are Ubuntu, Mint, Fedora, OpenSuse, Mandriva, among
others. And for each of them there are usually options like whether you
want Gnome or KDE, 32-bit or 64-bit, and others.
If you are completely new to Linux I recommend trying a live CD first.
There are live CDs for Debian here:
http://debian-live.alioth.debian.org/
On the above page look at the second paragraph and click on Gnome, KDE
or Xfce.
You can download live CDs for the other distributions that I mentioned
from their web sites. Here is a web site with links to the web sites
for many distros:
http://www.livecdlist.com/?pick=All&showonly=Rescue&sort=&sm=1
The beauty of a live CD is that you boot your computer from the CD
drive instead of the hard disk. You'll have a completely operating
Linux without touching your hard drive. CD drives are not very fast, so
it will run slowly, but you can poke around and learn a lot without
actually installing Linux. For example, some distributions do a better
job of detecting and configuring hardware than others. So you can use
the live CD to make sure that the sound is working, the wireless and
network is working, the video is running at the resolution you want,
and so on.
I spend a lot of time helping newcomers to Linux. I am part of a local
group that holds regular Linux Clinics where people can bring their
computers and we help them install Linux and get familiar with it. Over
several years of doing this we end up installing Ubuntu 90% of the
time. Ubuntu is based on Debian, is probably the most popular
distribution today, and is excellent at working well without needing
tweaks to get hardware working.
Not only do I recommend Ubuntu for beginners, I also recommend trying
to find a local Linux group. Having someone sit with you while you get
started will make things a lot easier.
I hope that answered some of your questions. Please feel free to ask
further questions.
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